Question about co-habitation

[smith0722]

I was wondering if it's ok to house two Boas in the same enclosure, or if there are rules where it would or would not work. We have a 6 month old Boa that's about 3 1/2 feet long. She's the sweetest girl in the world, by the way we had her probed and she is a she!! But we have a huge custom tank built and we would love to add another boa to our family. Problem is we live in an apartment and we would have to put them together. Any help would be soooo appreciated. I promise to get pics of my girl up SOON!!!

[brooksie2]

Its definitely not recomended to house snakes together. They arent the most social animals and should only be brought together for breeding. There is so much that could go wrong. Its wayyyy to risky.

[Masahiko]

It is Never a good idea to house more than 1 boa/snake/reptile in an enclosure. Reptiles are not social beyond fighting and mating. They can be canniballistic in extreme cases, but besides that you must worry about premature breeding, stress, spreading of disease (if any). They will always establish a hierarchy of dominance. So this is why it is commonly accepted to house reptiles separately.

Welcome to RTC by the way

[razeraze]

The only way I would house 2 boas together would be like monitors. So probably a 28'L x 14'W x 8'T and able to put a divider in should I need to.

[Revj0e]

Though it has been said... probably not a good idea. Your going to wake up one morning and only have one snake.

[smith0722]

We got her from The Reptile Guy (people from the Seattle area should know him) He had 5 Boas in one big enclosure, 3 males and 2 females. So I thought I would ask and I do value your guys opinion, you all seem to know what you are talking about. Thanks a lot for the advise, we will have to wait for a bigger place before we expand our family. I really do appreciate your help!!

[ssjsmits]

Whole mess of trouble housing them together.

[Critter]

I house all 9 snakes together in one 2ft long, 2ft deep and 8in high container. When it's feeding time, I just throw 4 live large rats in for the bigger snakes and 5 smaller ones for the smaller snakes.

it's all good.

^Sarcasm, in case you didn't know. IMO for a short term thing I don't think it is a problem, provided the snakes are similar in size. One thing not mentioned here is that a lot of us closely monitor what our snakes do. When they shed, when they crap... it's much harder to lock down which of the snakes took that huge dump in the corner...

	IMO In My Opinion

[Stargazer]

I have some direct experience with this. I was told by several reliable (I thought) sources that it was okay to house 2 similarly sized boas together, even a boy and girl. So I bought a boy BCC as a companion for my girl BCI. At first, I thought is was a splendid idea. They loved to cuddle up together, and the girl loved to lie on top of the boy. It was adorable.....until suddenly my male stopped eating! I could only get him to eat like every 5-6 weeks. That's when I found these snake forums. Everyone told me to separate them. Like you, I have a space issue in my tiny condo, and I didn't want another enclosure. After 3 months of deliberating, I separated them. It was the best move I could ever make. The male started eating again.

Here are the reasons why they should be kept separate:

1. If there is a dominant snake, that snake could stress out the other one and cause it to go off feed or even stunt its growth! It may look like they're cuddling, but they could just be expressing dominance or competing for the same hide box.

2. If one gets sick, the other gets sick. Twice the vet bills.

3. The slight possibility of cannibalism or injury due to feeding. Even if you feed separately, if the rat scent is on one snake, the other will smell it.

4. Inability to track sheds, poops, etc. (as mentioned above).

5. If one does get sick and need to be isolated, you will need an extra enclosure for the other one anyway. May as well get two.

6. Obviously, if you have a male and a female, there is the chance of them breeding. Sometimes snakes are not sexed properly, and you just don't know.

There are many people who do house snakes together with very good luck. Based on my experience I would not. If space is an issue, I would go with large stackable enclosures that take up less space, or divide the custom one. Best of luck!

	Boa Constrictor Imperator

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor

[danktat]

There is always the option of dividing the cage space in half. I have a 6' X 30" animal plastics cage that I have divided in half to house two adult snakes (Bcc). Works fine for snakes of that size. I only house them where they can contact each other durring breeding season.

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor