Brown snakes would be an option, but cbs are virtually non existant and they would not tolerate handling well.

With lizard eaters parasites become an issue since feeder lizards tend to be wild caught and heavily parasitized. Switching them over to rodents can be tricky so you may want to try to get one that has already made the switch.

The smell of guinea pigs is not going to effect the snakes. When I was in college we bred our, mice in the same room as the snakes. If you've been handling the guineas, wash your hands before handling the snakes.

Male Kenyan sand boas are going to stay under 2 feet and you could feed fuzzy sized mice. I'm not sure about max female Kenyan size but I think its under 3 feet and there is no way they could tackle an adult guinea pig.

Rosy boa size is going to vary by locality. Desert and mexican rosys are going to tend to be smaller than coastal rosys. Males will top out at 2-3 feet and females will top out at 3-4 feet with larger sizes being attained by the coastals.

Rubber boas are going to be similar in terns of size to the kenyans.

Virtually any species of gartersnake could also fit the bill. Garters tend to be more high strung than the above snakes but can tolerate occaisional handling. I find them to be the most personable of all my snakes. Sizes are going to vary by species. These guys do not constrict so would not be able to tackle a guinea pig at any size. Most will fall into the 2-4 foot range with males being much smaller than females.

Western hognose snakes will top out at around 2 - 3 feet with males being smaller. They also don't constrict. Personality can be a little variable with them, but most are good tempered. Some do a lot of bluffing, however.

Other snakes to consider: African house snake male (males top out at 3 ft females can get over 5), spotted and children's pythons are a bit pricy, but max out at around 3 ft., and there are several other species of sand boas you could look into as well. The forums have a wealth of information about a wide variety of snakes so when one strikes your fancy, go check out what others have to say about it in terms of handling, ease of care, and adult size.

In terms of escapes, it's always the little guys getting out on me. If you get a secure cage with one of those sliding screen lids and pin or lock it you shouldn't have any problems (as long as you don't have cats that like to sleep on the lids and punch in the screens ). This would open up popular colubrids such as kingsnakes, gophersnakes, and cornsnakes for consideration. It would be several years before these snakes get to a size where they could pose a threat to an adult guinea pig.

-Alice

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]