New to this forum..... hello!

Hi all- I am a regular over on the leopard gecko forum, but I have now acquired 1.2 balls. They are roughly 5 months old, I think, and so far so good, very docile. I believe they are normal morphs, if there is such a thing w/BPs. They are currently in a 20 long, and I understand they will fine there for several months, yes? There is a lock on the lid, I have lost a few baby corns before, not going to repeat that, lol. Do I need to seperate the male to avoid premature breeding? I did read the care sheet posted here, and the quick sheet from PetsMart, but I'd like to be as familiar with this guys as I am with my leos. Any really good spots for in-depth info? I really just wanted to say hi, introduce myself, etc. As a newbie, I'm sure I'll be around with more questions at some point.

You have all 3 in a 20 gallon or are they each in their own 20 gallon?
You don't want to house these together.
Here is some good info from Jen's site.
http://www.pinkladyconstrictors.com/...honbasics.html
http://www.pinkladyconstrictors.com/multsnakes.html

All three are in the tank. I took these 3 in trade, and was told this situation would be just fine! Shame on me for not researching it myself, I took the word of the breeder, and am not really equipped to house 3 snakes individually, all on quarantine. Jeez! Will they be OK for a few months until off quarantine? They are young snakes- only about 14 inches each.

You never want to house them together especially during QT. If one is sick, they could all get sick. Also, if one has runny stools and needs to see a vet, you won't know which one it is. Plus they may go off feed due to being housed together since stress causes them not to eat.
Who was the breeder that sold them and said they would be fine together?
That is not a reputable person. No decent breeder will tell you to house all of them together.

I arranged this trade with a local guy, who responded to an ad I placed here on fauna. I have sent an email to him in an attempt to work this mess out. Awaiting a reply there. I'm a little ticked as I made it clear to him initially that I had no room to spare, and could only do a trade if I could place what I was getting in the same tanks as what he took. (And yes, I cleaned it all first). They are being quarantined together since I thought they were housed together since birth, and I have had a good leo breeding season, and have NO additional space. I am hopeful that we can resolve this issue without my neccesitating a post to the BOI. If/when that becomes neccesary, of course names will be mentioned. Thank you so much for your help and quick replies here. If you still want to know, send me a PM for more details.

Good luck to you. It sounds like he was more interested in getting these snakes traded rather than their proper housing.
In a pinch you could always go and pickup sterilite/rubbermaid tubs and some heat tape. You can get heat tape wired and ready from Reptile Basics and the tubs at Walmart.
For about $50 (including shipping), you could have setups for all 3 of the snakes.

Lisa, keeping multiple Ball Pythons in 1 cage/tub is not a problem as long as its short term while you are working on individual set ups. the major downfall being that all their metabolisms will increase in a group situation and keeping proper weight on them will be a problem. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by geckogrl6

Will they be OK for a few months until off quarantine? They are young snakes- only about 14 inches each.

Ed, she is talking about keeping them together for a few months. That's not short term IMO.

Short term IMO would be a few days while their housing is being prepared. A LOT can happen in a few months.

A breeder should not say it's OK to house multiple snakes together. It's just not the right thing to do.

Steve, housing Ball Pythons together for 2 months is not a problem.

Think about it, how many times have we kept Balls together for long periods of time breeding them?

Originally Posted by SPJ

Ed, she is talking about keeping them together for a few months. That's not short term IMO.

Short term IMO would be a few days while their housing is being prepared. A LOT can happen in a few months.

A breeder should not say it's OK to house multiple snakes together. It's just not the right thing to do.

Originally Posted by Ed Clark

Steve, housing Ball Pythons together for 2 months is not a problem.

Think about it, how many times have we kept Balls together for long periods of time breeding them?

True BUT we also know that the ones breeding are healthy and established animals as well as what to look for regarding problems.
These are new animals that are going thru QT.
I think it's a bit of a different situation. They could go off feed since they are so young and housed together and since she has not had them long enough to confirm there is no underlying problem with them, it risks all getting mites, RI, etc. housing them all together during a QT period if even one has a problem.