Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question, I love the Albino Burmese Python but have 2 children. I don't think I can handle the size they get. Is there a much smaller species out there? Are they pricey?

How large of a snake are you looking for? There are many species you could look into that never exceed 5-6 feet; Ball pythons, Rosy boas, Sand boas, Rainbow Boas, Green Tree pythons, or Antaresia (which are Children's, Spotted, and Stimson's pythons) to name a few. With the exception of perhaps many of the ball python morphs and maybe some of the GTPs, most of these animals are quite affordable.

Most of the commonly kept colubrids are also "small constrictors" that are usually quite affordable. Those include your Kings, Milks, Corns and Ratsnakes, Bull/Gopher/Pine snakes, etc.

I'm looking for something no larger than 5 feet. I really lover the color and look of the Albino Python. Is this doable? I don't really want a King, Milk or Rat Snake. I would like to stay with a boa or python.

How much are you looking to spend?

I was looking to spend more than $200 if possible. I am how ever spending what ever it takes to house the snake, I have a 55 gallon tank already.

Sorry I meant to say no more than $200. Thanks for your reply's. Your help is greatly appreciated!

I don't think you will find an Albino ball python for under $200 from a reputable breeder (at least not yet anyway).

What you can do though, is try your hand at breeding hets, and hope for that 25% chance of producing albinos.

What do you think about Rainbow Boa's or Royal Python's. Those are smaller right? Are they priced affordably? I just want something safe around my kids.

Royal is another name for ball.
Part of this depends on where you are; if you're in the states albino balls are around 400 I guess right now? Blood pythons have albinos but they're in the thousands IIRC
Rosy boa albinos are in the 150-250 range...those might work. They're small (3 feet or less).
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

What is the max size of a Royal ( Ball ) Python? I want something with good markings. Safety for my kids is first and foremost, Albino isn't necessary but I like the Light Yellow with Bright Orange markings but if I can find some 5ft or smaller with a colorful or ornate pattern I'd be happy with that.

Female Royal(Ball) pythons can rarely SOMETIMES reach lengths of up to 6 feet, but even large females more commonly max-out at around the 4 to 5 foot range. Males are substantially smaller still than their female counterparts. So a male would be your best bet if you are looking for the smallest of the two sexes.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

But aren't the Females less aggressive? I have read they are bigger but not as nippy or temperamental ( I know hard to believe something female is less temperamental ). I just want a good snake around my son and daughter. Thanks for all the info!

No, there is no legitimate temperament difference between the two sexes, and they are a VERY passive snake by nature anyway which is a big reason so many people own them(except me..LOL!). You must keep in mind, that ALL snakes are individuals, and can have their own "personalities".

As "varanid" mentioned, there are many other types out there to choose from too, but it would generally be hard to choose a more docile-natured snake than a Ball python. Just make sure you get one that is captive-born and eats well on a very steady feeding regimen. An albino would obviously be a captive-born animal, but I am simply letting you know to avoid anything that is NOT captive born at all costs. You could be buying a huge headache otherwise..

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

I have four kids all ages. I have a limited budget.
And i love the albinos; With that, i would recommend you get a spider ball python or a nice yellow pastel.(either sex..males less money sometimes.) You would live a spider ball python though ...

there's no measurable temperment difference between the genders that I've seen.
You might try pastels, spiders or other ball python morphs; they've got tons of morphs, something for everyone more or less. prices range from 100 (cheap pastels) to thousands of dollars.
Heck, they're bigger but you might look at albino boas; if you get a male they don't tend to get too huge (6-7') and it's a slow growth--they take years to get fully grown. and most people have a surplus of males.

I'm partial to more active snakes myself; an albino emory rat snake might fit the bill, as might an albino florida kingsnake.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Take a look at Hog Island Boas. Some of them are very light with beautiful markings. For the most part they are calm, gentle snakes that are smaller than regular boas. A male Irian Jaya or jungle carpet might work also. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

A male Hog Island boa can often stay in the 5ft range and are less girthy that its close cousins. Can be truly beautiful with very light colors. Some can have attitude however, but most are calm. When you see an adult male, it does not register as a huge snake at all. Still possibly dangerous around a very young child, but you do not sound like someone who would let a 5ft boa crawl around a baby, even if monitored. Just not good for the hobby.

A rainbow boa is probably the exact size you want, as it is a tad smaller than even Hog Island boas. Unfortunately no affordable albinos in those.

The only affordable albino boid that is small is the albino "Limburg strain" rosyboa. Your $200 would likely get you one delivered to your door. Can possibly push near 40 inches as an adult and be big enough to eat small rats, so not a really tiny snake compared to many other types of rosyboa out there.
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Mark

Thanks, Mark
I actually decided to go with the Limburg Albino Rosy Boa as you mentioned. I appreciate all the advice from you and everyone! of course I am open to more, individual thoughts on the best care and caging of the snake too! I have done quite a bit of research on a lot of snakes but still lack experience knowledge with this certain type of snake.
I of course would of wanted a Albino Rainbow Boa but as you said they are quite pricey. I have and will continue to spend probably much more on the care and caging of the snake then the snake itself but I think that is just nature of a good owner!
Again thank you!

You sound like you'll be a good responsible owner. Good

And yeah, 90% of the time housing is more than the animal. Unless you have very expensive animals!
Enjoy the rosy boa; the albinos are pretty
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Rosies are ground-dwellers. In the wild they hide most of their lives in burrows, usually around, in, under rocks and crevices.

If you live in a humid area, then screen top enclosures are best. And only put a water bowl in the cage a few days a week. If you live where ambient humidity is low or low-moderate, you do not need a screen top. I keep mine in plastic cages with rather limited ventilation, and they do fine. But the ambient humidity is rarely high, so there are no problems.

The young love to coil up in PVC pipe. Cut a section of 1-inch dia PVC pipe and place over the heat pad, and another in a cooler area, or one larger piece to span both. You can nestle it in the aspen a bit so it doesn't roll, or stick a few pieces of epoxy putty to make tiny legs so it doesn't roll. I feed mine right in there - they love to eat in simulated burrows.

I attached a pic of rock crevices I used in baby rosy cages, but they most chose to stay in the PVC pipe. So much for trying to make "naturalistic" cages.

They also like to hide under newspaper laid over the aspen.

I wouldn't use wood pieces. They are not like kingsnakes in that way. Neodesha plastics sells platic hides that work well.

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Mark

Thanks,

Funny you put that picture up there I told my husband to go buy some rocks and I gave him specific ones I wanted and he still got the wrong ones...LoL...but they happen to look exactly like the ones you pictured.

I put Eco Carpet down and planned on putting newspaper over that then the Aspen. So looks like I doing good so far. I also have a 3 way 3in pvc pipe that I had for my Guinea Pig that I was going to put in her cage as well, so looks like I was reading your mind...

Thanks Again

Ya'll Rock!!!

Hey sorry but I have couple questions. What is the highest humidity level that my cage should be at that's safe for my Rosy?

I just put everything together and the humidity level is at 60 and that's with out water in the cage...I haven't turned the heat on yet cuz I don't have her yet, should that make it go down?

Thanks, I'd rather ask you since you have hands on experience then go through the internet.

Mark,......

Are you aware of the existence of any amel BRB(E.c.cenchria) in this country?

I only knew of the anery's and hypo's. However there is a T albino Colombian Rainbow(Epicrates c. maurus) that was acquired for $25,000 several years ago.

If a T-plus Colombian cost $25,000, an amel Brazilian would certainly go for a king's ransom knowing how popular they are in the hobby. I think they would be far beyond "very pricey"..as in TOTALLY UNAFFORDABLE!..LOL!

Anyway, please let me know if you have ever seen or heard of a genuine amel Brazilian Rainbow boa.....or a pic would sure be fabulous!! .........thanks!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Doug,
I have only seen the Amel Corn Snake. I think anything Albino is quite pricey but if you ask me. I would consider the cost of them to sort of be an oxymoron, considering that Albinism actually a defect...In the human world, most discriminate against abnormalities but for some reason it isn't the same in the pet selection process...
I found a picture but am not sure if this is what you were looking for

http://www.gherp.com/gallery/boaspythons/Boa constrictor, amel. juv.jpg

Let me know the picture said it was a Amel Brazilian Rainbow Boa but seeing how I have never seen I would not know!

Thanks for the nice comment. I have a couple pricey pets but nothing to extravagant...

That is a photo of an amelanistic(albino)Colombian Boa Constrictor(B.c.imperator), not a Brazilian Rainbow Boa(E.c.cenchria). Those are extremely common in today's hobby, and that particular strain would go for only a couple hundred bucks, and there are many different strains in the hobby that command much more money, but still NOTHING compared to what an albino E.c.cenchria would go for. Back in 1996 I saw those very same animal at shows going for $10,000 dollars because they were the very first available of their kind, and the normal Colombian boas were very revered as pets, but were about $50 bucks for a normal baby.

A snake being amelanistic doesn't necessarily mean they are extremely high-priced though at all, it all depends on what species/subspecies it is and how coveted and in demand the normal phenotype is. As anything in this world, it is all about supply and demand........always!

I have LOTS of different morphs of many different types of snakes, including amelanistic albino's and many other forms, and what they are worth all depends on how in demand the snake itself is, and how rare the morph is, whatever type of genetic mutation(s)/morph it may be.

The very first amel cornsnake was produced in 1961 by Bernard Bechtel, and were EXTREMELY rare and unheard of, even up into the 1980's...because there were very few other's in existence. But now, you can barely give them away at $10-15 dollars and are about as common as grass.

When an albino Brazilian Rainbow Boa enters the hobby, you can bet the first one's offered will go for ten's of thousands of dollars, and the original specimen would likely cost more still to the breeder(unless it was produced by accident themselves)because of what it could possibly make him/her in return sales in the herp trade.

I just remembered about the unproven "calico" trait, and there is also supposed to be a leucistic(all white) Colombian Rainbow boa(E.c.amaura) that is not a proven simple recessive trait yet as far as I know, however I don't know when or where it was produced. But THAT will be HUGE BUCKS if they become available!!

Same with an albino Brazilian Rainbow Boa. There is a HUGE difference between these and a common Colombian Boa constrictor, and are two very different animals altogether.

cheers! ~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

When doing a google "image search" for something very specific, you really have to know exactly what you are looking at because the text very often doesn't match the given photo that comes up whatsover..LOL!. Very often the keywords are only mentioned somewhere else on the site, and shows a totally different type of animal within the site than you are searching for.

For example, do an image search on the EXTREMELY rare Blanchard's milksnakes(L.t.blanchardi) that I have, and you will find COUNTLESS photos that have nothing to do with them at all, but will find only about five photos of an actual Blanchard's milksnake..LOL! One is of the hatchling male in my friends hand before I acquired him,and some of the others shown are sibling clutchmate's of the one's I own, and one or two others that aren't related to mine.

The other photos are completely useless and like searching through a haystack for a needle..this is quite common when doing searches, and especially "image searches".

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Wow!
I thought I had that one, I searched for a while just to get that picture...lol. I would be interested in seeing it if ever you come across one.
I might get a Rainbow Boa down the line when the kiddos are bit older. I think they are beautiful. You obviously know your stuff when it comes to snakes. I'd be interested in any if all information you could tell me about the Limburg Albino Rosy Boa. Thanks again for all the great info!

Jennifer

rainbow boas, IMO, look too good naturally to need color morphs. A good BRB is a jaw dropping, mind blowing animal. How the hell I've been in herps for as long as I have and never owned one I don't know.

There's...gads, I don't know how many species with albinos. Most of the genus python (excluding african rocks and angolans), lots of Lampropeltis (your kings and milks), lots of Pantertophis (North American rats)...very few albino old world rats although there are a few (King rats, Chinese Beauty Snakes)...there's albino red tails...

some species look stunning as albinos, some...not so much. Like I think albino retics are amazing, but I think albino blood pythons are just meh.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

I truly agree I would have bought and an Albino Retic if they did get so big. I just don't think once it got full size I could give the home and attention it needs. Not to mention if it got loose when it was hungry and there goes one of my dogs or kids. Of course I'm very attentive of both but they don't call them accidents on purpose!

I think the Bloods are pretty ugh myself. I just recently started getting more into snakes. I have had other pets prior and dealt with a lot of different animals as a Vet Tech but not much of an owner.

I did breed AKC Black and White German Shepard's until I recently had to let go of my Female White, she was attacking my other dogs and causing her mate to do the same in defense of her, so I am now taking on this new endeavor...

Well, being VERY deep into snakes for 43 years now(1967), I guess I can probably tell the difference between a cornsnake and a Burmese python by now..LOL!

Here is a forum link devoted specifically for Rosy Boas and Rubber Boas, those people can tell you everything you need to know about them and more.

I have always been much more into colubrids, athough I have had a good number of different boas and pythons too over the years. I just gave a good friend of mine my two huge breeder Colombian Boas a few months ago. Don't to forget to click on the Rosy boa link below the last photo!

Here are just a few of the snakes I have and work with..

~Doug

Rosy boas

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

I would say that's a few, What is the little one in your hand? I'm guessing your a fan of the Orange colored? I think they are beautiful.

When I was growing up we had about a 10' python I can't remember what it was exactly but I do remember it had free run of the house, not caged. The down stairs bath was it's water area, the bath tub was always full of fresh water for her. My parents had a heated water bed and it would curl up around the whole length of it to warm it self, her hiding place was mostly the closet. I think that's where my love for them came from.

I appreciate all the info and pictures!

Thanks!,....yes, the reds and oranges are commonly seen in many of the milksnakes I work with.

The two little ones in my hand are a very special snakes. They are a newly-discovered locality-specific "greenish" ratsnake morph...of which the original male was captured by a good friend of mine on a 600,000 acre wildlife preserve out in the swamps of northeastern S. Carolina. The two normal females he bred the male hypo morph too were also captured within 150 yards of each other as well. Below is a link to my site for the more detailed story on them.

The 10 foot python you had years ago was probably either a young Burmese python, or a young Reticulated python. Those are the two most commonly seen big pythons in the hobby.

~Doug
"moonshine" morph

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

you remember the first albino retics and balls? Man that was crazy money. I remember reading that issue of reptiles with the 1st albino retic on the cover...and saying "some day."

And whatever CCR says, someday did come
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Sure do!. I remember all that stuff...LOL!

First tricolor amel Hondurans available at $3,000 bucks too in 1995. Now the same tricolor amels go for $50..LOL!

Yep!, good ol' supply and demand at work!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

That's awesome! Is there any snakes in the boa or python family that stay as small as it was when you found it? I know rat snakes, milk snakes and other are that small. What is the smallest.

I wish I could get back into working with animals. I'm a stay at home Mommy of two right now and I could use the break. I have to say this the hardest job I've ever done...lol

Thanks!,....yeah, those new ratsnake morphs will be very interesting to work with in the future.

Well, There are some Mexican and Island boa constrictor races that stay very small. Some examples are "Calker's Cay" boa's, Corn Island boa's, Tarahumara boas, etc... And I think Someone already mentioned Spotted pythons, Stimpson's pythons, Children's pythons, and Anthill pythons. Those are very small species too.

Here is a good link to a boa page that has TONS of info on these very specific types.

~Doug
the Boa Page

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

oh man did you see the Zeros on his page?! Sexy beast
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Yeah, I sure did!,......very sweet indeed!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Ok, this might be a stupid question but can put another boa or python with my Limburg Rosy?

No. In general it's a bad idea to mix species of snakes.
Rosies in particular are very xeric adapted animals while most boidea are tropical...different husbandry requirments
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Thanks,

Can you put them with other types of Rosy's? After talking with you guys I have found quite a few awesome looking snakes that have spiked my interest.
If I put a divider in my tank, would it stress the two snakes out being so close and able to see each other? Thanks Again!

I don't know about housing rosies together--I haven't worked with them--but the general default is for 1st time owners to avoid communal housing. It's easier to track an animal (how well its eating, pooping and all that jazz) in a single resident cage. I do house some animals communally (hell, if you're trying to breed you have to for a few months at least).

As for dividers...eh. You have to find a way to provide a good thermal gradient, hide spots,water bowl, etc all in that half the cage. It's (in theory) doable but it might be difficult in practice particularly in smaller cages like 20s or 10s.

There's lots of snakes out there One thing to look at are purpose built cages, many of which can stack--saves on space and particularly for higher humidity animals they work better than glass tanks w/ screen lids. Animal Plastics and Vision are two I know that I like. Boaphile has a good reputation as well, as does Reptile Basics (although I haven't used them).

You may very well wind up getting more than one type of snake at some point Don't overextend at first, remember that they'll be there later and enjoy what you already have. Start with your rosy at first and give it 4-6 months, then decide if you want another and what to get. Maybe another rosy and try to breed them, maybe a different species...up to you...
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

Makes all good sense.

I have a 55 gallon tank, is terrarium moss a good bedding? I like the natural look of it verses Aspen. I have 2 thermometers and a hydrometer. I am sparing no cost when it comes to housing. Thanks Again!

No, I totally agree with varanid!!. Aside from health issues and other things that can easily go wrong, those two types of snakes are like night compaped to day actually. The Rosy boas need dry arid setups, and boas and most colubrids are more suited to more humidity, some MUCH moreso.

Here is some advice from a guy I know that you should pay attention to very closely regarding Rosy boas. He used to maintain hundreds of Rosy's......

********

Rosy husbandry is different from colubrids and more simple. It is just most don't know the basics.

#1 water bowls- I never used water bowls with my rosys except with gravid females. if a rosy takes a drink before or after eating they will regurge. Then you have a problem. Aftr a regurge the more you feed WITHOUT letting their stomach settle (10 days at least), the more they will regurge and get worse. So the stress is water and not complictaed like other hard to keep species. Matter of fact rosys are the simplest!. I always said if you keep rosys and can't get yourselve to remove water (and try to give them water between feeding and remove-which is an unecessary hassle-then you should have plenty of liquid flagyll around to administer for the regurges you will cause with water bowls..

Otherwise it is simple. SIMPLER than kings and other colubrids. Just remove the water.

#2 ventilated cages- I have found that rosys kept in sweater box arrangements never do well . Humidity is a killer for them and even though they can survive for a long time (even years) eventually they will get sick .

So the key is keep rosys in aquairium setups with screened lids.

Screened lid tops aquaraiums may seem strange to keeping snakes for most of you. But no matter how many holes you drill in rubbermaid units, it still is not enough ventilation.

So again simplicity is key. Kepp them in open top screened cages.

besides these two "stresses" which will cause problems with keeping rosys. Rosys will live much longer than other colubrids I can think of (well at least they do in historic captive numbers From all the snakes I have been around in the last 40 years) i have seen rosys outlive kings and milks by decades. ..and all with the most minimal of care.
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Don't forget to go over to the "Rosy boa/Rubber boa" forum and read lots of the topics and posts there. You can see what problems many of the others have, and easily see how to avoid these problems, as well as lots of other important info about them. Many snakes are very easy to keep, and can almost be virtually care-free, but ther basic husbandry needs MUST be met, or huge problems can arise.

Here is the link again....
Rosy and Rubber boa forum

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Ok I didn't find the answer to this question on the forum you suggested. I have a 2.0 Repi Glo UVB light is that a good light for my Limburg Rosy? Again another question I didn't find the answer to, suggestions yes but can I use Terrarium Moss as a substrate?

Rosies are nocturnal, and very fond of staying in cover. They don't need UV light.
Moss is not a good substrate for rosies; something like aspen or possible a quality sand?
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

The tank is in my living room which has alot of natural light coming through the multiple windows, this should be enough? As fas as at night should I use a black light or anything to slightly illuminate her cage at night?

>>The tank is in my living room which has alot of natural light coming through the multiple windows, this should be enough? As fas as at night should I use a black light or anything to slightly illuminate her cage at night?

that'd be more than enough. Don't worry about lighting it at night; they're nocturnal animals, they like it good and dark. One thing you'll learn if you do field stuff is that herps are more likely to move on darker nights--new moon lots of cloud is pretty much ideal. Just keep the temps good (undertank heater, CHE, whatever). And make sure it gets a good period of darkness every day.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

No, just allow a bit of AMBIENT light from a distance if you want to see it at night, as varanid mentioned they are NOT diurnal daytime dwellers, they are very specifically nocturnal and like to burry themselves in the cage substrate.

A "black-light" is nothing but UV rays and will burn animals and kill them after prolonged exposure. Maybe a red infrared bulb designed for nocturnal animals would be suitable though.

Remember, their enclosures can NOT tolerate humidity and moisture!!

I would strongly recommend an inexpensive book or two on keeping Rosy boas too. You can easily find these by googling the net. There are DEFINITE does and dont's for their basic husbandry, and it would be a very good idea to get familiar with them before there are signs of problems. Also, with books you can continually refer to them whenever you want at the drop of a hat. This is the very best way to make sure things are setup correctly, not when you have any problems and try to correct them by asking on the net, etc..

Here is another link I found regarding them....

~Doug
Link

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Thanks Guys!

I apologize about the excessive questions but I figured hands on knowledge trumps any internet ( ehow ) or book. I have googled much information about housing the Rosy but get inconsistent answers, some say yes some say no on a lot of questions I have had even the pet shops here were very inconsistent. Seeing how you guys had the hands on, I don't want to spend all the time and money just to accidentally kill it for lack of knowledge. I'm excessive like that with all my pets. They have the best or I don't own pets.

Thanks Again,

Jennifer

That's good to hear!

And don't even bother asking 99% of pet store employees. It doesn't matter if they have 100 Rosies in their store, or any other type of snakes either. They typically give out very bad advice, and are not usually anything close to knowing what they are talking about when it comes to different types of snakes. They generally have a speech to sell you the snake, the cage, the substrate, lighting, and climbing branches, and all sorts of other stuff whether you need it or not, but that is about as far as it goes.......trust me on this.

Unfortuntely pet stores are in business to sell things, not to know anything about what they sell..LOL!

Anyway, best of luck with learning all about them and getting a real nice one to enjoy!

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Thanks again!

I have a 55 gallon tank and 2 thermometers 1 hydrometer. I put rocks and a hollowed out piece of drift would for it to burrow under. I decided to go with the Aspen substrate because it seemed easiest to clean, but as a liner I put Eco carpet down. I have a heat pad on one side for heat so if she'd like she can venture to the other side to cool down. Here's a picture of one of her family members, she should be just as beautiful...Thanks

Sounds like you are well on your way!

Yes, that's a nice looking Rosy

Also...yes, I use Aspen for other snakes too. It is very easy to spot-clean.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

not sure what yo mean by "as small as it was when you found it." I mean, everything grows from infancy on to adult hood. But there's a *huge* range in size in the Boidea; anacondas, retics, rocks and burms can all hit in the 18 foot range, but the smallest member of the family (the anthill or pygmy python) makes out at around a foot-and are miniscule at hatching. Most members of Boidea (pythons and boas) are between 3 and 10 feet fully grown I think.

If you want a good, 6 foot or less boid the rosy you'd mentioned earlier is an excellent choice, as are the sand boas (several species), ball pythons, jungle carpet pythons possibly (they're at the upper end of that size), spotted pythons, children's pythons, dwarf locale boas, womas (possibly;t hey're at the upper end of that length but are lightly built) savu pythons, dumeril's, erh, off the top of my head that's what I can come up with that's readily available and not terribly large or hard to keep (for instance green tree pythons--pretty but hard and bitey).

Albinos are not available in most of those though; the rosies, some sand boas, balls (expensive)...carpets do have an albino now but it's many thousands of dollars (like, looking at one sucks your wallet out through your eyes type pricey).

I'd say if you *really* like the traditional albino python, pony up the 400 or so for a ball; it's pricier, but it's an animal you should have for 20-30 years too you know? If you think of 200 extra bucks over 30 years it's nothing.

If it's what you really want then go for it. Reach for your dreams, etc. The only other snakes with the same albino appearance are the burms and white phase albino retics and they just get honking ginormous. The rosies are close-ish. The snad boas...eh, I don't like their albinos. If you can find a "sunset" morph of the Indian sand boa though, OMG OMG pretty. No idea waht they sell for though.

my subadult albino retic
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

You are correct, and no, I had not seen an amel cenchria, just the hypos. My mistake there in my haste. The T-pos maurus are pricey for Donald Trump. Not affordable for you and me, lol.
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Mark