Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm showing symptoms of Empty Cage Syndrome and am excited for my next snake(s). I'm an experienced keeper (approaching 20 years in the hobby) and I went on hiatus for the last two years to backpack around the world so haven't kept anything in that time. During my trip I was exposed to several snakes who were unfamiliar to me before, like Australian species, Asian colubrids and several Amazonian snakes from fieldwork I did in Peru.

Now I seek the wisdom and advice of the greater kingsnake community. Using the following criteria as a rough guideline, which snake or snakes would you recommend?

Arboreal: I want to create a display cage and this tree-dwelling snakes are great in this regard.

Diurnal: Also for display purposes, I think it's great to see the animal moving... and not have to be awake at 2am to see it.

Big (5ft plus ): I like snakes that require two hands to handle. Since keeping Burmese pythons I have to admit, size does matter... a little.

Colorful: Or interesting, unique or something even a non-herper would enjoy looking at.

Handle-able: I use all these terms loosely and this one in particular. I don't mind giving blood every once in awhile, but I would prefer not to make it a daily ritual.

Chic: Basically something that isn't super common in the industry. Burms will always be one of my favorite snakes but after seeing them all over the place (Britney Spears MTV performance for example) they lost some of their appeal for me.

Have at it! I hope you all have fun with this and I'm looking forward to the responses.

Terry

I think jungle carpet pythons are a consideration for you. They score well in all of your categories. Even though not uncommon, they are still striking animals.

Also, the relatively new Jaguar carpet pythons have come down in price and are great captives.

And although not arboreal in any way, womas are just awesome snakes. Not big but not small, neat pattern, fantastic demeanor, easy keepers. Not ordinary either.
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Mark

I hear you. I almost bought a pair of carpets several years ago before I went with the Burms. Loveley snakes although I'm not sure they'd be as active as I would like.

I agree with the womas too. My friend in Queensland had just bought one before I arrived. Very interesting pythons.

Terry

tiger rat snakes. Iffy on the handleable but really pretty and good displays.

I've heard they are pretty territorial but admit they do fulfill a lot of the criteria. I went to a serpentarium recently and watching an enclosure of five Spilotes for about 45 minutes! Great recommendation.

Terry

Albino AZ mountain kings meet all of those requirements, except that you would really have to powerfeed one to get it over 5 feet. The stunning beauty of pyros can make even hard core snake haters put away their hatchets. Albino pyros aren't very common yet, so one would make an excellent display snake. They are diurnal and good climbers and think of it this way: smaller snakes make a lot less poop.
snake adventures

Wow, those are gorgeous. However, I prefer the natural, non-albinos to the albinos. They aren't arboreal are they? I understand they are a secretive species and am afraid they wouldn't be stimulating enough to watch during the day. (On the other hand though, I could just get it out and handle it... BANG! that would be stimulating.)

Gorgeous animals though. Thanks for the post!

Brazilian Rainbow Boa?

I know I posted already about Rainbow's BUT...

check THIS out!

http://bluegorgon.com/caresheet.htm

Blue Beauty Snake. Any Beauty snake will do, really. But this is awesome!!!!

Even though I think they are nocturnal, what about scrub pythons? I saw an individual who was around seven foot long and was easily handled in one hand. Compared to a seven foot burm I was surprised how skinny they are.

they can get a good deal larger I think--like 10-12' or so. Kinda big.

Okay I go back and forth between several snakes but I think I've narrowed it down to:
Spilotes pullatus
Philodryas baroni or Rhynchopis (my preference being the latter)
Corallus hortulanus

And honorable mentions to:
Psuestes spp.
Oxybelis spp.
Boiga spp.

In a few months I'll be scouring the classifieds

Terry

I'd avoid Corralus if you don't want to bleed. Just my experience. Either of the others though are neat
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