Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
Like any person considering a new species should, I have been combing the forum, breeder websites, etc. gleaning tons of valuable information from many knowledgeable and dedicated Drymarchon enthusiasts. I still have much more research to do and feel I've only scratched the surface. What I simply want to know is what species is the "best" to keep(not breed)? Yes, I know this is highly subjective and everyone has their passions. It seems like the Easterns are the most desirable and sought-after. What about the Texans or various Cribos. I was hoping that people with experience with multiple species could help shed some light. What redeeming qualities do the various Cribos have (in terms of appearance, temperament, husbandry requirements, intelligence, cleanliness, the list goes on...) compared to Easterns. Do they even approach the level of "desirability" of the Easterns, or are they just "that snake you settle for when you can't obtain and/or afford an Eastern?" What about Texans?
Many thanks in advance,
Andy

Well, like you said, this is highly subjective. To me, the best temperament is with Easterns, Blacktails/Unis, and Mexican Redtails. The worst temperament (in my experience) is with Yellowtails. Texans vary widely. I have a female that is pretty docile...she has a little attitude, but not much. She will huff at you and posture, but rarely offers to bite. Once you have her out of the cage, she's fine. I have a BIG male that is "mean as a snake". I have 3 Yellowtails...all 3 are pure evil (but I love them anyway). To me a Mexican Redtail is as close to an Eastern as you can get as far as appearance and temperament.

Of all the indigos and cribos I've had the pleasure of caring for, Unicolors have been the easiest going and certainly as impressive as any. "Fat Bastard", a male hatchling from Dan Felice will be two years old in June. He's over six feet in length now and I have to be careful not to feed him too much as he's putting on a lot of girth. If you're planning on raising keeping just one Drymarchon, the males grow larger. Starting with a captive born hatchling and watching it grow and undergo color changes is a rewarding experience.

Wow, fast response. Its nice to see a forum with a pulse. Some of the ones I frequent have really sluggish turnover. Anyway, thanks so much. So, looks like Red Tails, Black Tails, and Unis are nice as well? I am realy attracted to the nice dark sheen seen on some of the spectacular Easterns I have seen. The general consensus I have gathered is that Yellow Tails are generally awful beasts, yes? Do the aforementioned Cribos display the near-legendary "intelligence" of the Easterns. Also, I was wondering about the excrement and smell of Drymarchon in general. My experience has been with boids and I am used to their relatively inoffensive and easily removed clumps of waste. Do the Drymarchon really spray horrible filth about their cage like everyone says?

Sometimes! My male is typical of the male gender of all species. He is not very tidy in that respect. Sometimes he even seems to enjoy paintig the walls with it! While the female is the exact opposite. She is very neat, clean, and dainty. But neither of them have ever dumped inside their hide boxes. They are smart enough to avoid that and the water bowl. As for the species as a whole or what another individual might do,... I could'nt say. These snakes do exibit distinct individual personalities. As far as clean up goes, it's like seagull crap! It's not boid crap. And if you feed fish , I'm told it smells much worse.
Tony.

It is true, indigos do have a much more pungent discharge shall we say...

Thing is, with your boas, you may not notice that they've even passed anything for a day or two. The result being that you might not clean the cage as soon as it's needed.

When one of my indigos passes feces, I know it right away and it gets cleaned right away. Once cleaned out, the odor is gone as the snakes themselves dont really stink.

Indigo-poo...It's a good thing...

Doug T

>>Wow, fast response. Its nice to see a forum with a pulse. Some of the ones I frequent have really sluggish turnover. Anyway, thanks so much. So, looks like Red Tails, Black Tails, and Unis are nice as well? I am realy attracted to the nice dark sheen seen on some of the spectacular Easterns I have seen. The general consensus I have gathered is that Yellow Tails are generally awful beasts, yes? Do the aforementioned Cribos display the near-legendary "intelligence" of the Easterns. Also, I was wondering about the excrement and smell of Drymarchon in general. My experience has been with boids and I am used to their relatively inoffensive and easily removed clumps of waste. Do the Drymarchon really spray horrible filth about their cage like everyone says?

Very good point! Never thought of it that way, but you are absolutely right. My indies get cleaned right away!
Tony.

You know that really is a GREAT question and one that isnt asked often enough in my opinion. I have kept Rubidus, Melanrus, and Easterns. I have not kept or bred texas or Yellowtails. In MY book the Yellowtails are highly desirable.But for calmness, I would definetly choose the Eastern Indigo head and shoulders above the others. Second in line would be the Melanarus. Yellowtails have a somewhat bad rep but then a lot of them are imported also.

Hope this helps,

Fred Albury

I've had all of the different subs in captivity. The Eastern is the only one I've never been bitten by...TX are mostly calm, but my best male is sneeaky mean...BT's are very good, only 1 attempt to bit eover the years..Uni's I agree with the belkow for the most part, but I sure wouldn't want one of those big boys to tag me. YT's vary greatly...My Mex redtails I wouldn't trust for a minute! Quite a variety of experience here..
-----
Carl W Gossett
Garage Door Herps
Monument,Colorado...northern territory of the Great Republic of Texas

I believe temperament is dependent upon the individual. I have found very defensive (not to be confused with aggressive) individuals within all Drymarchon subs, and I currently maintain all subs within my collection.
I have yellow-tails who are very defensive and will not hesitate to bite, sheepish individuals who will demonstrate no defensive behavior while reaching into the enclosure and picking them up, but will simply turn their head during handling and clamp down upon you and a few individuals who are simply none defensive.
I have a single black-tail, which will act more like the sheepish yellow-tails and unsuspectingly clamp down on you, but my other three are as docile as can be. I did obtain a WC individual once, which was highly defensive and would strike at anyone passing before the enclosure.
I have Texas Indigos which are either very docile or highly defensive, no sheepish individuals there and they readily let you know who’s who.
The Eastern Indigos I have, are quite tame, have never acted highly defensive, other then to vibrate their tails when upset, and have been among the most bold, yet docile snakes within my collection. I have captured D. c couperi within the wild, in So. Dade Co. Florida, many years ago, and even they never offered to bit. My worst experience with a wild caught involved flattening of the head, tail vibrating, salivating and of course excreting musk and other bowel contents. Most would simply allow you to approach and pick them up, without attempting to flee or acting defensively.
The Unicolors I have are all very docile, rarely, if ever, act defensively, but are a bit more secretive. While I have never been bitten, I know of an individual who recently experienced a bite, from a very large specimen, during a feeding accident, which sent him to the ER for sutures.
My Mexican red-tails are a diverse bunch, while none are very defensive, I have a large female who is of the sheepish nature and will just clamp down on you without warning, a male who acts in a very defensive manner, yet will not strike or bite and another female who is VERY docile, except at feeding time.
The best advice I have, is to acquire a captive bred specimen of any Dry sub you wish and interact with it on a regular basis, after you have given it a few days to acclimate to its new home.