one boa is biting the other boa

Question
Yes hello, i have recently bought a red tail boa, and i also bought a Dumerial boa. They are both in the same tank. They have been together since April and it is now September. The dumerial went after they red tail. Could there be an explanation for this? If it helps they did eat this week, and would feeding have anything to do with it. But when i do feed them i take both snakes out of the tank.
If you could help please do.

Shawn

Answer
Hi Shawn,

this is a tricky question as the reasons for fighting between animals can be complex

hopefully the fact that you feed them separately should stop any competition for food going on between your two boas but it is always a posibility.

if one snake is larger than the other then that can cause issues. if the red tail is smaller than the dumerils then the dumerils may bully the red tail. if this is the case you may need to separate them until the red tail catches up with the dumerils in size.

if the situation repeats itself try separating them for a week or so, if you can, leave the red tail in the tank that they will both go into at the end and place the dumerils in a seperate tank. at the end of the week reintroduce the dumerils to the red tail. this will allow the redtail to establish a territory, hopefully making it more dominant and discouraging the dumerils from fighting.

i hope this helps,

Andy