# Housing Two Carpets Together?



## TheReptileCove (Feb 12, 2014)

Hey all,

I recently bought myself a pair of jungle carpet pythons. The previous owner had the pair housed together all year round. After doing some research i have seen that this is perfectly fine given they both have enough space, hides etc.
I was just curious that when breeding season comes around is there much you have to do differently? Or do i just cool the temperatures down as normal and they will just breed when they know it's time?
Also, when my collection gets a bit bigger, would i still be able to rotate this male to other females if he is housed with the same female all year round? Didn't know if he would be more effective if he was housed solo then rotated through a few females?

Thanks


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## shaunyboy (Feb 16, 2014)

myself and plenty other Carpet keepers i know co habit Carpets

i co habit.....

same sized females

same sized pairs

ALWAYS separate at feeding time...

when feeding i take which ever Carpets the easier of the two to get out their enclosure

i NEVER house two males together


cheers shaun


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## Pythoninfinite (Feb 16, 2014)

It's always fine until there's a disaster... and despite what the cohabiters say, they do happen.....

Jamie


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## Riffherper (Feb 16, 2014)

This question is asked sooooo often. Have a look at previous threads regarding this.


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## TheReptileCove (Feb 16, 2014)

Yes, i have been separating my pair in to two plastic tubs during feeding. 

Pythoninfinite what sort of disasters could occur?


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## Riffherper (Feb 16, 2014)

They can kill/eat each other especially if in the care of those who may not recognize warning signs or have experience in keeping snakes.


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## CrystalMoon (Feb 16, 2014)

TheReptileCove said:


> Yes, i have been separating my pair in to two plastic tubs during feeding.
> 
> Pythoninfinite what sort of disasters could occur?


Death.... 
I know it sounds dramatic, but seriously it can happen. I used to keep my Jungle pair together, stupid mistake and I very nearly lost one through the other doing the feed wrap etc around the other(had fed them separately but didnt leave them apart for long enough and one of them was also still in hunt mode) I was tired and not thinking, I consider myself very lucky indeed to have averted disaster. I have also heard of snakes being paired for years and then losing one. I know people do it all the time and have success, and I admire their vigilance. I also loaned a gorgeous high yellow Coastal female to a friend for breeding(long term loan), he was supposed to be some-one who knew what he was doing. Without going into detail, she is now deceased(he fed them together :x ) As another poster has said, there are many threads on this topic. At the end of the day it is your choice


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## Pythoninfinite (Feb 16, 2014)

There are numerous stories (and I've seen it myself) of keepers coming home to find a bloodbath, and one or both pythons mortally injured or dead. Not from combat injuries, but from recognition mistakes, or residual food scent, or from any one of a number of reasons we may not understand. Not usually a problem in a large space such as an outdoor aviary, but in confined spaces like our 4x2x2 enclosures, which are simply too small guarantee that the animals can separate themselves from each other.

It's always a risk, but there will always be people who do it seemingly without incident and therefore recommend it, but as a long-term keeper myself, it would NEVER be a routine option for me to house Carpets together. By the way, male-male combat is not consistent across all Carpet subspecies.

Jamie


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## champagne (Feb 16, 2014)

Riffherper said:


> They can kill/eat each other especially if in the care of those who may not recognize warning signs or have experience in keeping snakes.



I'm not having a go at you, so please don't take this the wrong way but I think this is a bad message to put out there... what your message can be interrupted as is only experienced keepers should attempt this because inexperienced keepers wont see the signs. So in a way it could be seen as a challenge for inexperience keepers to ''prove'' their abilities and there is a lot of over night experts that love to try to justify how much of an expert they are. In my opinion it shouldn't be attempted because even the most experienced keepers cant watch their snakes 24/7.


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## Riffherper (Feb 16, 2014)

champagne said:


> I'm not having a go at you, so please don't take this the wrong way but I think this is a bad message to put out there... what your message can be interrupted as is only experienced keepers should attempt this because inexperienced keepers wont see the signs. So in a way it could be seen as a challenge for inexperience keepers to ''prove'' their abilities and there is a lot of over night experts that love to try to justify how much of an expert they are. In my opinion it shouldn't be attempted because even the most experienced keepers cant watch their snakes 24/7.



Yeh I get what you are saying. I personally am totally against keeping snakes together in any capacity but that's me. I've realised people are going to do what they want and what is convenient for them despite the warnings of others. I therefore tend to explain what can happen and let people decide for themselves what they want to do. In my opinion the only benefit to housing snakes together is to the owner. Snakes aren't social creatures that want to gab next to the ol water bowl. More to what I said however for those that do keep snakes together those with experience are obviously less likely to encounter issues.


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## Pythoninfinite (Feb 16, 2014)

My feeling about this is always - if you have to ask, then you don't know enough about snakes to take the risk - but as you say Rh, it's up to the individual if they want to take the risk.

Jamie


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## Newhere (Feb 16, 2014)

Whats the point, you would need an enclosure twice the size and twice as wide to allow them to pick any spot in the thermal gradient they desire, may aswell just build two enclosures or buy half as many snakes if you can't afford to look after them properly.


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## PythonLegs (Feb 16, 2014)

The line that always gets trotted out is 'they do it zoos'...by people not realising how much stock is lost in zoos..


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## TheReptileCove (Feb 16, 2014)

Newhere said:


> Whats the point, you would need an enclosure twice the size and twice as wide to allow them to pick any spot in the thermal gradient they desire, may aswell just build two enclosures or buy half as many snakes if you can't afford to look after them properly.



I am not sure if you are aiming this at me or everyone that has thought about housing there snakes in pairs.
I only asked as the pair i bought were housed together with the previous owner, i also have a friend that has housed a pair of his snakes together.
I think that by saying housing two snakes together isn't the "proper" way to look after them is wrong.
As stated above, it is up to the individual owner if the space provided is ok to house two snakes. There is no guide-line saying it isn't the proper way.


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## Umbral (Feb 16, 2014)

The issue can also be that most enclosures have one basking spot which forces the snakes to sit in the same spot together where in the wild they would have ample choice on spaces away from other snakes. I had my Darwins together for a little while and the male was always defencive, since moving him to his own enclosure he is fine.


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## Endeavour (Feb 16, 2014)

The question for me is "Is there a greater risk to either snake when kept with others?", the answer is a definite yes and thats why I dont. At the end of the day though its a personal choice.

Kindest regards

Endeavour


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## Hamalicious (Feb 20, 2014)

TheReptileCove said:


> I am not sure if you are aiming this at me or everyone that has thought about housing there snakes in pairs.
> I only asked as the pair i bought were housed together with the previous owner, i also have a friend that has housed a pair of his snakes together.
> I think that by saying housing two snakes together isn't the "proper" way to look after them is wrong.
> As stated above, it is up to the individual owner if the space provided is ok to house two snakes. There is no guide-line saying it isn't the proper way.




The guideline that says it isn't the proper way is nature. Snakes are not social creatures and they do not hang out together in the wild except for breeding time. If you want to be a good and responsible keeper, you should replicate their natural environments. Even if they don't kill each other, constantly being with another snake is very stressful and will cause all sorts of other problems for them. 

I took bad advice from a breeder as a kid, i housed my MDs together and i suffered the consequences. 14 years later and i have learnt a lot, and as far as i am concerned, keeping snakes together is completely unnecessary and cruel. Either sell one of the snakes, or get a second enclosure.


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## Senator358 (Feb 20, 2014)

[MENTION=24684]TheReptileCove[/MENTION] Perhaps take a look at this thread...

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/olive-fight-211866/#post2424090

That is a recent one but there are plenty of others stories of the same thing happening.


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## Snowman (Feb 20, 2014)

I do it with some. But worry about yourself and not what I do....


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## solar 17 (Feb 20, 2014)

l have "seen it myself" where a guy kept two together for ages then for some unknown reason "holey crap" it looked like they had both been run over with a lawn mower, l personally have never done it but after that l would not even think about it. solar 17 ~B~


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