Two boa's in one tank???

[BlackLX306]

I have an 11 week old Redtail Boa. I am going to the New York Expo next weekend and want to get another Redtail to put with the one I have now (75gallontank). I'm not sure if the one I have now is a male or female but I was planning on getting it sexed before next weekend. My question is though, should adding either another male or female to my 75 gallon w/ the other redtail..should they get along?? I had two pythons together but they were born together so I'm not sure what the reaction would be w/ the Redtails. Any comments welcome :-)

[ClayEnglish]

Re: Two boa's in one tank???

Directly from the care guide.

Can I house more than one boa in the same enclosure?

This is one of the most often asked questions that I receive. I will first say that I believe that DIFFERENT species of snakes should NEVER be housed together, such as a boa and a ball python. The chance for disease spread, including IBD, are too risky. It has also been my opinion over the years that "If you cannot afford a second enclosure, then you cannot afford a second boa". Although this sounds very harsh it is actually based on a lot of experience and feedback.

It has never been a question of "CAN" two snakes exist in one enclosure.... It is done all the time. Healthy baby boas can be raised together for a long time, often without incident. BUT it is WHEN something happens that you need the extra enclosure. And IF you are 100% on top of every husbandry issue, these 2 snakes could live 20 years, have 300 babies (if male and female ,) and never have a health related issue. You know... "And they lived happily ever after"

However, in the real world there could be 100 things happen, that will cause them to "REQUIRE" seperation. Whether this is sickness, a bite, a burn, a regurgitation, etc etc, there will be times when they must be seperated to allow recovery time. Back to the male/female issue. If the female becomes gravid, you will need somewhere for the male to be for 4 or 5 MONTHS. Although people house boas together all the time, I believe boas should only be housed together during breeding cycles. There are too many factors that require individual housing space. I will list some of the most common issues requiring seperation here.

1. Feeding. This presents a huge problem if you think you can feed both boas at the same time in the same enclosure. NEVER feed 2 boas in the same enclosure! PERIOD. They must be seperated into temporary containers for feeding purposes. An attempt to feed both at the same time in the same enclosure could result in a situation where they both attempt to strike and constrict the same prey item, which could result in one of the boa becoming constricted itself. This is not a situation you want to find yourself in, because boas are much stronger than you think and seperating them will not be a simple task.

2. Sickness, Diseases, Mites, Ticks, etc etc. It is really simple. If one boa gets one of these, then BOTH boas get it.

3. Stress. Most often overlooked, stress related issues can result from competition for the "best" basking area, or the "best" hideaway. If it is two males housed together, there may be a dominance issue. Stress factors result in lowering the immune system capabilities, therefore allowing sicknesses to be easier to "catch".

4. Record Keeping. If you intend to track individual records for each boa, housing them together creates a problem. Knowing which one shed, which one pooped, which one regurgitated, etc etc becomes problematic.

5.Breeding. If your intent is to breed your boas later in life I believe they should be seperated up until the time of breeding introduction. Many people believe that boas that are housed together for life, a male and a female, are much less likely to produce offspring. I know it happens from time to time, in different situations, but the odds go down. After extended periods of seperation, it can simply be the introduction of the male into the females enclosure that initiates the breeding cycle.

6. Quarantine. When the second boa is brought into your home, it needs to be quarantined. EVERY boa should be seperated in a different enclosure and seperate room if possible, for a 3 month period. Again, any sickness or mites will spread from boa to boa like wildfire, including IBD. All it takes is one mite from a sick boa biting the other boa and presto, both boas are now sick. Also quarantine would be necessary anyway if one of the boas got sick, or regurgitated, so the need for the second enclosure is already there.

If you cannot afford a second enclosure or do not have the additional space for a second enclosure, then you cannot afford another snake.

[SaKSTa]

Re: Two boa's in one tank???

I house my two corns together, and they do just fine. I made the mistake of feeding the full grown a rat, and the little one tried to eat it also, ( even thought it was way to big for it, ) the full grown wrapped around the small one and I almost lost it, I finally got the big one to let go, I grabbed its head and pulled it off it. Wheww It was a close call. But besides that it has been fine. If they are different sex my opnion is that they are fine, alll year long, but like Clay said if they are both males, youll have problems. If they are both female, thats the best. My two corns are both female and they do fine together. Its funny one is a snow and the other a melanistic, so when they lay together, two whole different colors. It is really neat lookin.
But we arent talking about Corns, so I would go woth what Clay said.

Peace M.O.B

[Damian]

Re: Two boa's in one tank???

i think clay covered everything here, lol

[BlackLX306]

Re: Two boa's in one tank???

Thanks..just wanted to get another opionion before I went ahead and did it. The 2nd enclosure is not a problem, and I've had experience with two python's together so It should be ok. Thanks

[JUGGALOFWB]

Re: Two boa's in one tank???

I have an 11 week old Redtail Boa............the one I have now (75gallontank).

You probably already know this, but if your 11 week old is in a larger enclosure like that, make sure it's got A LOT of places to hide. Younger BCI (snakes in general actully) can be stressed by being in very large enclosures with too much open space and not enought hides. There are some people that say juvis shouldn't be put in large enclosures because of this, IMO it's fine to use big cages as long as there are plenty of hides. afterall, the wild is quite a bit larger than any cage. -Juggalo