Two snakes one cage ok???

[burmeselover15]

i would have to say that the awnser to your question is your own opinion. for my opinion i suggest that the snakes be housed differently but housing together wouldnt hurt anything as long as no fighting or anything occurs in the cages between both of them. if this occurs remove the snakes imidatily to different cages. i would also suggest housing only males and only females together. when breeding season comes around and you feel like breeding then i would seperate and do everything u need to do for successful breeding. i also suggest that feeding them one at a time and not together so each gets the right amount of food and equally to each other.

[JuliusSqueezer]

These cases almost never occur when the snakes are just cohabitating. It almost always happens during or shortly after keeper interaction. There are ways to avoid it. If you remove a snake in a shared cage ESPECIALLY for feeding, don't poke around or linger..get the snake out quickly. Don't just put it back in. If the other snake is asleep, or waiting for it's turn to eat, just ate and still hunting...for whatever reason, it may attack any movement. If you remove that snake or even just drag it forward a bit with a hook till it starts retreating back for security. This is enough distraction to change it's mode from hunting to hiding/escape mode. Then put the snake that you are trying to put back in or near another hide spot on the other side of the cage so it will go in there instead of running over to where the other snake is. Always remember that as long as that cage is open and you are standing there, anxiety at any number of degrees is going to be a factor and snakes will lash out when anxiety ridden. Even if you think they get along great and don't seem at all bothered by each other there are times when accidents can occur during times of stress or anxiety. While not an especially social animal, they tend to tolerate to the point of not even really acknowledging each other for the most part. When you see them "snuggling" together on a basking spot, They aren't "snuggling". They are occupying the same part of the cage and happen to be seeking the same temp at the same time. If one moves to the cool side and the other follows, they aren't following each other, they are on the same thermoregulation schedule It is the temperature and security that attracts snakes to basking and den sites. Not the other snakes. The only time a snake is attracted to a spot because there is another snake there is because it's looking to eat it or mate with it. Otherwise, the other snake in the cage may as well be a piece of drift wood for all the cage mate cares. It's neither impressed nor upset about the presence of another snake. Even the whole matching the size of the snakes thing causing stress through dominance is myth for snakes. Lizards, turtles, crocs...not a myth. Snakes...myth. There is of course always the risk of the larger snake piling on top of the little guy and crushing or suffocating but even that's rare. Breeding pairs of many species have either much larger or much smaller males. The little guys know how to wiggle out of the way before they get squished...usually. As I said, it's always a risk even if very small.

Is it better to keep them separate? of course it is. If you ever intend to breed though, you better learn how to keep them together too because sometimes it takes weeks or even months to complete the courting/breeding ritual...And face it. A large part of why we keep these animals is for display and sometimes the display looks better with 2 or 3 snakes in it. While not the best excuse...it happens. I've done it. I'm sure many of you have as well. The only accidents I've ever had was with baby boas. I'll never save space by putting fresh litters in a large tote again. I'd rather cramp them in a shoebox rack till they sell than to go through losing a baby to a cage mate again. While it didn't take me 3 hours to get them apart...more like 30 seconds, the damage was done and the victim had to be put down due to the air being cut off long enough to cause brain damage. She flopped around for a few minutes and finally stopped but for 2 days couldn't keep her head from flopping upside down...absolutely no control of her body. I had fed them in feeding totes...a fresh litter of 20 something week old babies... first meal. I waited till the next morning to return them together and whether she had rat smell on her or I just upset one of the ones already back in the cage, I'll never know but as soon as I sat her in the cage, wham! Who's to blame? Me. I was the cause of the stress and anxiety that caused the snake to strike. It was nothing that the other snake did.

[burmeselover15]

you sayed it all right there very nice

[boaterr]

Originally Posted by burmeselover15

i would have to say that the awnser to your question is your own opinion. for my opinion i suggest that the snakes be housed differently but housing together wouldnt hurt anything as long as no fighting or anything occurs in the cages between both of them. if this occurs remove the snakes imidatily to different cages. i would also suggest housing only males and only females together. when breeding season comes around and you feel like breeding then i would seperate and do everything u need to do for successful breeding. i also suggest that feeding them one at a time and not together so each gets the right amount of food and equally to each other.

If you house some species of male constrictors in the same cage such as Retics and Afrocks they will fight to the death, especailly during breeding season.

[burmeselover15]

thats why i said watch to see if they are going to fight

[burmeselover15]

and if they do romove them

[boaterr]

You can't just remove a pair of fighting pythons, with snakes that big if they want to keep fighting very few things can stop them. Either one of the snakes or the keeper will be torn to pieces.

[burmeselover15]

well i guess it will be the keeper then

[faroutinmt]

Originally Posted by danktat

I would say read this thread.......

Your one stop reptile community - Been a while

This is what CAN happen.

Thanks for this post. Not only is the initial topic of this post a good one, but the links I went to from the link you posted are very good as well (the live food issue). It is always so good to understand both the potential as well as the certain dangers involved in things we may choose to do regarding how we keep our reptiles.

While not everyone will always agree with warnings often raised, we should always be ready and willing to carefully examine and consider such things. We often flatter ourselves inordinately as to how much we think we know about keeping our pets. May I always be ready to learn from others.

Thanks for this post!

[burmeselover15]

well i stand very corrected by this this just shows how stupid i really am when it comes to other snakes. i think burmese are the only snake that i know alot about so i am just going to stick to these big lions