a question out of curiosity...

[Selene]

I was reading a thread the other day when a woman asked about keeping her hatchling pythons together and was told that there was a chance one would eat the other. But I have heard other people speaking of keeping their jungles together and have seen snakes that come in pairs. Are these snakes that have been raised together or is it ok to put them together once they are old enough and big enough to not be eaten? Or does it have something to do with sexual maturity and it being ok to have another around once they have started breeding?
Sorry if this sounds dumb.

 

[nabu120]

i have a pair of diamond hatchies together at the moment, they seem to be doing fine, i will be seperating them eventually once there a bit bigger tho and will be ok in a larger enclosure, but yea if there both simular in size, i.e both this years hatchies for example i dont c y it would be a problem, just keep an eye on them when u put them together and seperate them to feed

 

[Jewly]

I think when you see people are selling pairs, they are meaning they are selling a male and a female, not that they are necessarily housed together.

 

[JasonL]

They can do fine for many years, then one day, one eats the other one. It is more common with hatchlings, and some species more than others. Quite often the snake that eats the other one regurges the meal and dies as well.

 

[Jazza369]

im keep 2 jungles and 2 coastal hacthies in the same tank for like a year but now they have there tubs to live in ( not there big 4ft tank they shareed) and i never had a promble

 

[licky]

i think hatchies Shouldnt be kept together because the majority are reptile eaters as hatchies. Meaning canniblism could result in hatchies. wait till they are definately rodent eaters

 

[Cheyne_Jones]

i have a pair of diamond hatchies together at the moment, they seem to be doing fine, i will be seperating them eventually once there a bit bigger tho and will be ok in a larger enclosure, but yea if there both simular in size, i.e both this years hatchies for example i dont c y it would be a problem, just keep an eye on them when u put them together and seperate them to feed

No offence but that is really dumb, you are well on your way to having one diamond hatchy...

Why whouldnt you separate them considering a click clack is like 10 bucks...

 

[Selene]

Thanks everyone for your answers. I guess it is a personal choice thing as much as it is anything.
I have no intentions of putting any snakes together I was just curious... I would love to one day be able to breed my jungle but she's still just a baby for now so thats a long way off and may never even happen. I have lots of research and learning to do first.

 

[chrisso81]

Another point to consider is the fact that if one animal becomes dominant over the other and excludes it from the basking site/hide etc. the weaker animal will become stressed and is at a greater risk of becoming sick.

 

[licky]

I never thought of snakes as being a animal that portrays dominance. Males only become violent because of mating season. Stress would more then likely because of a husbandry problem (wrong temps etc). My coastals dont display anything dominant related. in fact they share hides and basking spots.
but NEVER EVER EVER feed together, always feed seperatly

 

[chrisso81]

Sorry licky, I just read this article by Simon Stone and he mentioned it so i thought I might just mention it too because I thought he might know what he's talking about. Guess not.

 

[Mayhem]

Childerens/Spotteds/Macs shouldnt be kept together as juveniles as they are canibalistic - Moreilias arnt.

SO in answer, you can keep some species together and not others.

There is not really any problem keeping your hatchie diamonds/carpets/bredili's as a funky little bundle together... Ideally u should seperate them for the sake of keeping accurate records on each snake etc, but no, they arnt going to eat eachother.

Antaresia's on the other hand will readily eat eachother and you're going to be in for a nasti suprise soon enough if you keep them together.

 

[Mayhem]

I nearly found out the hard way - http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-herps/young-spotteds-canbalistic-107609

 

[Cheyne_Jones]

I have heard of a full grown diamond eating its conterpart in an outdoor aviary aswell, can happen....

 

[thesilverbeast]

how can you say "no they aren't going to eat each other" for sure though?

Where are you getting your information that its completely ok as long as theyre morelias?

 

[Mayhem]

Because I have never in my entire life seen or heard of a verified example of Carpet hatchies eating eachother and further to that, pretty much every single person I have met who has just hatched a clutch of carpets has had them all bundled into one click clack at the times I've seen them.

Sure, I've seen clutches eventually seperated for managments sake, but 9/10 times I can remember, they've been housed together, some for quite a long term period.
Feeding a whole group of snakes in one enclosure presents its own problems.. its not canibalism, its just two snakes trying to swallow the same prey item.

I'm sure there are rare excpetions to the rule, but I bet you my left nut that if it was a very seriouse concern, they wouldnt risk leaving them together for any longer than was absoloutely neccesary.

 

[Mayhem]

Also, I arnt 100% certain, but I am pretty sure reptiles make up a staple part of juvie Anter's diets and Moreilas (although they probably do eat the occasional small lizard in the wild) probably dont really depend on the small lizards for early prey AS MUCH???

What I am trying to get at is, maybee the Childerens/Spotted/Mac species already have a fairly strong feeding response to mainly reptiles (hence why they fail to draw a difference between a small lizard and a small snake of any species) and Moreilas are more interested in other prey items before they'd settle for reptiles...

Dunno... just a bit of thinking aloud, I could be totally wrong.

 

[chrisso81]

I saw a photo of a dead darwin hatchy that had eaten another darwin hatchy, they're morelia aren't they? I just can't understand why people would risk it? Can't afford to house 2 snakes? Don't buy 2 snakes.....

 

[Noongato]

I had a white cockatoo growing up. One day it caught and ate a sparrow!!!!

You can never predict what a animal will or will not eat........

 

[Mayhem]

I saw a photo of a dead darwin hatchy that had eaten another darwin hatchy, they're morelia aren't they? I just can't understand why people would risk it? Can't afford to house 2 snakes? Don't buy 2 snakes.....

yeh fair call... so I guess it does happen... its just not as common as the others... in any case, you're right, why risk it? Aside from feeding time would be major pain in the *** when u have to supervise and seperate them all, it just makes sense to seperate them asap.