How many snakes in a cage?

[Adam_Wysocki]

Make a hidedspot big enough for both, and one would feel insecure in there because it would be too big.

It's not even about "big enough" or separate but equal or anything else ... when housing ball pythons together it's about dominance. When 2 or more ball pythons are together, one will become dominant and the others will become submissive. The dominance is sometimes overt, but mostly subtle. To the untrained eye, you will probably never see it happen, but it does. One ball python WILL GET the better everything .... It's like 2 little kids ... if they are playing together and the smaller or younger child wants a cookie, the older or larger child will suddenly want one too (even if he wasn't even thinking about eating or cookies in the first place, it's purely instinctual ... dominance) ... the 2 children will compete to see who gets the "first cookie" out of the cookie jar ... it doesn't matter who wins because in the end one will inevitably lose. Same thing happens with ball pythons, and in the ball python world loser == stressed animal. Over a long enough time a stressed ball python will begin to get sick because the stress will take a toll on the animals immune system.

-adam

[Ginevive]

Very well put.
Every time I have seen multiple BPs housed together, they were always in the same spot of the cage, coiled together. People say the craziest things like "oh, they love each other, they're friends." Don't they realize that a snake has about as much emotion in itself as my left sneaker? The poor things are just competing for the best spot in the cage, really.
At any rate, it has to be unduly stressful to put more than one BP in a cage.

[Egyptian_Sphynx]

imo ... i dont care what other people do, it is their life and their freewill. others may call them ignorant and others may not, it is not my place to judge. they will learn one way or another and that is the way it should be. as for being domanant i have seem multiple bps in a cage and all of them in a different spot away from the others each time i have seen them. as for the whole emotional thing that goes into religion beliefs on my end so i wont even touch that area ill just say i dont agree. that is my answer for you.

[Adam_Wysocki]

imo ... i dont care what other people do, it is their life and their freewill. others may call them ignorant and others may not, it is not my place to judge. they will learn one way or another and that is the way it should be. as for being domanant i have seem multiple bps in a cage and all of them in a different spot away from the others each time i have seen them. as for the whole emotional thing that goes into religion beliefs on my end so i wont even touch that area ill just say i dont agree. that is my answer for you.

Huh?? Your words are in english but I have no idea what your point is?

In an environment with 2 or more ball pythons one will dominate the other(s). That is not an opinion or a theory, it is proven fact. Same thing happens with many other species and it has been researched and proven to death. Any college level text on basic animal behavior will give a great overview if anyone is looking for more information.

FWIW, I don't care what other people do either .... but I do get a little pi$$y when people advocate keeping ball pythons in a way that can lead to their deaths. Enough die every year on the way over from Africa, once they get here we should do everything we can to keep them alive. Proper housing is the perfect place to start.

-adam

[Egyptian_Sphynx]

my point is....

no matter if it is a proven fact some will say it is just an opinion and do what they want anyways. so that is why i have a nutral opinion on the pole, because i could talk until i was blue in the face and it wont make a dent in the other persons preference if they are determined to house more than one. then it could go the opposite way i could fight saying you can house them together and talk until blue in the face and it wouldnt change the othersides preference. some people who come to the site and read this post might be thinking ... if you wouldnt buy them you wouldnt have the housing problem and if you wouldnt buy them they would not be dieing causing all the disputes.

just my .01 cent (i dont have .02 just one )

[Kara]

One cage for each snake - be able to provide that, period. Because sooner or later, even if you do house them together, you're going to have to separate them for one reason or another.

I do not advocate keeping snakes together outside of breeding.

Just my $.02

K~

[iceman25]

One is not a lonely number when it comes to Ball pythons. I think that when kept as pets, they should be allowed to live together in the same enclosure only for breeding purposes.

IMHO, people who keep Ball Pythons together in the same enclosure are(other than breeding),

1) Are not aware of the fact that they should be housed separately.
2) Are aware of it but choose to ignore it.
3) Think that they will get lonely(I used to know a kind hearted soul who thought that)
4) Keeping snakes only to impress friends and do not really care about the animal.
5) Impulsive collectors who get in way over their heads

Thats all that comes to mind at 1am. Feel free to add to the list ya'll.

[iceman25]

imo ... i dont care what other people do, it is their life and their freewill.

Till they use that freewill in their life to put a big dent in yours or your loved ones. However, this point is a debate for another time and place

[Egyptian_Sphynx]

Till they use that freewill in their life to put a big dent in yours or your loved ones. However, this point is a debate for another time and place

its not a debate i can answer that one, it has already happened within my family and been settled, i simply just do not talk, look at, or give them the time of day. that is my way if dealing with them.

[Smulkin]

1 ill snake > 2+ ill snakes

if you have them sharing a cage not only is it difficult to tell which one of them is ill, it is highly likely that they will BOTH be by the time you notice it. I just can't see the sense in doing this nor understand the motivation behind it.