Can other pets stress out my Ball Python?

[Paty]

I just now joined and came across a thread that discussed introduction of a new snake and cats.

I have had snake-nonsnake encounters in my little zoo since I got my 11 yr old BP last year. In my opinion it's important to make sure it's safe. While it's not something for the snake, the nonsnake animal might actually benefit from it and as long as it's done in a safe way, I feel like it doesn't have to be such a nono. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

I dog-sit and one of the dogs LOVES to watch TV, especially when there is an animal (non human) on the screen. My snake's tank is the perfect height for him to watch "real life" animal planet. It doesn't seem like Green Beans minds, as he goes on about his usual slithering routine. However, Olli is having a great time. Not once has he attempted to get any closer than in the video and there really isn't any way for the two to meet without a 1/4" piece of glass in between and it is never unsupervised.

I feel like this is safe for both of them. Can there at least be a sort of commensalism?

I took a video, last time Olli was here, GB is hard to see, he's towards the right where the sticks form an X.


While there aren't dogs (or any other pets) jumping up and down in front of Green Beans, once in a while there will be dogs walking around in front of GB's enclosure. But he doesn't seem like it bothers him. (maybe I'm insensitive and don't see it). My own dog never acknowledges him at all and is constantly in the same room. Usually, the dogs that come here don't notice GB either (because he moves too slow for them to recognize it?).

But I am wondering,
Does GB notice them?
Do they stress him out?
What if its a 4lb maltese? Could he be interest in it as food?

[locolobito]

I have wondered this myself after getting 2 cats. One is my daughters and the other is my wifes. Both gotta be on top of me when checking my tubs.

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[redshepherd]

But I am wondering,
Does GB notice them?
Do they stress him out?
What if its a 4lb maltese? Could he be interest in it as food?

1. Yes, but if the dog/cat doesn't actively bother them and if the snake has adequate places to hide themselves completely, I'm of the belief that it's totally fine.
2. If they have adequate places to hide themselves completely, and if your snake is still eating, probably not.
3. It takes a VERY large snake to see a 4 lb animal as food, so no. Your maltese is the predator here, in the ball python's eyes lol

[Paty]

I have wondered this myself after getting 2 cats. One is my daughters and the other is my wifes. Both gotta be on top of me when checking my tubs.

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I think the non-snake one in the interaction would be easier to "maintain" since they don't lash out as quick as the snake will. Green beans lashes at his food so fast, I'd never be able to get in between if he lashed at anything because unless I filmed it and replayed it in slow motion, I can't even see it happen. Cats and dogs are fast but not THAT fast. What I mean is you can stop the dog (or cat) from getting too close easily but not the snake. That's why I don't want them to meet without something in between...

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[Paty]

1. Yes, but if the dog/cat doesn't actively bother them and if the snake has adequate places to hide themselves completely, I'm of the belief that it's totally fine.
2. If they have adequate places to hide themselves completely, and if your snake is still eating, probably not.
3. It takes a VERY large snake to see a 4 lb animal as food, so no. Your maltese is the predator here, in the ball python's eyes lol

Well, why I ask is because she is really only as small as a large rat but with long legs. He eats medium ones with ease. I don't really know how they can tell if something is food or not and how far they can see. Maybe she looks smaller from where he sees her. Not that he would get to her but maybe it could make him antsy because he thinks I'm about to feed him. She doesn't live here but is here maybe once every couple of months for a few days.

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[redshepherd]

Well, why I ask is because she is really only as small as a large rat but with long legs. He eats medium ones with ease. I don't really know how they can tell if something is food or not and how far they can see. Maybe she looks smaller from where he sees her. Not that he would get to her but maybe it could make him antsy because he thinks I'm about to feed him. She doesn't live here but is here maybe once every couple of months for a few days.

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If it makes you feel better, ball pythons are picky and tend to fixate on a certain type of food. I promise that your ball python doesn't see your maltese as food haha.
Also, your maltese is actually 8x larger than the size of a large rat. Large rats only weigh up to half a pound lol. Even x-x-large rats (fed to giants) weigh ~1 lb.

[locolobito]

Myself, if snake is in hide or under paper, I allow the 2 cats to peek into tub cause of curiosity. If snakes are visible, I push cats out of the way till I feel comfortable to allow them to say hello to each other. The oldest of the 2 cats actually helps me wirh daily care, (my opinion) with pooh smell.

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[Paty]

If it makes you feel better, ball pythons are picky and tend to fixate on a certain type of food. I promise that your ball python doesn't see your maltese as food haha.
Also, your maltese is actually 8x larger than the size of a large rat. Large rats only weigh up to half a pound lol. Even x-x-large rats (fed to giants) weigh ~1 lb.

I don't know how heavy she is exactly, I just know she's tiny and not much bigger than my (pretty big) pet rats were when I had them
Glad to know that he doesn't think of her the way I thought he might!

He is very very picky so I guess I should have known!

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[Paty]

Myself, if snake is in hide or under paper, I allow the 2 cats to peek into tub cause of curiosity. If snakes are visible, I push cats out of the way till I feel comfortable to allow them to say hello to each other. The oldest of the 2 cats actually helps me wirh daily care, (my opinion) with pooh smell.

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How do your snakes react to them being there?
It's really hard for me to tell whether Green Beans is happy with something or not. I think I might be falling into the pit of personification here but I haven't seen him actually react to another pet (in the form of behaving differently when pet is present vs. No pet present) he slithers and hides whether anyone is there or not.

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[locolobito]

For me, feeding day is friday night and saturday morning. For saftey I allow my cats to be curious and my snakes. I have one that is aggressive/defensive, mystic, I'm the only one I allow near him. The rest are puppy dog "tame". If in strike mode from opening tub, I push cats out of the way for my snakes safety. If in passive mode, I allow nose to nose. Safety first

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