Can Ball Pythons live together? Is it safe?

Описание: In today’s video, we’re going to talk about Ball Python cohabitation, and the potential risks it can lead to. As always, I’ve written a more in-depth article on the subject, that you can find here:
https://ballpythonbreeder.co.uk/ball-...

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In my opinion, Ball Pythons cannot live together. Cohabiting them leads to a range of potential issues, from anorexia to full-blown illness. Competition between them will be subtle, but it will be there! There’s also the small issue of unwanted eggs – if you just want pets rather than a breeding project, that is.

In this video and accompanying blog post we learn the following:
• Ball Pythons are solitary creatures in the wild, primarily coming together for breeding purposes.
• Their natural breeding strategy is polygynandry, where males mate with multiple females and vice versa.
• Cohabiting Ball Pythons is not recommended due to the competition they exhibit in the wild.
• Competition among male Ball Pythons can involve intense wrestling matches for mating rights.
• Female Ball Pythons have the ability to choose which sperm to use for fertilization, resulting in "dual-sire" clutches.
• Risks of cohabiting Ball Pythons include fighting for dominance, stress, cannibalism, spreading diseases, spreading parasites, increased risk of illness, and unwanted breeding.
• Dominance fights between female Ball Pythons are subtle, with snakes attempting to claim warm spots or hiding places.
• Stress from cohabitation can lead to anorexia, regurgitation, and weakened immune response, making the snakes more susceptible to illnesses.

Contents of this video:
00:00 Intro
01:09 Fighting for dominance
03:18 Stress and anorexia
05:23 Cannibalism
06:04 Contagious disease
07:20 Parasites
08:47 Spontaneous illness
09:44 Unwanted breeding
10:32 Conclusion

I’m hoping after watching the video you’ll agree that keeping them together is generally not a great idea. But as always, feel free to get in touch and ask about anything else you'd like to know.

Edit: I'm aware there is a new study on this subject and I will do an update video (eventually). The study has shown some tenuous but interesting evidence that Ball Pythons will spend time together in certain circumstances. Please remember that said study was only with sexually immature snakes - not adults

Has my advice changed? Not at all. Observational studies on innate behaviours should not always define how we keep animals in captive conditions - they are interesting - not definitive. Many animals that spend time together also pass diseases to each other or pester each other to breed.

In a nutshell, it's still tough trying to find out which snake is sick when you find vomit in an enclosure with several animals in it. And it's still tough dealing with shy feeders when, for safety's sake, you have to separate them or remove them from the enclosure for feeding!

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