Ive had my male royal python for 2 yrs now having purchased him when he was 18 months.I only ever wanted the one snake and I love him to bits.I like to keep an even balance of a short daily handling,time in vivarium,and 5 or 6 hrs a day of free time doing as he pleases with the run of my bedroom.Im not a fan of any animal being constantly caged.Although as I have said Ive never desired to keep another snake, the thing that is recently bugging my conscience is will his life be a sad one if he never gets together with a female.Id like very much for your opinions.many thanks.

Welcome to herpcenter. He will be just fine being alone during his lifetime.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

Snakes do not need a companion and he will be just fine solo!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

welcome

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Snakes are solitary, they don't get pleasure from sex like humans do, they only do it because they have to for the survival of the species. He'll get along just fine without it.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

I will have to second everyones opinion,, they are solitary creatures and only mate to reproduce,, they have no emotional ties behind it like humans do.

I will tell you a little story of my Wing and Prayer,,, they are rescue red tail boas. The other person I got them from insisted on the fact that they could not be seperated because the "loved" each other (ridiculuos). Prayer had many many bite wounds on her, when they came in.... Wing was biting her every time she annoyed him. Many many dollars later at the vet to heal her wounds,, and his,, they are seperated,, eating just fine and have put on a lot of weight. They had no need for each other,
Your snake will be just fine all by himself.

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

I can't say whether or not snakes get pleasure from copulation. It is, however, a common inclination for people to project human emotion and needs onto their animals.
There is nothing "natural" about keeping any animal in captivity. But it sounds like your male BP has a really good life. Do you think he'd want to trade all the attention he gets now if you have to take care of another snake?
Things to think about:
Breeding snakes requires a lot of time and planning: they should be kept separate except for breeding attempts: otherwise they will stress each other out (see Nicole's story) That means you need two separate terrariums; heating units, lamps etc. Twice the work, expense, etc. for a copulation attempt once or twice a year.
The other problem is the safety: if you introduce a female that you are not familiar with, she could infest your male with external and/or internal parasites.
If you keep the female, you have to make sure she has adequate weight and is healthy enough to breed. What to do with the eggs? Incubator; then baby racks, then people coming to your house to buy babies...?
If you had said that you are passionate about the idea of breeding and really want to do the research to do it well, our replies may have sounded different. But you said that you really don't want another snake. My advice: keep giving your BP the benefit of your undivided care and attention. It's not cruel.
(Also there's no guarantee that he'd "get any" in the wild either. Some males in the wild don't live to breeding age and the ones that do have to be tough enough and good enough to get accepted by a female.)

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Andrea

I agree, your python will be fine. I actually was just talking to my wife the other day about humans and apes are the only two species that have sex for pleasure, and thats, actually, one of the many reasons we are compared to apes.

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I tried to get rich, but I just ended up with more pets.

1.0.0 Boxer Mix Canine (Admiral)
1.0.0 Ball Python (Bam Bam)
0.0.1 Cali King Snake (Beatlejuice)
0.1.0 Tabby Feline (Nina)
0.1.0 Feeder Mouse (Lucky)

Jer

*cough* Dolphins do it for fun too *cough*

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

Really??????

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead