Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new here, well kinda. I have looked around a lot. But anywho. I am looking for any information, suggestions, websites, etc. To help me choose a good snake. Right now me and my fiance have a burmise python. We have not had it long and I do like it dearly. He choose it. We had done research before the buy. But the more surfing, reading, and thinking we do. The burmise is not going to be the snake for us. So we plan to find it a good home. We do plan to get another snake. So I have been looking at pictures and reading a little. I did fall in love with the color of the blue green tree python. So to my main question to all of you I guess. I am looking for something colorfull and kinda easy to care for. That and something that will not get to large. But gets over a couple feet long. We are still a little new to things I will admit. I like color and things that are odd I guess. We may just settle for a ball python in the end. But I wanted to get opinions and shop around a little I guess. Thanks for listening to my rambelings. Hopefully someone can help.

Thanks,
Regina

Blue green tree pythons (or any color, really) are expensive, hard to care for, unhandleable, and get 6 feet long. Probably not what you're looking for in a pet.
What is it about the burmese python you don't like? The adult size?

Yes mainly it is the adult size that is turning us from keeping this snake. Feeding and everything else I don't think will be a problem. Mainly yes the adult size. Yeah I did read more on the green tree pythons. Definatly not a snake for us.

Green trees are not i repeat not a starter snake. They are awasome animals but very involved and it takes time to learn the ropes: start looking at some types of bulls, gophers, corns, kings that type of thing and reserch the size, temperment and over all what ever requirements you have such as time space and any other varibles you have. The boards here are an outstanding source of info so go to the different forms and find a species you like then look for the righ color morph and go from there. Hope this is helpfull and most people on the boards so dont hesitate to ask before you buy! PS just out of curiosity why is the burmeese not right for you? Sorry about the spelling , Scott

Mainly the adult size we are afraid is going to get way to big. Every snake person we talk to and thing we read the total size keeps getting bigger and bigger. The largest size so far being 25 feet. The one we have I would not doubt it would reach allmost that size. And it is just going to be way too big.

Sounds like you would do well with a corn snake. There are many different colors available, they are easy to care for, easy to handle, and do not get large.

Hi! Corns, milks, and kings make great starter snakes! They come in a huge variety of great colors and are for the most part, easy to care for and handle.

If however, you prefer a python/boa species, may I recommend either a rosy or rainbow boa? I personally love the Brazilian Rainbow boa. The rosy boas generally get no bigger than about 3-4 feet and Rainbow boas are about 6 ft. Ball pythons are very docile snakes that get absolutely no bigger than 5 ft, usually about 3-4 ft. Those are my three top choices if you are starting out and prefer a python or boa over a colubrid.

Also, I HIGHLY recommend that you verify that the snake you get is captive bred and not wild caught. Along with possible parasites and medical problems, wild snakes are exactly that: wild! Captive bred snakes are generally used to being handled and unless the species is an aggressive species (like the burmese, rock, reticulated, tree pythons, etc.) then they will be fairly easy to handle.

I myself am trying desprately to convince my husband that snakes are great pets and am considering the snakes that I mentioned above (corns, kings, milks, rosy, rainbows, and balls).

Good luck in your decision and let us know how it turns out!

>>Ball pythons are very docile snakes that get absolutely no bigger than 5 ft, usually about 3-4 ft.

Hello – just thought I’d correct one piece of your information. Ball pythons absolutely DO get longer than 5 feet. I’ve got at least three that are, so it’s probably not that uncommon.

Good luck getting your husband on the right track about snakes.

-Joan

Forgive me, I'm new at this and had not seen one that big yet. I stand corrected (I also have a friend in Illinois that told me last night she had a 7 fter once). Thanks for the correction.

Now THAT I would have liked to see! Any chance your friend just happened to take a picture, say with a tape measure somewhere in the vicinity?

Thanks,
Joan
P.S., I live in Illinois, too.

The one in the photo below is 70.5"

she has pics (not sure if w/tape meausre) but they aren't with her, i asked because i would've liked to have seen it too. anyhow, i love yours! GORGEOUS!!!

*****

What a beauty. Well I guess a little update from my part of this thread. Is that we will be getting a male and a female ball. The male I belive is officialy his uncles. There are plans to research and breed these I think. They are a wonderfull pair. Need to be worked with a little more because they have been couped up I think with not a lot of handeling. They are allready a good 2 to 3 ft long. Nice and big and healthy. We also found a great cage for them. It was an older style baby crib/playpen. It is all screened in and has a top and fold out side. I think it is great for the $20 we paid. Maybe I can get some good pictures when we pick them up friday and get them good and settled in. Thanks all for everything. My other baby (the burm) is safe with her new daddy. We will most likely be visiting a lot.

the problem with the converted cage you have described is:

1. You will not be able to hold any kind of humidity or heat in there, unless you plan to heat and superhumidify the room itself. Ball pythons require a fair amount of humidity to maintain their health and the proper shedding.

2. Snakes can do some damage to their noses by rubbing on rough things, such as screen. I don't know if the mesh you are describing is rough enough to do any damage, but it can.

3. Is it secure enough to hold them, if they should decide to escape? Snakes are GREAT (possibly the best) escape artists in the world, so if there is any kind of hole or weak seam in that cage, they WILL find it.

A few other questions for you concerning these ball pythons:

1. Are they both captive bred? Where did he buy them from originally? Some pet shops don't know and will tell you what you want just to make the sale. It is very important that you be aware that ball pythons can very easily go off feed, sometimes for months at a time. I know that I have read of ball pythons not eating for up to six months at a time, so are you ready for that kind of worry? Some people say that getting a captive bred ball python REDUCES this risk of going off feed, while others say it doesn't matter.

2. Have they been housed together in the past? Some snake stress out over being housed with another snake.

I'm sure that some other people will post, so I will stop now.

Good luck in your snake keeping future.
-----
sue

Good advice from everyone here. Many people start with corn snakes for the reasons given. And even if they move on to more demanding species later, they still maintain a corn snake or two or three....

-Joan

I'm with them. Corns are excellent starter snakes. I wish you had posed the question before you bought the Burmese. Several of us would have pointed out that they can exceed twelve feet before reaching their third birthday, weigh in excess of a hundred pounds & eat whole grown chicken sized meals. Not that they are bad snakes, but they certainly turn out to more than some folks might expect.

Here is a site where you can look at some rather colorful varieties of corns. You may opt to purchase from the site, or just look & buy elsewhere. I have known the lady who breeds these corns for about twenty five years & can recommend her highly.

~~Greg~~
Corn Snakes

I do like some of the corn snakes but they realy don't get to a size we would like to have. I guess all in all we want a large snake.. but nothing that is going to make a dog dissapear. As my fiance says.

In that case, perhaps a common boa constrictor, or redtail boa would fit the bill. It takes them more time to reach six feet than it does the Burmese to reach twelve, & they seldom grow to much more than eight feet, though they can. They are usually (temperament varies) good natured snakes. Captive born animals are readily available. Temperature requirements are about the same as for the Burmese, if not a tad warmer.

~~Greg~~
Venomous Snakes of Florida

If you like blue snakes that get looooong but not biiiiiig, try blue beauty ratsnakes. They're friendly, a snap to care for, get 8 feet long but stay very skinny. I've got a close relative, the Taiwan beauty, and he's one of my favorites. You may want to examine the whole beauty snake complex (Elaphe taeinura).

I will have to check into these ones. Might not be a possibility for right away but maybe a future find. Thanks

There is a local pet shop we have found that has a couple ball pythons and a red tail boa. I think we are going to check into getting one of them unless I find something on the internet. Going to see what happens. We found a great home for the Burm. She is going to a friend of ours so we do get to visit her whenever we want.

I guess another question I have is I have been shopping around on line and in the classifieds of this site and see 3.0 100%het for albino burm.. Well I know what the 100%het part is. What is the 3.0 or 2.1s? Is it how many males to females they have or something like that? Just had to ask to see what it is.

Your assumption was on the right track. The numbers mean the sexes of the available snakes. Males first, then females...if a third number shows up, it means the sex has not been determined.

3.2.5 means 3 males, 2 females, & 5 that were not probed.

~~Greg~~

Thanks for your answer. That is what I thought it ment. But was not sure. Thanks again.

I think ball pythons are a bit easier than boa constrictors for beginners to maintain in good health. And as one of the threads above shows, they don't get too big.

Also, if you live near a regional herpetological society, check if it has an adoption program where you might get one for free or a reasonable donation. Ours regularly has ball pythons available, sometimes boas.

-Joan

I would highly recommend Brazilian Rainbow Boas. They're much more beautiful than most other boas, fairly easy to care for and generally very sweet animals. They also don't get anywhere near as big as Redtails (Rainbows get to be from 5-8 feet long). They're very good eaters and not too shy, which makes them a better choice than ball pythons.