» Site Navigation
0 members and 1,676 guests
No Members online
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.
» Today's Birthdays
» Stats
Members: 76,073
Threads: 249,220
Posts: 2,572,811
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
|
-
Registered User
Re: I'm a Newbie BP owner, and I got a few questions
I understand and agree with you all, it's probably risky to house them together for health/sickness reasons....
having said that... I see no cuddling, both HAVE eaten before the temps dropped for winter. A lot of my snakes stopped eating for winter, not just them. Even my turtles and my king who is an amazing eater has taken a break from eating because of the drop in the atmospheric pressure due to the winter season. The temp at the very bottom of the glass is maybe 110 degrees, but at the top of the 3/4 inch of substrate its maybe 100 degrees. Neither of them dig, or fight, try to escape the tank or even bother with eachother at all... and when they do socialize, there isn't any "cuddling" or hissing or anything negative... they rub against eachother in passing sometimes, or mind their own.
My twin hybrids who are male and female, are housed together too. There has never been a problem with them for over a year and a half. My venomous-breed breeder friend has a mating pair of Black Mambas housed in one tank too. Yes, they are a breeding pair and that may make a difference, but he tells me stories of how they share the food they are given. One is a more gentle eater, and the other is more aggressive of an eater, but both eat the same amount of feeders. And never ever fight over the food.
I have kept a very close eye on the BPs since I've gotten Benny. I have a dupilcated setup in the same tank. If one towel tube is above the heater another is placed next to it on top of the heater too, to prevent fights for territory. Same goes with the cool side.. if there is one tube on the cool side, I put another tube on the cool side too. There are artifical plants and driftwood and a basking rock to break up the space and give plenty of places to go for them. As far as getting sick goes... from what I understand it's actually somewhat difficult for a captive snake that's been healthy it's whole life to spontaniously get sick... I've never heard of anything that disproves what you all have said, but I've also done enough research to know how to prevent any of my herps from getting sick. BUT, the risk is still there, so I of course will keep a very keen eye to any signs of health changes.
I know Monty is female and Benny is male, I had them checked by a professional BP breeder who gave me the go-ahead to house them together. I trust his word because he has helped me out with my herps in the past. He's never heard of cannibalism between BP's, but he said it wasn't impossible. He even told me, and even another BP breeder that I consulted, that housing 2 BP's that are the same size is perfectly fine. Not to argue or say who's right and who's wrong... but.... BP babies in petstores are housed together, fed seperately, and shed fine. I have asked my local petstore if I was ok with my current setup.. they said I should be fine as well.
I feed Monty and Benny out of the main tank in seperate tubberware containers that are dark colored so they cant even see eachother. They have both eaten about 7 times and have had full sheds. Like I had said, they are not losing weight... they are in brumation because of the winter months.
When they did eat before the winter came, they ate with no hessitation and kept the food down. I honestly doubt there are any problems with them or that any will occur.
The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the one large water dish... I want to get 2 smaller ones so they can have their own drinking bowls and have the one soaking bowl. After I run out of aspen I am getting ground coconut fibers, it's just easier to clean.
I appreciate all your concern, but I don't see anything to raise concern about. As many as you well-educated people who said that my setup is risky, I've had just as many well-educated people say that my setup is fine. If not many people, more, say that it's fine. I am not sure at this point who is right and who is wrong... I just hope that everything pans out, and that nothing horrible happens.
I'm sorry that this is lengthy, and sorry if I sound like a smart @ss lol. I just wanted to showcase my points and thoughts as well.
~,*-_` HOLLY `_-*,~
1.0 Leucistic Texas Ratsnake (Zeejay/ZJ)
0.1 Triple hybird [Texas Rat , Western Gopher, Louisiana Pine snakes] ( Butter)
1.0 Albino Bubblegum Ratsnake (Peaches)
0.1 Quintuple hybrid [Texas Rat, Western Gopher, Louisiana Pine, Bubblegum Rat, Everglades Rat snakes] (Peanut)
0.1 Normal Ball Python (Monty)
0.0.1 HUGE adult normal Ball Python (McMangles)
1.0 Pastel Ball Python (Benny)
1.0 Tokay Gecko (Musachi)
1.0 Knight/ Giant Cuban Anole (Buggy)
0.0.1 Indonesian Garter Snake (Pascal)
0.0.2 Golden Geckos (un-named)
4.2 Turtles (Willie,Crash, Sparky, Rio, Chuckie, Tickle)
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake (Mopar)
1.0 Triple hybrid ( Bread)
Rest in Peace little buddies 
-
-
Registered User
Re: I'm a Newbie BP owner, and I got a few questions
As for housing together that is your decision but most people do not advise it as previous members have stated. So I will not list the negatives again. Also comparing housing mamba's together and ball pythons does not make much sense, they are completely different species with different husbandry needs. Feeding venomous in the same enclosure is something even experienced hot keepers are extremely careful doing, there is a safe way to do so but the snakes are not going to 'share' food. They both eat the same amount and don't compete for food because they are most likely fed at the same time on opposite sides of the enclosure.
Regarding husbandry please get your temps down because 100-110 is way to high for your snakes as others have stated. An unregulated UTH WILL cause burns, please get a thermostat before your snakes get hurt. For hides, try using small cardboard boxes with no bottom or ideally, identical hides from reptile basics on each side of the enclosure, the tubes may be secure but do not provide the same security. Also theres no need to feed outside the enclosure as it will usually stress your snakes out more than necessary.
Sorry If I've repeated anything others have already stated, and please know that all of us here are just trying to help you care for your snakes in best way possible.
-
The Following User Says Thank You to katiekat For This Useful Post:
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules
|