Reptiles 101
Member
Ok so a friend of mine has a rosy boa and his friend is getting rid of his rosy,my friend that is kepping his rosy boa wants to know if they can go in the same tank since he only has room for one tank in his room.
Can rosy boas be housed together?
- Thread starter Reptiles 101
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RodentBreath
New member
Rosies breed fairly easily, so I wouldn't recommend it if they are not the same gender and are 2 years or older (particularly if they are different localities, there are enough "mutt" rosies in circulation). Otherwise you might find yourself finding homes for even more snakes.
However if they are the same gender, and the cage size is sufficient (at least 15 gallon tank IMO, and add another 5 per rosy after the first), rosy boas get along well in the same cage. Just be sure to feed them separately, they will compete for food.
However if they are the same gender, and the cage size is sufficient (at least 15 gallon tank IMO, and add another 5 per rosy after the first), rosy boas get along well in the same cage. Just be sure to feed them separately, they will compete for food.
LuckyStar
Member
Rosies have been known to cannibalize, plus they may fight. I would recommend separate housing.
hotlips
New member
How big is the tank? I really advise against it anyway...snakes still 'compete' for the right temperatures & all, so stress results from having room-mates. I've kept for many years & raised some rosies in the past: the only time any were kept together was for breeding, & I saw no incidents of cannibalism, but that can happen with ANY snakes. Remember how good their sense of smell is...they may smell the tiniest bit of rodent scent on the other, say after they've been fed...then accidents happen.
One of the rosy boas I took in years ago came from a museum that was keeping 3 females together in one cage: she had stopped eating & was quite thin...her food refusals had gone on for a couple years, I found out. She did fine with me & they
didn't want her back...clearly stress was involved. A year later the other 2 rosies
still kept by the museum got a nasty bacterial infection that they both died from.
I firmly believe stress is no better for a snake's immune system than it is for ours.
Oh, and the rosy I got from them? She was about 15 years old when I got her and
she lived another 11 years with me, during which she reproduced healthy babies for
5 of those years. I never wanted to breed her (or any rosies) but she produced one
live baby by parthenogenesis after regaining her body weight, but it had all sorts of
defects & died after about 8 months. I didn't want her to produce any more sad cases
like that & especially since she had very poor muscle tone from years of marginal care:
it was terribly hard for her to expel slugs (which she adamantly produced) whereas live babies did most of the "work" of leaving. It was a relief when she'd finally had enough
after 5 litters, but given an unrelated male for a mate, she had nothing but big healthy
offspring that did well, even though she was such an "old lady" with lousy muscle tone.
One of the rosy boas I took in years ago came from a museum that was keeping 3 females together in one cage: she had stopped eating & was quite thin...her food refusals had gone on for a couple years, I found out. She did fine with me & they
didn't want her back...clearly stress was involved. A year later the other 2 rosies
still kept by the museum got a nasty bacterial infection that they both died from.
I firmly believe stress is no better for a snake's immune system than it is for ours.
Oh, and the rosy I got from them? She was about 15 years old when I got her and
she lived another 11 years with me, during which she reproduced healthy babies for
5 of those years. I never wanted to breed her (or any rosies) but she produced one
live baby by parthenogenesis after regaining her body weight, but it had all sorts of
defects & died after about 8 months. I didn't want her to produce any more sad cases
like that & especially since she had very poor muscle tone from years of marginal care:
it was terribly hard for her to expel slugs (which she adamantly produced) whereas live babies did most of the "work" of leaving. It was a relief when she'd finally had enough
after 5 litters, but given an unrelated male for a mate, she had nothing but big healthy
offspring that did well, even though she was such an "old lady" with lousy muscle tone.
Reptiles 101
Member
Thank you for all the info. They found a diferent home for it and it did not go in with the other rosy boa.
hotlips
New member
That sounds like a better plan, Reptiles 101, thanks for the update, I'm glad they reconsidered.