Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am just making this thread out of sheer curiosity, but for those of you with multiple species, which would you say is the most rewarding to keep, if any?

I guess you could list colubrids and such as well if ya really want to, I personally just don't find them very interesting.

I have kept a fair variety of different boids, ranging from burms and big boas to most of the little Erycine boids. The big ones don't do much for me for some reason.

I guess my favorite boas have been my either my breeding group of Rubber Boas or Indian Sandboas. Personality-wise they can't be beat.
I did raise a pair of Desert Sandboas from babies many years ago (before they were readily available) and my female was a favorite snake of mine.

Of course, none of these has been "rewarding" in a financial sense. I guess if you could produce a heritable and attractive morph of Ball Python from a WC pair and raised and bred that morph it could be pretty rewarding monetarily. Of course this assumes the BP bubble doesn't burst before you get them out of the eggs.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Chris,

What do you mean by personalities with the Rubber Boas? I have occassionally thought to try working with them someday with my thinking that from what I'd read, that like the Gaigeae, they like it cooler and are mellow campers. That Rubber Boa .com site is tempting.
Bob

They are super docile, kind of curious little things, and they are pretty diminutive in size yet eat mice. They will use a basking area but need cooler areas for sure. They will readily use a substrate they can burrow into and not dry out in.

I agree that they have a wonderful personality. Just don't let them get too hot/too dry. Very interesting snakes when you look at their natural history.

I gave mine to a friend a few years ago for some reason that I can't think of now. But now that I have a very few reptiles anymore, I'm keeping only my favorite captive species, and I need to get RBs again.

I too am trying to only keep a few things rather than the many. Easier said than done. I will say that it is nice to have few enough now that cleaning and handling them is more of a relaxation and something I look forward to doing than this chore always weighing my shoulders down.

I think it's just that we get to feeling a little bored and think" wow, wouldn't it be nice to have some of those and some of those to work with?" and before you know it you're back to too many.

What do you mean by personalities with the Rubber Boas?

I just like their docility and their willingness to feed (once they get feeding). I have one that takes food from forceps, but they do it very gently, inlike most Rosyboas.
They are also very laid back about being handled, although I don't handle my snakes much.

...like the Gaigeae, they like it cooler and are mellow campers.

I have my rubber boas in an unheated rack right above my gaigeae. They both like a little warmth now and then and will tolerate normal snake room temps (mid 70s) but don't care if it gets cooler.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Thanks Chris, I've thought about working with them at times. Appreciate your thoughts.
Bob.

I just meant rewarding as far as fun to keep, or personality wise. I do intend to breed snakes (probably Green Tree Pythons and maybe some bloods) in the semi near future, but intend to do it more as a hobby than for profit.

:

Hard to say, since that can change over time. I really like giant snakes and am happy for the experience of having kept some. Growing up a docile 200 pound python, for instance, which thousands of people got to see and touch was a real pleasure for me. But the thought of doing it again would be in the “are you kidding?” category. My interests (and strength) have changed.

For me, most rewarding is having the years pass -10, 15, 20, 25, and more - and having some of the snakes I got so long ago (wild caught from pet shops and then through captive breeding) still alive and flourishing today.

-Joan

>>I am just making this thread out of sheer curiosity, but for those of you with multiple species, which would you say is the most rewarding to keep, if any?
>>
>>I guess you could list colubrids and such as well if ya really want to, I personally just don't find them very interesting.

As far as boids, I would say Womas would be at the top of my list. Also love Blackheaded Pythons, but their size is a bit larger then what I like.
I know you said colubrids didn't interest you much, but I have to say Florida/Brooks Kingsnakes are very rewarding to keep. Some can get over five feet, and are pretty stout
(for colubrids anyway) and they are very tractable and relaxed like many of the boids.

Steve

>>I am just making this thread out of sheer curiosity, but for those of you with multiple species, which would you say is the most rewarding to keep, if any?

I guess you could list colubrids and such as well if ya really want to, I personally just don't find them very interesting.

As far as boids, my favorite is the Jungle Carpet Python. I really enjoy mine, and they constantly move around their cages. I especially like it when they are on their branches much like green tree pythons. I love their black and yellow contrasting colors.

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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python (both gorgeous)
1.1 Ball Python (normals, he said proudly)
3.3 hatchling ball pythons (normals)
1.1 Ball Python (het for albino)(gonna make my own albino)
1.1 Corn Snake (Okeetee, Sunglow x Snow)
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake (Blairs)
1.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.1 Pueblan Milksnake (normal)(Apricot)
1.1 Andean Milksnake (Inca phase) (het)
0.0.1 Bullsnake (normal)(my garbage disposal snake)
1.1 Bullsnake (red bull) and (het red bull)
0.1 Black Pine Snake need '05 mate!
1.1 Southern Snow Pine (snow)(red phase snow)
1.2 Checkered garter snakes (albino pair & het female)
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback (Hondo)
0.1 Spouse (WC)(hates the herps,and not real crazy about the dog)

Boa constrictors for sure.

I know it's not a boid, but I just adore my black ratsnake, Houdini. He has a very curious personality, and is an awesome display snake. When I come up to the cage to feed, change his water, or just admire him, he always peeks his head out of his hide rock and comes up to the front of the cage, tongue flicking curiously. Black rats are also quite arboreal, so it's great to see him basking on the branches in his cage during the day.

He IS feisty, though, and once in awhile puts on a good show of "rattling" his tail and raising up his head for visitors while in the cage. But once he's out, you couldn't ask for a better snake to handle. He loves to perch on my wrist and is content to just hang out there while I'm doing stuff around the house... but he's not lethargic like, say, a ball python.

He also seems pretty "smart" for a snake. He definitely recognizes me as opposed to the other members of my household, and he is very alert and in-tune to his surroundings. One of the funniest photos I have is my two cats peering into his cage, and Houdini nose-to-nose with them on the other side of the glass, looking right back.

Like most snakes, he's an escape artist. When I first got him, he managed to squeeze through a 1/4" wide gap between a pair of sliding glass doors. Hence his name, Houdini. The gap has since been plugged with weatherstripping, and he's grown large enough now that he couldn't fit anyway.
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::i believe in joy > http://www.winds.org/nekomi/hope.html

::my homepage > http://www.winds.org/nekomi

My Growing Zoo:

1.0 Husband (Byron) ^_^
0.1 black cat (Shade)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Zia)
1.0 Leucistic Ratsnake (Houdini)
1.2 Cockatoo cichlids (A. cacatuoides yellow-gold)
1.2 Panduro cichlids (A. panduro)