snake attacking other snakes

Question
Hey guys I'm glad I found this site!.... This is my question, I've got a6 year old male African Rock Python.For no apearent reason has attacted 2 other of my sankes and killed my wife's male BurmiesePython the we had in the same tank with him, and tonite he attacked a male carpet python and had him in several coils squeezing as he did to the burm that he killed.He was just fed 4 days ago.Is this typical for Rock Pythons? Or teritorial? Or some thing ealse? I've had the snake for 5 & 1/2 years out of his six. I don't want to get rid of him, because of the time Ive put into raising him.Have or did my wife and I mistakenly put some snakes that can't cohabitate? We asked one of the snake guys if it was a problem to have other snakes in the same tank, that is kept at a 85- 92 degrees. We were told that it shouldn't be a problem when we baught him.My wife who has been keeping pythons for over 15 yrs. years and she's baffled also.Could you help shed some lite on this for us as to good possibillities of what could be causing this? And hopfully I we can have a happy Rock Python.I know that these pythons can be really grumpy at times. He's handled about 2-4xs a week       The tank size he's in is L8'x w3'x ht.x2'1/2 with constant water for soaking, rocks for rubbing as well as small tree branches and a hiding place. Help....

Answer
Hi Mike,

Well i have always found rock pythons to be aggressive by nature and would always be cautious putting any snake in together with a snake with that kind of temperament. African rock pythons due to their temperament can be aggressive towards other snakes to compete over food source, space or any number of things.

although it is possible to house snakes with an african rock, as youve found out there is no guarantee that they will get along, some snakes will just simply not share their tank. as with humans, not everyone gets along.

if you do house snakes together be very careful to put snakes of a similar size together. differences in sizes can stimulate rivalries where the larger snake will take dominance and either harm or otherwise stress the smaller snake out. make sure there are separate places in the tank for the snakes to hide, or spend the majority of their time and always feed snakes separately. im sorry if im telling you stuff that you already know.

unfortunately some snakes as i was saying just wont get along, and there arent always clear cut reasons as to why.

sorry i cant be of more help, thanks for your question,

Andy