How many snakes in a cage?

[jglass38]

well none of you guys keep 2 bps in the same enclosure so why should i listen to people who have absolutley no experience on this topic??

Listen. It is crystal clear that you have no intention of listening to people who know more than you through years of experience with Ball Pythons. Therefore its probably best that you go ahead with your mad scientist experiment and quit the trolling. Please...

[BALLPYTHON]

How do you know they know more than me? How do you know what my experience with these animals is? How do i know what knowledge everyone else has? Someone said these aren't lab mice and therefore should not be treated like them. Who is to say lab mice should be treated the way they are? You say i'm a mad scientest. What kind of extreme unimagineable tests am i performing on these living things? I am a responsible keeper and these two female bps that i am keeping in the same enclosure will grow up to be just as healthy as my other bps that live alone. First sight of anything unusual and i will separate them. I'm not torturing them. I have respect for all living things and i am pretty confident in what i am doing.
If keeping two bps together is so horrible then everyone here should release all their snakes back into the wild because placing any wild animal in captivity is just as bad.

[Adam_Wysocki]

well none of you guys keep 2 bps in the same enclosure so why should i listen to people who have absolutley no experience on this topic??

I was housing ball pythons in groups of 2.4, 1.3, and even 5.6 over 10 years ago. Been there, done that. After having years of experience with communal housing of ball pythons I now house them individually ... and guess what? Now they eat better, breed better, get sick less, and are overall healthier.

Where do you think that the advice to house them individually comes from? Do you think people are just making it up? Give me a break.

-adam

[Adam_Wysocki]

First sight of anything unusual and i will separate them. I'm not torturing them.

When you wake up one morning and one is gone because the other ate it, it will be too late to separate them. Ball pythons can and will eat other ball pythons in the right circumstances. I would think that being eaten alive is pretty torturous.

-adam

[Eddie_Z]

Why even tempt fate when you can so easily know for certain that your snakes are healthy? What is your point in keeping them together anyhow!?

[HelicopterPilot]

actually keeping bp's in captivity is healthier for the snake. The owner will (or should) get rid of all mites/ticks/parisites and cure diseases. Ball Pythons actually live better in captivity and have a longer life span.

[frankykeno]

Please do remember though that ball pythons are a subtle snake in so many ways. You may well not see the "damage" of housing together in a very obvious, immediate way or may see it when it is quite advanced.

Please also remember that in this "experiment" of yours, it's not you that will pay the costs....it's those two lovely female snakes that deserve the best possible captive experience that a caring, moral owner can provide for them.

As far as not trusting the wisdom and advice of those far more experienced than you (or me for that matter), it is part of the human ability to understand action and reaction, consequence and adjustment of one's own behaviour based on another's experience. Example: if Bob down the street burns his hand on an open flame, do you need to in fact stick your hand in a flame to "trust" in the fact that fire burns? Of course not! As a human being you learned as a child that fire burns (wisdom passed on by your parents) so in fact we all daily adjust our behaviours based on things we have NEVER experienced personally.

I know that none of this will likely change your mind, so may I say now I'm sorry the snakes will pay for your curiousty or need to somehow "be right".


~~Joanna~~

[jglass38]

Get ready for the evening TROLL CALL!!

Anyway, I am done with this sillyness.

Back to my mini vacation!

[mlededee]

I have respect for all living things and i am pretty confident in what i am doing.

if you are confident that what you are doing is ok then why did you feel the need to come here to ask about it? deep down you must KNOW that it is not good, whether you choose to accept it or not. to respect living things is to do what is truly best for them no matter what the cost. it is SO easy to keep your snakes separately--i really don't understand why you are so stubborn about keeping them together, especially when you have other snakes that you do house separately. why do you feel the need to experiment when all of the correct methods and best practices have already been proven and documented? this is needless suffering that will be felt only by your two female ball pythons. i am quite sad for them.

[Smulkin]

i dont believe in keeping them together but i just wanna see for myself
ill let you know how it goes

__________________
JULIAN

I have respect for all living things and i am pretty confident in what i am doing.

So you respect them enough to do this to them even though you don't beleive in it because you want to satisfy your curiosity? That about right?