Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to get a Blood python, but i heard they are pretty aggressive. i also heard they aren't good pets because they are very hard to tame. If anyones got some adivice or tips. I'd really appreciate it!!

Buy captive born and bred animals.
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Thanks,
Nick Bottini

www.nickrbreptiles.com

Thanks for your advice! I appreciate it!

They are the greatest snakes around! If you buy a quality baby you will be very happy with their attitudes and personalities.
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Thanks,
Nick Bottini

www.nickrbreptiles.com

Then again, my babies are 3rd generation...but want to eat your face.
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1.0 Blackheaded pythons
2.4 Woma
3.2 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
2.2 Bloods
2.2 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.3 Macklotts
1.2 F2 Carpondros
2.0 Jungle Carpet
0.1 Carpondro
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boas
1.1 Striped Bolivian Boas
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

Like was already said, but captive bred animals and that is a start. I do have one that took me a long time and a good amount of bites to tame down. These are smart snakes and really it all comes down to the way you handle them. If you buy a baby you will be fine and you can learn the handling as you go. They are incredible animals to keep and even if you happen to get one with an attitude they can be worked with. It's good to see you doing some research first and if you do that you will be fine. VPI
s site has probably got the best all around info, but I think that Pro exotics has some good stuff too. Good luck!!!!!

Babies can be pretty defensive, but as they mature they generally calm down and are usually very predictable and can be handled easily - as long as they know you aren't food first! They also tend to be pretty vocal. I didn't do anything to 'tame' mine, and they are doing very well.

That WAS true of the old imported snakes, but captive-bred bloods are no worse than any other snake.

Matthew

Hate to argue but bloods are completely different than most other snakes, balls, corns, carpets, the list goes on. I wasn't trying to say that bloods are ill tempered or anything of that sort, but they are certainly different. They huff and puff and that is it for most but there are a lot more grouchy bloods than there are balls, corns etc. Sorry if I made them sound aggressive, but they are different and I just wanted the first time blood owner to be aware of that fact. I love all of the short tail pythons and they all make wonderful additions to any collection.

>>Hate to argue but bloods are completely different than most other snakes, balls, corns, carpets, the list goes on. I wasn't trying to say that bloods are ill tempered or anything of that sort, but they are certainly different. They huff and puff and that is it for most but there are a lot more grouchy bloods than there are balls, corns etc. Sorry if I made them sound aggressive, but they are different and I just wanted the first time blood owner to be aware of that fact. I love all of the short tail pythons and they all make wonderful additions to any collection.

Actually I personally am VERY glad that I got Bloods before Carpets. I can not tell you what a learning experience bloods were for me. I have been keeping various snakes over the years with the rescue (balls, burms, boas, kings, corns, etc) but both the bloods and carpets have taught me an immense amount about snake body language as well as behavior. I have learned that the bloods are a very very vocal bunch (their lungs are HUGE) and many people assume they are hissing out of aggression.

I would never ever suggest a blood as a good starter. But honestly, getting a blood or STP from a good breeder that is CBB is nothing to really be concerned with. The breeders are actually breeding for temperment along with color.

But then again I just told my husband the bloods and carpets are my practice grounds for my retic.
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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

lol...couldn't agree more. I don't know that I want to dive into retics just yet, but I have to agree with the rest of your post!

Retics are not that bad actually I bought a 3' before I got a couple of marbles and only one of them had to be tamed down for handling plus if you have the money the dwarf/SD retics are a lot smaller than a norm. Also burmguy do you have a picture of your cherry bomb, I have never seen this morph would appreciate thanks.

Retics are also showing temperment improvement, but are not beginers snakes! LOL
Cindy, I had the same

Matthew

>>Retics are not that bad actually I bought a 3' before I got a couple of marbles and only one of them had to be tamed down for handling plus if you have the money the dwarf/SD retics are a lot smaller than a norm. Also burmguy do you have a picture of your cherry bomb, I have never seen this morph would appreciate thanks.

Actually I am not really concerned so much with their temperment. Like I said there is much to be learned from dealing with all three of these species. What I learned from bloods that I didnt from burms is more a snake with size and a brain.

What I learned from Carpets that I never learned from balls, burms or bloods are a snake with agility and size. Boas, while far more active than the burms and bloods do not have that agility.

I plan on waiting quite some time before adding a retic. I have a feeling my blood lust is not quite fulfilled. And I also want to be sure that these dwarf retics when they age actually remain dwarf with a plentiful food supply. I have heard a lot of debate, but havent really looked into it enough recently to see if it is true. In the event that I get a dwarf retic it will be a totally normal coloration and a male. In hopes that it shall remain smaller.

I personally am a python person. I love my challenging pythons.

For giggles, RICH NAME THE SNAKE!

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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

Hey Cindy about the dwarf retics I am only familier with the Jampean Dwarf and the Super Dwarf and not familier with the kyuadi or other dwarfs, also they do stay relatively small I have an adult female super dwarf who eats XXL rats(rodentpro size) every week for the past year and she is still 6' long the Jamp Dwarfs I've seen one at around 12' and have heard of them getting to 14'though only a couple of people have said this. Also retics can be very fast I've seen a 16' female move from one side of her 8' cage to the other side in a blink of an eye. If you want to know about size you should email one of the following Prehistoric Pets,BobClark, Mike Wilbanks, or NERD these are the big retic breeders I know of that have a large collection of Dwarfs &/or super dwarfs. email link would not work sorry, hope this info helps. Heres a lav. albino SD I just got.

Im waiting for them to hit like 15 or so years in captivity. I do need to get a larger reptile room, simply because I need a larger cage.

Ahhh there in lies the true joy of bloods.
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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

The joy of Bloods vs. Retics? Well, the same attitude & awareness, but I think you said it all: Affordable caging! LOL

Matthew

Really? I always thought this was the reason:

>>The joy of Bloods vs. Retics? Well, the same attitude & awareness, but I think you said it all: Affordable caging! LOL
>>
>> Matthew

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Never thought size was an issue, just know-how! ROFLMAO

Matthew

I didn't say they were CORNSNAKE calm, just calm as most of the other pythons, which are quite different from corns & kings. Sorry, I guess I needed to clarify. My baby DOES hiss when taken out of his warm bath! More temper than fear though. Not at all nippy though..

Matthew

If you want to start with bloods, i would recommend getting black sumatrans they are the calmest of all bloods. I have 4 black sumatrans at home 3 are adults and 1 baby and are extremely tame. Red bloods have more of an attitude, but will calm down with time. I have a cherry bomb that is extremely calm, but my hypo male and normal female have more of an attitude, but are getting better each day. Good luck with the bloods they are a fun species to work with.