Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I am interested in another snake (Leucistic texas rat currently)and do not want to get your run of the mill snake. In the past I have kept several brazilian rainbows and a blue beauty rat snake. I am nto sure exactly what I want, but no red tail that's for sure. I came across this forum and what a lovely snake. Any info you all can pass along would be greatly appreciated.
Thank in advance
Shawn

Yellowtails are beautiful snakes, that's for sure. I have 3 of them now. None of which I would really consider a pet. They are very large snakes as Colubrids go, they can reach a max length of about 10 feet. They can also be downright snippy, and a large one can inflict a painful bite. I have one female that's around 8 feet now, and she can be a handful. I have heard a couple of people say they had tame ones, so maybe that's possible. I dunno...I've never really seen what I would call a tame Yellowtail.

Depending on where you live and what the laws are in your state, you might be better off considering an Eastern Indigo for a pet, or if the law doesn't allow that in your state, Blacktails and unicolors do pretty well as pets.

yt cribos are enormous. The larest of the Drymarchon, on average, and likely the larggest colubrid on the planet.

Although cb specimens that are handled gently can tame down, they are not as "friendly" as most other Dry subs.

What you need to ask yourself is, "Am I ready and willing to care for a 9' or more coulbrid that could very well be down right mean?"

That's a real possibility with this sub.

I like them b/c they are like cobras that can't kill you...but...a good "pet"?

Not for the beginner in my opinion. This is an animal for those who simply love and appreciate the HUGE colubrids!

Dean Alessandrini

Would any of the other indigo snakes be a better way to go? I have kept many different snakes and would consider myself an intermediate. The size of the snake is not really an issue, but I do like to handle my snakes. Thank you for your help
Shawn

As long as they are cb, unicolors and blacktails usually have a disposition much closer to an eastern or TX indigo...lai back and docile.

Shawn,

Im far from an expirienced Cribo keeper but I have kept many snakes wild and CB and one thing Ive found to be true and I think may have been not mentioned here about YT's is that CB animals are gonna be way more mellow than wild animals. It seems the references here were that wild animals were aggressive. Ive owned 2 YT's and not for very long but both were CB and both were very mellow. In essence CB animals of any snake are going to be much tamer captives.

Keith
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