Can i put 2 male bps in the same tank without problems?

[JLC]

Here's my thoughts on this matter...

You wonder if it's OK to keep two ball pythons together. (Supposedly both of them male...hopefully they've been sexed correctly!) And yet...with all the good advice given about why it's a bad idea you persist in insisting that it's "fine" and you're going to do it anyway. Which leads me to believe that you didn't really wonder if it was ok or not...you just wanted to get a rise out of people.

That being said...I believe there are a LOT of good reasons for keeping them separate. And I've yet to hear a single good reason for why they should be kept together. But it's up to each individual to sift through all the responses and decide what they believe is fact and what they believe is nonsense. It's up to each individual to decide who is worth listening to and who is speaking out of ignorance. None of us can make those determinations for you. All we can do is present the facts as we understand them, and offer our opinion on those facts. What you choose to do with them is up to you.

"Keeping a snake of any sort is a matter of recognizing the potential for problems and striving to avoid them whenever possible. It's a matter of probabilities: the more one lowers the chances for problems, the greater the chances that a snake will thrive."
Dave & Tracy Barker

[xdeus]

Well, what i'd like to know is how many of you who so strongly disagree with housing together are actually vets or herpologists. Anyone?

I'm not a herpologist, but I do play one on TV. BTW, is a herpologist anything like a herpetologist?

I think I'm going to take the advise on this subject from someone who sees snakes and other reptiles on regular basis.

Would you go to your doctor for advice on raising your children? I'm sure some doctors would give excellent advice, and others would give very poor advice even though they might be excellent medical doctors. So what makes you think that any vet would be able to give you great advice on keeping and raising these snakes? Oh, and that's not to mention that many vets are absolutely clueless about reptiles. I would trust the advice of many people on this site before I trusted a typical vet that primarily sees regular pets such as dogs and cats. There have been stories on this site of vets actually taking the temperature of someone's snake. Gee, what do you know... it's the same temperature as the room. What a coincidence!

Personally, I would rather trust the other herpetoculturists on this site for advice on raising Ball Pythons. The people that make their living off of making sure their hundreds or thousands of snakes are thriving and not just doing okay.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I have my 2 BP's together in a 50 gallon tank. The larger (newest of them) seems to have a nasty attitude - out of character for this species of snake from what i've read - he seems to be much calmer with the smaller snake in with him. They appear to me (and that's not saying much) to be very happy. They share the same cave almost all the time even though there are 2 caves in the tank. They seem to really follow each other around. I see no signs that either of them is being dominated.

Well obviously you are missing something, the fact that they share their hide all the time is DOMINATION.

Also I am curious when you say

it seems to be benefiting one particularly well.

What are the benefits? (Somehow you eluded those questions from my previous post)

Give me some GOOD reasons that can justify multiple housing?
What benefit do they get from it?

Those questions are still left unanswered

Well, what i'd like to know is how many of you who so strongly disagree with housing together are actually vets or herpologists. Anyone?

I think I'm going to take the advise on this subject from someone who sees snakes and other reptiles on regular basis.

Well how nice, what do you know about the members of this forum? Seems to me that this was your way to tell us "you are idiots what do you know about the subject anyway" (very intelligent way to do it though)

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I see no signs that either of them is being dominated.

Wouln't that be a sign?

He has been with me for 4 weeks now and has not eaten. The prior owner said it had been 2-3 weeks since his last feeding when he sold him to me. I am aware that they need proper temp to even digest properly ... could low temp be causing him to not eat and even become rather aggressive - regularly hisses at me when i reach in to handle the youngest snake, seems to always be in strike position and has even run nose first into the glass trying to strike me as i walk past.

I might be wrong though because what do I know about snakes

it seems to be benefiting one particularly well.

I guess above is one of the benefit you are talking about

[python.princess]

yes, they will most likely live being in an enclosure together but let me ask you a question...

is it okay to just babysit your children their whole lives? or is it better to teach them and spend time with them and nurture them?

[ladywhipple02]

wow - comparing people to dull crayons now. How polite.

I actually consider myself a very polite person

As a college graduate, I was always under the impression that the best way to solve a problem is to discuss it.

Is this supposed to impress me? I, too, am a college graduate. So what? I've found that there are many, many, many people out there without college degrees that are about five hundred times smarter than I am.

And yes, I have an English degree, so I think debating is freaking awesome!

We are dealing with snakes here. Of course anything is possible ... just like with everything else in life. Do snakes occasionally hurt or kill each other? Yes. Do people occasionally hurt or kill each other? ummm ... yes. Does that mean we shouldn't live together?

Ummm... I think your comparison is slightly off here. Yes, we are dealing with snakes. NOT humans. NOT mammals. Humans are thinking, rational beings. Snakes, while amazing, run completely by instinct. They don't think: "Hey, I can get away with this." They kill because that's what their instinct tells them to do to survive. While people would like to use this excuse for humans, it falls frighteningly flat. Humans do not need to kill to survive. Our instincts do not compell most of us...

Humans make friends. Snakes do NOT. But I won't go any further... others have already explained that the "Friendship" between your kids is actually a dominance display.

Just because something is possible doesn't make it the rule.

Huh? But isn't this what you are trying to prove?

BTW, is your vet a licensed herp/exotic vet?

Also, it's interesting that you are siding with a person that keeps his snakes in a deplorable living condition. Do you have pics of your snakes' living conditions?

[JLC]

If you want to discuss Plummer's snakes...there is a link in this thread to take you to that discussion. Anymore posts made here about Plummer's snakes will simply be deleted, rather than moved.

[frankykeno]

I have my 2 BP's together in a 50 gallon tank. The larger (newest of them) seems to have a nasty attitude - out of character for this species of snake from what i've read - he seems to be much calmer with the smaller snake in with him. They appear to me (and that's not saying much) to be very happy. They share the same cave almost all the time even though there are 2 caves in the tank. They seem to really follow each other around. I see no signs that either of them is being dominated.

So you are allowing a larger and in your words a snake with a "nasty attitude" to be housed with a smaller one. Not a particularily good idea is it. As you've been told the following around is a dominance display. These are not pack or herd animals that trail each other....these are snakes. You make a broad assumption, while admitting you have no real experience, that they are "very happy". What led you to this specific belief?

Hell, we're human ... we can't possibly know what goes on in their heads, I'm not going to try to figure it out.

But you said yours are happy? So which is it? Are they "happy" as you've previously stated or are you now saying that you aren't able to judge exactly what the situation is for those snakes?

If I notice that mine don't seem so happy down the road I'll seperate mine, but for the time being it seems to be benefiting one particularly well.

"One particularily well"??? So the other isn't "particularily well" then? Hmmmm....

[Greenlover]

ok i dont disagree or nything but you guys are saying if i have my 250 gallon set up i cant put 2 female ball pythons in there ??? that it will actually be more benefitial to put them in rubbermaid containers....

[MeMe]

ok i dont disagree or nything but you guys are saying if i have my 250 gallon set up i cant put 2 female ball pythons in there ??? that it will actually be more benefitial to put them in rubbermaid containers....

exactly!



2..seperate...r-maid tubs.

250 gallons is way too big for any bp...and you shouldn't house them together other than for breeding purposes.

edit...i see you said 2 females...so you would have no reason to house them together at all since you can't breed them.