Two snakes. One tank

[Kodama16]

Hey guys I'm trying to go down to fewer tanks. I was thinking of putting my 2012 male with my 2013 female. There tank would be 24x18x18. However next year ill be moving them to a 36x18x18. My question really is would the larger tank be enought room for two adult ball pythons and will a female half the size of a male be ok to house together. Or even house a male and female together good at all. I'm ok if they breed.
What y'all think?

[The Serpent Merchant]

It's really not the best idea to house 2 snakes together. It can be done if you really know what you are doing but in my opinion there are more negatives than positives. If you really want to house them together I would get a 48" x 24" x 12"+ (L x W x H)

[Evildrdee]

Don't do it

[norwegn113]

it is not recommended to house two snake together if at all possible! It can lead to a stressful situation and if one gets sick there's a good chance the other will as well.

[SnowShredder]

What if they were to breed when the female was extremely undersized and underweight? You would be okay with that and the possible health risks involved? An example, just because 12 year old kids can have babies doesn't mean that they should.
Besides that, I don't think it's a good idea to house two of them together for purposes other than breeding. What if one day you find a sickly stool, how do you know which one it was from?
If you have too many tanks I would suggest a rack or another form of caging. I wouldn't keep them together for the heck of it.

[Kodama16]

Ill keep them separate and reduce caging with some my other animals that I know I can combine and be safe. That's why I ask befor doing something stupid: )

[Skiploder]

It's a bad idea for several reasons:

1. Like dogs, one snake will assume the alpha snake position in the pack and dominate the other one. While I have never witnessed this behavior, I have read about it on a forum somewhere so I know it's true.

2. Properly quarantined, medically screened and impeccably kept snakes are extremely prone to a vast and dizzying array of diseases. If one snake gets the snake flu, odds are it's cage mate will as well.

3. Every snake species on the planet hates the company of it's own kind. Again, even though I have not kept every species, the internet has told me this is a fact.

4. All snakes are cannibalistic and will eat their cage mates even if they are not ophiophagus or even if they are well fed. While I have never seen this behavior, a moderator on another forum has a brother who's friend knows a person at a reptile show who read another forum post from the cousin of the brother in law of a person who this happened to. Therefore this is a real issue that must be taken into consideration.

5. Snakes kept together in opposite sex pairs get sick of each other and after 7 years or so, will not want to touch each other sexually.

I could go on but I think I've made my point. Snake keeping is all about absolutes and doing what other people recommend - even if they have no experience with what they are recommending.

Hope that helps,

Skip

[Konotashi]

Although I never, ever plan to house two snakes together, I always see, "Unless you know what you're doing, don't put them together."

What qualifies as 'knowing what you're doing' to the point where one can house two snakes in the same enclosure? Seems like it's a bad idea no matter who you are and how much you know what you're doing....

[Skiploder]

Although I never, ever plan to house two snakes together, I always see, "Unless you know what you're doing, don't put them together."

What qualifies as 'knowing what you're doing' to the point where one can house two snakes in the same enclosure? Seems like it's a bad idea no matter who you are and how much you know what you're doing....

I have no idea what you are saying. However since I think you are agreeing with my point, I will agree with yours. In this way, we will better the knowledge of this community.

I admire a person who has never done something, yet warns people from trying it.

Why just today, I was posting on an amateur gynecology forum about which tampons are the most comfortable. While I am a male, and have never worn a tampon, I argued with a 48 year old woman that Kotex was the superior brand.

Judging by the "likes" I got, I think I won the argument.

[I-KandyReptiles]

IMO if you have to ask if it's okay, then I feel it's not something you should attempt.

Many people have successfully kept multiple snakes in tanks, but these people generally have vast knowledge and experience.

When I think of my own snakes, I see no reason why I personally would want to cohabit snakes. There are too many cons.