Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not planning on doing this any time soon, but what is a good snake to get after having corn snakes? I know ball pythons are good, but I'm not a huge fan of them. I was a beginner getting corn snakes in the first place and I've had 2 for almost a year. I heard Jungle Carpet Pythons are nice, but I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

Some of it will depend on the size snake you want and what you feel comfortable with handling. Carpet pythons are great snakes, but you need to research them thoroughly before making a purchase. Some species of carpets don't exceed 6-7 feet while others can easily exceed 10 feet, so you need to make sure you know which ones you want before you purchase it. In regards to the length versus girth of carpets, even the ten footers can typically be handled by a single person...they don't obtain anywhere near the girth of say, a boa constrictor or burmese python of the same length. In fact, my two adult carpets (one pure jungle carpet & one jungle X coastal cross) are not too much thicker in girth than my corns. A couple of other options are Children's & Spotted pythons - both stay pretty small (3-4 foot range) and are easy to care for and gentle in temperament from what I've read. I'm a big fan of common boas (aka Colombian Redtails or Bci - boa constrictor imperator). Most Bci don't exceed 7 feet in length for males, up to 8 or even 9 feet for exceptionally large females. If you stick with the Central American varieties, or other insular Bci, most don't exceed 6-7 feet for either gender with many being much smaller. Also, as a general rule, male boas will stay smaller than females of the same species/subspecies. For a good article on the smaller boas, pick up a copy of the April Reptiles magazine - it has a great article on them in there. There's also the sand boas - great little boas and relatively easy to care for and they come in several different colors. And there's also the rosy boas - also staying relatively small and a range of color depending on local. Of course, there's tons of other colubrids too, but I'm not as familiar with those.

Good luck in whoever you pick!
Raven

Actually, about carpet pythons not getting to a large girth I would have to disagree with that at least in the example of a friends Jungle Carpet x Diamond python cross. It is about 10 feet long and much larger than the diameter of 2 liter pop bottle. This very well could be due to the Diamond python influence, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

My personal suggestion would be a BCI.

But if you want another colubrid, I'd say get one of the North American ratsnakes or some sort of milksnake, like a Honduran or Sinaloan. (Milksnakes do tend to be more skittish though.)

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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Hypo snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

the few large carpets I've seen have been relatively slender compared to other boids of the same length - based on photos I've seen and what I've read. My Jungle (3 feet) is roughly the same diameter as my boa of the same lenght, but my Jungle X Coastal cross (5 feet) is considerably thinner than my 6' female boa. Perhaps it is the diamond influence or perhaps mine are simply more slender. Still, good to know about the potential.

Raven

Since Im partial to colubrids, I would say any of the rat snakes or king snakes of NA. Since you have owned 2 corns, you should be able to handle the other Elaphe or Lampropeltis with no porblems. They use the same setups as a corn, eat the same foods, and same heating requirements!!

Just about any of the ratsnakes or kings would fit your wants. Most of the ratsnakes will get larger than the corns, but are just as tame if gotten as CB from a good breeder.

I dont know what you want color wise, just have to take a look at the different snakes and see for yourself. The black rats are getting really popular and there are more color morphs popping up. Brindles, rootbeers, white sided, albino, leucistic, and a few others.

The rats you might want to take a look at arein no specific order)
1. Black rats
2. gray rats
3. bairds rats
4. yellow rats
5. everglades rats
6. texas rats
7. great plains rats

The kings you might want to take a look at are:
1. eastern king
2. california king
3. florida king
4. black king
5. speckled king
6. prairie king (can be picky eaters as babies)
7. Desert king

Here is a link to pictures of king snakes:
http://www.pitt.edu/~mcs2/herp/Lampropeltis.html

Here are some pics of my rats and kings:

This is my KY locale black rat snake, currently 2.5 years old and right around 54".

My albino black rat snake

My everglades rat

My yellow rat

My california king

My black king

And my prairie king

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1.0 Corn snake (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake (KY locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Yellow rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Almost as colorful and variable as corns, a zillion new recessive traits are probably lurking unknown, just waiting to be discovered. They are kind of like arboreal corns with some teeth and a little attitude! (Mine are actually RELATIVELY docile.) They are just a little more challenging than corns, but easier than most any other tree boa or tree python. I like mine a lot!

I know these little guys are definately on my want list. I talked to Mike H a while back and he's supposed to let me know when he's got babies. I've had a hard time finding any that aren't imports at our local shows. I saw somebody once call the babies 'shoeslaces with teeth'. I love it. They seem really different genetically then some other critters. The colors are amazing. Attitude though...not great for cuddling...lol.
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Anna

The Zoo
Corns
1.0 Snow - Cornelius
1.1 Ghost(pastel) - Gray Ghost & Pink
1.1 Amel - Parker & Scarlet
0.1 Hypo - Nikko
0.1 Anery - Missy
0.1 Hypo Motley - Cordelia aka Cordy
Boas
0.1 Columbian (BCC) - Bella
Lizards
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Leo
Rats
0.1 Dumbo Agouti - Moon
1.0 Silvered Black - Pluto
1.0 Powder Blue - Corner
0.1 Dumbo Siamese - Lily
Plus the breeders & babies
Cats
1.1 Siamese - Blue & Fiona
0.1 Gray DMS - Druscilla aka Dru
Horses
1.0 Thourghbred (Hunter/Jumper) - Morgan's Majesty aka Cody

As far as pythons go, I like ringed pythons alot. I have had great success with keeping them. They have tons of personality and are very under-rated in the overall herp community. They are variable in pattern but no morphs have come into play that I know of *YET*!

Ball pythons are nice but are being massively produced, used & abused for profit, which I'm not sure I entirely support as of now. Although some of the morphs are gorgeous, just way out of a reasonable price range. Anyone thinking of pythons, ringed pythons are truly magnificent animals with little or no attention they deserve. As hatchlings, they have fantastic colors, which darken with a super iridescence, second to none (except maybe Boelen's pythons..but good luck finding those!).

If you want to stay with colubrids, I like Pituophis (Pine, gopher and bull snakes). They seem to have just as big a following as corns due with respect to the various morphs. Some can get bigger than corns though but there are many good breeders to choose from with quality snakes.

Most boa species require more attention to husbandry which I am currently experiencing with argentine boas.
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www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

Here is my new male ringed python...

another shot..

Here is my new female...

Here is my female, Lucky, from last year...
She's just about changed colors..note the iridescence

Here is my yearling male, Lefty, eyeing up a meal...

-Jason
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www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

If somehow someone could figure out how to stop them from changing color like that (I doubt it) I'd love to have one. I was interested in them a while back, but had only seen babies. When I found out that they get "ugly" later in life, I was turned off of them. The babies are definitely gorgeous though.

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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Hypo snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. There are some that are beautiful and some that don't turn out as well AND that goes for all species. BobGarby posted some pics in the Python forum of some real killer adult ringed pythons that would make your jaw drop. I'll try to attach the links below. I just think that they're extremely variable and not popular enough to spawn any interest in selective breeding to enhance traits. Think how un-interesting okeetee's might be if not for the selective breeding efforts by Rich, Don and Kathy..to name a few.

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO CUT & PASTE...
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=382578,386858
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=382578,386853
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=382578,386850

The black one in the second link is definitely nice looking.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Hypo snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake

Though I don't have any ringed pythons (yet! *grin*), I did get a chance to handle an adult at a show last fall (came real close to buying him but money was tight, really wish I had now). I had always heard how 'drab' they got as they matured. Well, I will grant that he was no longer orange and black like the juveniles but he was amazing! He had turned sort of a metalic olive color with the black bands and the irridescence just can't be caught on film. The whole snake just glowed with a rainbow, almost a halogram effect over the whole snake. Needless to say, I was kicking myself for not buying him at the time. I contacted the dealer the following Monday but he'd sold by the show's end. Nuts!

Raven

n/p
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1,0 snow
1,0 amel

1,0 aney stripe motley
0,1 normal
0,1 anery
0,1 motley
1,1 oketee
1,1 tx rat
4,4 ball python
1,1 dumerils boa
1,0 columbian red tail boa
1,1 green iguana
1,0 leopard gecko
1,3 dogs
freezer full of mice & rats

While I've heard that most of them are pretty docile, I think my female is slightly psychotic. My male is an angel though. No harder to keep than redtails and VERY pretty snakes. Not your average boa at all.

Raven

I started with corns snakes and now have a honduran milk, tangerine dream phase, and a Jungle Carpet python. My JCP is very docile and eats great. I ckecked out alot of different material and asked alot of ???'s before deciding on a JCP. I'm glad I did and am really happy with my JCP. I have read babies came be nippy but I bought mine as a yearling so she is over the nippy stage. She is a great pet snake.
I decided on a JCP becasue I wanted a bigger snake then corns but not a HUGH snake like some boas. Also they don't get as big around so a 7-8 foot JCP is safe for one person to handle.
"Safari" has been a great investment for me. I just love her.
Also her care requirements aren't all that much more then my corns or milk. She like a little bit warmer temps, like near 90 and I mist her tank a couple times a week. She eats rats for me and is doing great. Do to shed anyday. Her black/yellow colors are real neat after shedding. She also likes her branches and comes out more often then my corns or milk to display.
What ever you choose.. Enjoy!

I know Ronda at NW Herp has to be out there somewhere...and I know she will agree....Hoggies are the best! I've kept everything from rosy boas to suriname's and I keep coming back to Hogg Island Boas. Had dumerils too, they are nice, but for my space they get a little too big. I needed to scale down, and Hoggs fit nicely in my snake room. No need for outrageously sized cages.
Heres a pic of one of my females.

Creatures of the Night

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Michelle
Creatures of the Night
Private breeder/fanatic of many morphs of cornsnakes and select Florida Kingsnakes