can two BP's be housed together?

[chintasurf]

Another quick question - since getting my first BP am now completly hooked!
Am looking to get another two in the next few months - from the same hatch

I have plenty of room for seperate enclosures but just wondered if it was at all possible to keep them together??

I have heard that they can get competetive over feeding but wondered if they were fed outside of their home would it be possible?

Has anyone had any experience with this

[GirDance]

One can show dominance over the other, stressing it out. They will compete for warm and cool hides when they want them etc. They have also been known in cases to cannibalise one another. They're solitary snakes, living alone in the wild, and do not make good companions to one another unless they're making babies.

It's not recommended.

[Spaniard]

I would seriously advise to house them seperately. Housing two bps together is never an option in my book unless it was for breeding purposes.

[SteelerFreak89]

don't do it. while i am a rookie owner and only have 1, i have heard horror stories. as stated before it stresses them and they may end up killing each other. ball pythons are solitary and don't really enjoy company. one snake to a tank.

and if you are going to get another snake or 2, remember to quarantine them.

[chintasurf]

don't do it. while i am a rookie owner and only have 1, i have heard horror stories. as stated before it stresses them and they may end up killing each other. ball pythons are solitary and don't really enjoy company. one snake to a tank.

and if you are going to get another snake or 2, remember to quarantine them.

Thanks for the advice guys - much appreciated. I am looking into rack designs at the moment so they can have their own little nooks all to themselves. I was going to do this anyway but was just curious if it was possible! :-)

[SteelerFreak89]

Thanks for the advice guys - much appreciated. I am looking into rack designs at the moment so they can have their own little nooks all to themselves. I was going to do this anyway but was just curious if it was possible! :-)

not a problem! its always great to ask. we are all here to learn from and help each other. good luck!

i know if you search you can find some great rack designs.

[Markus Heinsohn]

BPs can be housed together, but you need a pretty big tank. I have one at 50" X 25" X 25", with 6 hides, and both BPs I house in there behave totally normal... the feed well and are active at night. Sometimes they even share the biggest hide, this happens in nature from time to time as well, as there are several reports from Africa of multiple BPs being caught in a single hide.

It is not recommended, but it can be done if the tank is big enough. Just my .02

[frankykeno]

For me it's not a "can you" situation, it's a "should you" choice.

Especially being a new owner, by the time you are likely to recognize problems with the two snakes, it may well be too late or a very major problem brewing. Also consider what happens if you find something like loose stool. Which snake did this? If the fecal comes back nasty, you'd have to pay to treat both snakes because #1 you don't really know which is sick and #2 likely it's passed it's illness to the other snake anyways. Vet bills are generally expensive enough, so why ask for a double bill...that's just not sensible to me.

Other issues can be stress, dominance, cannabalism, unplanned matings, feeding response problems, etc.

For me the risks far outweigh any benefit there might be. If the only benefit is owner's convenience in not maintaining a seperate enclosure or paying for two enclosure, that's not a benefit for the snakes in my book.

[Markus Heinsohn]

Also consider what happens if you find something like loose stool. Which snake did this?

That's a good point!