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How big?

Posted by Cassandra Kendall at 2/8/2010 7:31:51 PM

My snake will soon be moving into a very large tank. Its 175 long. He is almost four ft. Obviously thats enough room for another python (male). Well, my question is: how big should my new snake be? My snake has lived with five other pythons of various sizes (before I got him), the smallest was prob 1.5ft, and the enclosure was much smaller than his new home. The snakes were often rotated but around the same number of them. No incidents. How important is the size, or sex, of his tank mate? Thanks to all who respond!

Comments:

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Sonja K. ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 7:36:09 PM
	I highly recommend you DON'T house multiple snakes together. Remember in the wild, even, they are solitary animals.

Cassandra Kendall,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 7:41:56 PM
	Just to be clear. he is a ball python. I didn't put that down

Ken ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 7:47:27 PM
	I probably wouldn't put a ball python in a cage that big anyways and yeah it's usually not a good idea to house snakes together they are solitary animals and if you get a new snake you probably won't know it's entire history and wouldn't want to pass anything on to your current snake. I use to keep adult imported balls in a cage that big but that was obviously pretty temporary.

Starwild ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 8:12:51 PM
	I hate to rain on your parade, but that cage is much too big for a single python and you should not house snakes together. They are not like fish or leopard geckos, it doesn't matter how much room you have. They are not social animals and don't want or need to be together. Just because you have done it in the past does not mean you should continue to do it in the future. Putting them together can stress them out and make them sick, and if one gets sick it will then spread it to all of the animals in that same cage. You could get at least $150 for that tank, I'd sell it and buy two 40 gallon tanks instead if you want two ball pythons. It is a bad idea to keep any kind of snakes together. Balls will sometimes eat each other if you put them in the same cage. It would not be fun to come home and see both your snakes dead, one eaten and the other one septic from eating the first. Also, balls do not do well in enormous cages, they want tiny places to hide and feel safe.

Starwild ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 8:13:59 PM
	Ah wait excuse me, I missed that it was someone else who kept him with other snakes. In any case, it is a very, very bad idea and if you want the best for your animal you will not do this.

Ken ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 8:19:19 PM
	Why would a snake become septic from eating another snake?

Starwild ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 8:19:37 PM
	Ok, also having read your last blog, are you talking about putting another animal in with your ball with cataracts? That is a disaster waiting to happen, snakes get scared when they can't see and stressing him more by putting another snake in with him, especially when you say he did not eat for three months, could be fatal to either him or the other snake. If he gets scared and attacks the other snake, that could end up hurting both of them, and if he is stressed more (which putting him in with another snake WILL do), he might not eat for you. I would not risk it under any circumstances but especially not with an animal that has a history of not eating and has cataracts.

Starwild ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 8:21:12 PM
	@Ken: speaking of balls, because it'd be too big of a meal, wouldn't be able to digest it and it would rot inside of it? ex: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/bigrich0086/Random/cannibalisticroyals1sw3.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/bigrich0086/Random/Cannibalism2.jpg

Ken ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 8:45:58 PM
	I've seen that picture before I guess I never really considered what that snake died of as septicemia I still don't really though I'd like to know which book it came from and if that was the actual cause of if something in the snake ruptured. Here's more fun pictures of snakes eating their cage mates though. http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/snakes/18496-royal-ball-pythons-housed-together.html

Izzy,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 9:06:19 PM
	I have to put my two cents in. I have to agree with Starwild... If you don't HAVE to keep your pythons together.... don't. It's not worth the trouble and worry to have them both in the same enclosure. As to the size of the enclosure, a 40Breeder is plenty big enough for an adult BP. Anything bigger than that, and you're more likely to stress them out, and get sick as a result, or simply stop eating. Remember, a happy BP is one you don't see, they are burrow dwellers in nature and like hiding where they feel safe.

shellboa,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 10:47:53 PM
	I vote keep the big ol tank and put a russian tortoise in it...oh, no tortoise. well then either find a way to section it up or get rid of it and get a few smaller ones. Big and glass= pain in the a**

Ken ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 10:50:06 PM
	Put the turtles in it if it holds water.

Cassandra Kendall,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 11:19:46 PM
	It is currently their tank. They r graduating to a 300gal. By the way. No glass for us! Acrylic all the way! A giant glass tank in a military family is a disaster waiting to happen ;)

Cassandra Kendall,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 11:29:27 PM
	Thank you all for your advice. My other option is to put my baby map turtles in the tank. They are outgrowing their current tank and being babies, and map turtles a giant tank would terrify them all day everyday, possibly harming them. Apollo isn't shy or really reclusive. If he was normal in that respect i would not consider moving him. Even blind he doesn't hide all day. He loves being out of his hide log.

Ken ,	Posted At: 2/8/2010 11:38:47 PM
	Put the baby maps in it. Give them a basking platform they can still climb onto and fill the tank with a ton of plants. Most likely plastic plants would be the logical non expensive approach. I mean fill it and don't anchor the plants leave them to float. Use an underground filter like a fluval and don't fill the tank to the top. Obviously you may have to rig the lighting a bit to make the platform functional I'm not sure how high that tank is. But if you just have to put something in that tank do that. You could probably add another turtle in there and they would be good for a good while.

JackAsp,	Posted At: 2/9/2010 3:05:51 AM
	Yeah, the turtle idea sounds like the way to go. A ball python's mostly going to hide no matter how big its tank is, but turtles need to swim around. The floating plastic plants are not only good for skulking and hiding, but also for taking a load off your mind so you don't have to worry about turtles drowning in deeper water, because the things double as "pool noodles." I used to keep a million in with my diamondback when he was smaller, back when I was first beginning to fill his mere 75 all the way up and was paranoid about it, but as the years went by and they broke apart I've phazed down to fewer and fewer. He's too heavy now to sleep on them anyway without sinking, but he used to love to.

John ,	Posted At: 2/9/2010 10:24:33 AM
	I definitely agree. You would be much better off to keep something else in that big tank. Ball pythons do not need such a large enclosure and you should not keep them together. Do you like lizards? Big huge glass tanks are great for many kinds of lizards.

OutkastBoa,	Posted At: 2/9/2010 10:52:52 AM
	Snakes don't feel safe in large enclosures!! They really don't like roommates!

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