Hi,

Well you've touched on a couple of the reasons it's not recomended right there really.

If one of them has something wong with them theres a greater chance of passing it to the other ( this is also why we recomend the quarantine period to make sure there are no problems with the new arrival). For treating mites most people report the best success with Provite-a-Mite by the way if you actuall have mites at the moment - I know you said "just in case" but thought the info couldn't hurt.

When you have two or more in the same tank it is hard to be certain which snake did which dropping ( or god forbid regurge) in order to get it checked at the vets if needed.

Also the cute cuddling in the hide is much more likely to be dominance/ competeing for resources and can actually cause stress on the snake that loses these battles.

There is also the possible problem of breeding too early which can be really bad on the female if she is undersized.

I would see if you could raise the temps in the hot hide to around the 93f mark if possible and keep the cool end hide at 80-82f if you can. The humidity seems fine as long as none of them are shedding at the moment - can you easily raise it to around 60-70% when they are by the way? There are a few good posts dotted around if it's giving you trouble.

Do you know if the snake is captive born and bred or captive farmed? If it's the latter it might be worth checking a stool sample for parasites just to make sure he has no hidden problems.

When she said he was a picky eater it might be worth getting her to talk you through her feeding routine on the times he did eat so you can try and replicate them if he doesn't respond to the normal feeding routine you have.

We also normally say it's a good idea to let them settle into their new homes for a week or so with no handling (aside from what is needed to clean the cage) so they begin to feel nice and secure.

Have a nosey/search around the forums on keeping snakes together, feeding problems etc and ask anything that comes to mind.


dr del