hey i have a red tail and a columbian boa they ae same size just a lil long to sex I was wondering if it was safe to houses them together?
I recently addressed the topic of housing two snakes together, you can check out this link as it pertains to your question: http://www.reptilerooms.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=67748 It's best to house snakes alone, and most reptiles for that matter. Furthermore, if you are unsure of the sex you can run into even greater issues: territory confrontation with males and even breeding which may have a potential outcome of hybrids depending on the species. Several species of Boa Constrictor imperator can breed to produce hybrid offspring, so it's very possible that you could end up with babies if they are male and female. Furthermore, these species get quite large and to even think about housing two of them together you would need an extremely extensive enclosure - I'd wager in the ballpark of at least 10-12ft long, 4-6 feet wide, and enough height to incorporate some arboreal activity and allow for the two animals to stay away from one another. Even if you had the ideal enclosure though, problems can still easily arise, and my best advice is to house them separately and avoid it all together. Not to mention that although they may be the same size now, there's no gurantee that as they grow a large size deviation can occur. It depends on whether or not the red tail is a true BCC, in which case the average size may be several feet larger than your average colombian BCI. There are simply too many unknowns to make this plausible, and it's not worth the risk or hassle of trying to make it right. Whose to know if different locale boas also contain different microorganisms on their skin that they can tolerate but another species may find hazardous? If space is an issue for you, I'd consider purchasing a nice 4' x 2' x 2' enclosure for each snake that has stacking capability, or building your own enclosures. This would give each snake adequate room, it's own enclosure, and it's relatively cost effective and space efficient = ) Boas lead solitary lives, and they should really be housed that way. Keep them separated
