Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What are some of the biggest colubrids in the pet trade? I have heard different opinions being debated such as Texas Bullsnake, Vietnamese Beauty Snake, and Indigo Snakes.

pines, bulls, gophers, indigos

black milks are big and interesting, start with tricolor bands and slowly turn solid black

some species of python can be like colubrids too
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jake

my addiction:
0.2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
0.1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)
1.0 albino cal king (zeus)
0.0.1 wc garter (zim)
hybrid breeders association
hybrid haven

Longer colubrids are ones like Spilotes pullatus(Tiger rat snake) and Ptyas carinatus(Keeled rat snake)which can both get over 12 ft. Indigos and bull snakes dont get as long but are much thicker. Yellowtail cribos can get 10 ft with girth like an indigo. Blue Beauties can get 10-11 ft but are thinner than cribos. If you want girth, your best with an indigo, cribo, or bull. If you want length your best option is probably something like a blue beauty. Tigers and keeleds are harder to find, especially keeleds, you won't find a keeled rat lol I can guarantee that. WC tigers show up in the classifieds a lot and there are a few CB offered every now and then. I can tell you more if you want.

John

Indigos/Cribo are the biggest by mass without question. A 10 foot Yellow-tailed Cribo could eat the other big species.

Big bulls and pines (particulary P. lineaticollis) aren't too far behind on overall mass, but they rarely exceed 8 feet. A big cribo is still a bigger snake and they regularly exceed 9 feet.

There has been a discussion on the indigo forum recently about the max size of Ptyas carinata and other species of Ptyas. They do exceed 12 and possibly 13 feet, but again, a big Cribo could eat one.

forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1384002,1384002
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

How much do Yellowtail Cribos, Blue Beauties and Ptyas sp. go for?

I am researching them right now to see what to have in my private collection, especially since anything bigger than a Boa Constrictor is basically banned in some places. As you can tell, I like the extremes of the reptile world from the biggest to the smallest.

Blue Beauties usually go for anywhere from $65-$175. I got mine for $100, and I consider it a good price for how cool the snake is. Other beauties like Taiwans can be cheaper. It is common for them to cost around $40-60.
YT Cribos are a few hundred. I'm not exactly sure how much but I would say around $400, someone will be able to tell you this for sure.
Ptyas are hardly ever available. They are WC and they are probably pretty expensive but chances are you will not find one. I only know of 1 guy in Canada and maybe 1 guy in the with some. I've heard some like carinatus from a guy in Malaysia won't readily take rodents, they'd rather have frogs or lizards which is quite a contradiction to the common name of keeled rat snake lol.

John

one guy in the US ***
And also note that the Ptyas that are available are for very experienced keepers.

John

Thanks John. At least there are some giants out there that are not restricted, except for the Tiger Ratsnake -- Spilotes sp. are banned here for some reason; I am still trying to figure out why our local government would put them on the restricted list.

From what I have read, their care requirements are fairly simple, except that overheating is a problem with the Beauties sometimes since they like it on the cooler side.

i have a taiwan beauty, about 9 months old now and 3 feet , super fast growing.

personally i went with the taiwan over the blue beauty because of what i've heard about temperament. blues are supposedly more aggressive.

as for overheating i live in chicago and in the summer there were whole weeks when i turned the undertank heating all the way off because it was 80 degrees in my house. for sure this is above the snake's ideal temperature but i just kept his tank moist with cool water from the spray bottle once or twice a day and he was perfectly happy and active the whole time.

one benefit the beauties have over some of these other big colubrids is that their growth rate is astounding. from most accounts you'll have a 7 foot snake in a little over 2 years.

also they're pretty cheap, i got a pair of brothers for $100, and traded one for an albino nelson's milksnake at a show.