Can a female ball python and a male ball python be caged together besides when mating?

Question

i would like to know

Answer 1

Yes, they should be able too

Answer 2

Unfortunately, Ball Pythons have been known to resolved the issue of overcrowding with the solution of eating the crowding members!

I suggest that you Google your snake, and educate yourself on its tolerances, or lack of.

Snakes, in general, only tolerate overcrowding when gathering to den together, for hibernation (as in snake eating gartner snakes), or for breeding.  Hybernation mode tends to shut down the "need to feed," where as "mating mode" can result in one snake eating the other.  It's a high engery time, for the snake.

Kingsnakes can NEVER be caged together.  One WILL eat the other.  It's why they were names "kings" to begin with.  They take on rattlesnakes larger, and eat them, all the same.

Snakes don't get "lonely."  They are born into a life of singular purpose: hunt, and eat.  Their instincts, in some species, are supspended for a time, so mating CAN occur.  But, much like the black widow spider?  Kingsnakes are as like, as not, to turn on, and devour their mates, AND competitors!

You can keep two balls together, provided it's a lot of tank, and they have lots of room to avoid each other.

I speak from personal experience, and have witnessed a Ball at the end of her tolerance.  She had lived happily with the male she attempted to eat for 2 yr., before she took exception to him, and decided he was "dinner."  The friend with me, who owned the snakes, thought it was mating behavior, and argued with me at first.

It took the female seizing the male's head, and swallowing 3" of him, before the friend yelled, "OMG!  SAVE HIM!"  I already had on gloves, and was entering the tank to do just that.

So, the answer is the same for Cornsnakes, and for Kingsnakes...   And for most Columbines.  "Sure, if you can watch them 24/7, and be there when the larger one decides the smaller one is 'dinner.'"  OR the more aggressive of the two decides to eat the larger snake (yes, they CAN do this).

I know two thousand people who will tell you that you can house two Balls together without worry.  I know four who can assure you that is false.

Seeing is believing.  For me?  I would NOT house two Balls together, unless it was for breeding purposes, and only then, monitored 24/7.

In the wild, these reptiles hatch, and separate, seeking a solitary life, except for breeding.  And THOSE encounters can result in one snake eating another.

When stressed - a Ball Python WILL eat another Ball Python.  Or even a snake of a different species.

When ill, a Ball Python will also eat another snake.

Google your pet.  Each page will lead to further links on the topic, if you have the patience.  I still prefer the good ole' library, and books on the specific topic.

The key here is to educate yourself on the animal in question long before you obtain it.

You must accept, as a snake owner, that snakes have a very tiny brain, and just aren't "too bright."

For an animal so alien (they can't walk... they can't hear...they shed their skin, and swallow their food whole); it's silly to try to relate to them on 'human' terms.

For the most part?  It's safe.  Toss them in the cage together.  Eating each other is RARE.

But - it DOES happen.

The choice is yours.

Answer 3

It's not suggested, snakes in the wild don't hang out together and you would need a 60 gallon tank minimum for the two of them.

They would be stressed out and unhappy