Mixing species inside a rack

[Gorgias]

I have lurked here before but this is my first time posting. I have had my BP for about 6 months now and she is very healthy, and about a month ago I picked up a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. In the next few months I am looking at getting some morphs and have decided to get the 32 Quart rack from reptile basics, with the dividers to keep my snakes in. My question is will there be any problems with keeping the Boa in the same rack as Ball Pythons? Or should I house her separately? Thanks

[JLC]

The main problem with this is different housing requirements. Especially with a BRB...as I understand it, they tend to be rather delicate and need very specific environmental settings. They probably wouldn't get that in a rack set for BP needs. But...so long as the different species in question have the same basic needs...OR, you can isolate parts of your rack to the meet the specific needs of each species...I imagine it's fine.

All that is based on the assumption that you have QUARANTINED your animals properly and are quite sure they are healthy and not carrying any disease or parasites. Anytime you house multiple animals in a small, enclosed area (even if each enclosure is separate) you run the risk of passing disease and/or parasites between them...whether they are the same species or not.

edit: BTW....welcome to BP.net!

[snakedork]

As Judy stated proper qt is a must. I don't know the requirements of a brb so i will not pretend to. I would have to suggest atleast looking into what the temp requirements are of the brb. If the requirements are about the same. Then you can look into seeing how there humidity is different. I know the brb will get considerably larger than the ball. So if you planned on keeping the brb in a 32 qt cage for any length of time its probably not going to work. I know we have looked into several snakes and found that it was going to require a completely different setup for caging due to temp requirements.

[azpythons]

in a rack wouldnt you jus give the odd species out a different flexwatt line, i was thinking i want to get a red tail boa maybe one day, and if i did i would jus put it at the top of a rack and give it its own uth flexwatt strip, would this work?

[Gorgias]

Thanks for the info, The Boa is tiny right now and I know that one day she will have drastically different needs and will need to be in a bigger container. My question was just for the time being.

As for quarantine, I have done my best to keep everything separate and wash my hands thoroughly in between dealing with them. My only issue is that I currently live in a rather small space with the only other room I have being my daughters. From what I have read the biggest risk would be IBD from the boa, but from what I understand it could be dormant in her anyways. If this was the case wouldn't my BP be bound to get it anyways?

[Gorgias]

As for the heat, BRBs need about 80 - 85 basking according to NERD's care sheet and 75-80 ambient. So if I was to put her in the rack set up for BPs what would i be able to do to lower the temps in that tub for her? Where I currently live is an old place and the temps fluctuate a lot, but I'm planning to get a thermostat with the rack. If i kept her in something separate is there any way to regulate her temps on the thermostat or would i need a different one?

[snakedork]

depending on the thermostat. A herpstat 2 has 2 probes and control 2 different systems. I personally have a herpstat pro and it does 4 different heat sources. I do like the johnson controls A419 thermostats aswell. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a thermostat. I do know the more you spend the easier it seems to be to setup the thermostat. I just got rid of my ESU thermostat due to the fact adjustments on a dial is a pain. With it being about 5 degrees colder you may be able to put it in a bottom tub remember heat rises. I know my racks the tubs closer to the floor are 1 to 2 degrees different. I don't have any reptile basic racks so i don't know how there units vary from level to level. I would imagine about 1 to 2 degrees is probably standard.

[Gorgias]

Ok thanks I can try that. Would it also be possible to keep her in a tub outside the rack and run her off the thermostat with a rheostat to kick it down a little? I don't see why this wouldn't work, but maybe there is something I'm not seeing?

[frankykeno]

A reasonable QT can be achieved simply by keeping the new snake in your bedroom and your current collection in your livingroom or some arrangement such as that (as well as seperate husbandry tools and not sharing feeders of course). It's up to you, they are after all your snakes, but if you don't establish a QT routine this soon into your snakekeeping experience you are likely at some point to run out of luck and end up with a problems. Those problems can end up with expensive vet bills, ill or dying snakes and a world of hassle and hurt for the owner. Isn't not just issues of IBD which isn't all that common - it's also mites, ticks, RI's, etc. Good QT is, to my mind, a given when you decide you want to buy new snakes for your sake but really in the end for the safety and wellbeing of the snakes.

[Wh00h0069]

I keep my boas and ball pythons in the same rack. My boas are BCI's, and their husbandry requirements are similar to ball pythons. You should make sure that you follow a strict quarantine procedure before mixing species. It is rare, but boas have been known to carry IBD, which is lethal to pythons.

Hope this helps.