Pairing Coastals

[itbites]

Question...

G'day all!!..ok i've got this pair of coastals their brothers or sisters or brother and sister...1 of the 3 (not sure on sex) anyhow they're related. About 1 year of age now, i'm wanting to pair them together not for breeding or anything just wanted to make some space and also give them some company. But here's my issue i'vev never done it before so i just wanted a few tips eg: should they be fed first? should they have seperate sleeping areas? i know you have to feed them seperately. And finally last question...their not the tamest of snakes meaning they attack me everytime i touch them and are quite intimidated by me in general unfortunately, so will this effect thir behavior towards one another? will they be aggressive to each other? any tips and info would be much appreciated cheers!!

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day itbites,

Some people keep their snakes together, but at the end of the day if they are together, one can eat the other. It does happen, so it's best to keep them seperated.

Cheers

[Clairebear]

I've seen savage snakes calm down after being put in with another snake (not my own though) but there's always the possibility of cage aggression.

When i put my MDs in together, i made sure both had fed the day before, and that i disinfected and completely cleaned the cage i was adding the male to, so that it didn't smell too strongly of the female. They always cuddle up together and there hasn't been any problems so far.

[sid94]

don't know much about coastals but if i put my murry darling males
together at breeding season there would only be one left

[sigridshurte]

there isnt any point in putting them together till aug, sep, oct cos thats there breeding season, till then id try and tame them up.....if ya reallly worryed about bites wear a jumper and socks on ya hands and sunnys and when ya holding them take the socks off ya hands to get the used to the feel of ya hands....or just dive in there and pck them up..... goood luck!

[itbites]

HEHE yeh i just dive in now lol mm i dont want to breed them...or have them eat each other ...so maybe i'll just keep em apart then like i have for the last 8 months it's just a shame that i couldn't keep them together

[herpie boy]

i have done it with mds which i kept together for 2 years m and f, although in a very large arborial enclosure. i also had the male atherton you sold me in with my female for 6 mths. i havent had an issue with housing carpets this way. i think the best way is to supervise them and assess their behaviour. i wouldnt leave 2 males in together with a female except under watchful eye( obviously this would only be done during breeding season). as long as the enclosure is big enough with seperate sleeping areas i cant see the problem.

[itbites]

I have friends who keep their snakes together whether their yearling's or full grown even different species?!?!... so i guess it's just comes down to preference.....? and perhaps truely knowing that particular snakes attitude

[kwaka_80]

I have found pairing my spotted up with a small carpet python calmed my spotted right down, I removed her into her own enclosure and sure enough she was back at it... I have also paired coastals and found the best way to do it is while the "owner" of the enclosure is alseep introduce the other one in the oppisite corner (I belive this is how they meet in the wild, just "stumbling" onto each other) they should find each other when the time is right just check on them ATLEAST once a week, and they WILL curl up together this is nothing to be alarmed about.

[kwaka_80]

generally speaking the coastal carpet python is very much a communal animal with in the early 90's or late 80's a tree hollow was found in gympie QLD with hundreds of carpets in it, indicating the "need or want" for a mate or many

[sigridshurte]

mmmm ive kept my coastals together with no problems and ive kept coasts and jungle together with no problems i gess it just comes down to the snakes attatude

[SnakePower]

I have had 3 different species try to eat, or attack another that was housed with them. Firstly early on I placed to new woma hatchies together and shortly after found the female totally coiled the male and was about to start munching, luckily I caught them in time. Aspidites have never been housed together since with the exception of introduction during the breeding season. Second incidence was a female Darwin adult, that during a time when I was feeding other snakes in the room, saw it's cage mate and struck and coiled, resulting in a 20 minute separation effort. Last but not least was another female, a Capey that was attacked by it's male partner just for moving at the wrong time.

These were all several years ago, and I now house every single animal separately except for during the breeding season... Period!!!

It's all up to the individual, but if you house them together, there is always the pssiblity of something like this happening. I have been lucky and have not lost any animals from these events, but I do know of several people that have in fact lost animals for these reasons!! including the famous "Doc Rock" from SXR, as he mentioned in a recent artical in reptile's Australia magazine. So the risk is always there.

The question is... Do you want to take that risk??????

[Clairebear]

Don't Woma's eat other reptiles naturally though? I've been told never house Blackheads as you'll get cannabilism and i was pretty sure it was the same for Womas.

[SnakePower]

It is the same for woma's but this was about 5 or 6 years ago, befre anyone had told me anything about the whole cannabilism thing! My first Aspidites etc. I self learnt pretty fast from that though! lol.

[Clairebear]

Damn those sharp learning curves