Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've always heard people asking what is the best beginner hot snake so it makes me wonder. What is the best first "BIG" snake for a beginner? I'm not talking about a novice...just someone that has never had a snake get over 6ft. Would you start them out on say boa constrictors or bloods and then move them up to the big 5? Would an intermediate be necessary at all? Just looking for your opinions.

Intermediates The Big 5
1. Bloods 1. Reticulated Python
2. Boa constrictors 2. Indian Python
3. Yellow Anaconda? 3. Green Anaconda
4. Amethystine Python
5. African Rock Python

Should there be any restrictions on owning the big 5? If so what do you think it should be?
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1.4 Columbians
2.7 Kenyans
0.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Borneo Blood
0.0.2 Blue Tounged Skinks
3 Dogs
3 Cats
1 Ferret
1 Wife

Well, as far as intermediates go, its who you talk to. Personally I dont really think they are necessary, unless you really want one. If you really do want one of the intermediates, not just to prepare you for a bigger snake, then go for it. But dont keep it for a few years, then get the big one and then dump the intermediate.

Secondly, I dont know if an anaconda is really the best choice for a beginner big one. Ive heard they have nasty tempers, and I may be wrong on this and im sorry if i am. But mainly because of the fact that providing a soaking bowl for a large snake is a concern you may or may not be ready for, or want to deal with. Burms are probably going to be one of your best bets. They are very poplular, so there is a great deal of information and resources for you to find out. Also they are pretty well known for having pretty good dispositions.

A suggestion would be to look at the requirements for caging, socialization, size, and all that other good stuff, and then pick the one which suits you best. Maybe even look for someone around you that has what you want, and check em out, just to see if that is really what you want.

One of the main differences between the intermediates and the Big ones, you have listed, is the fact that you are very possibly going to need a second person around to help you handle them. Yes, you can man-handle a 100lb 16ft snake, but how often are you going to really want to?

Sorry for the ramble, Hope it helps.
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

np
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1.4 Columbians
2.7 Kenyans
0.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Borneo Blood
0.0.2 Blue Tounged Skinks
3 Dogs
3 Cats
1 Ferret
1 Wife

I'm not really looking for facts or words of caution. I'm not a novice, just looking for peoples opinions on the snakes based on the snake's characteristics only. This is purely hypothetical. Assume that the person is knowledgable, etc, etc.

Personally, I would start someone with a big blood with a bad attitude. Big enough to hurt (makes the lessons stick longer ), but not dangerous. Of the big 5 I would recomend them in this order

1. Burmese (I think these are calmer on average than retics?)
2. Retic (Too alert and less calm than the burmese)

In No Order
Green Anaconda. Harder to care for because of the water requirement.. and more tempermental than the retic or burmese.

African Rock. More tempermental than the retic or burmese...hasn't been bred enough in captivity to select for temperment?

Amethystine Python. I don't know much at all about these so can't rate them.

These are just my opinions. What would you do?
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1.4 Columbians
2.7 Kenyans
0.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Borneo Blood
0.0.2 Blue Tounged Skinks
3 Dogs
3 Cats
1 Ferret
1 Wife

As far as big snakes go the big 5. Burms from my experience are a good snake when out of the cage. ( I feed in the cage) But to get her out I have to use a snake hook, if I dont I will ge tagged most of the time. I know there are dwarfs out there but who knows if they just grow slower or if they are truly smaller. But people have told me that they would rather own a retic then a burm.

From what I have read and when I looked into getting an Anaconda, this is what I have been told. You dont really need a large tub of water for them, and if you do, you have to clean it everyday or most everyday its more for them to feel secure. I was looking at getting a Male Green because they stay alot smaller than the females but still get big. As far as tempermant, it depends on who you buy from and what you do with it when you get it. A snake is what you make it. There are Yellow condas that do not get huge but still is a conda. If you go to the conda forum Kelly Haller (green) and DFR (yellow) will tell you what you want to know. They are very helful.

I would say a bao is good to start with, and then go up. Although there are many diffrences between them. I say if a burm is what you want and you have handled snakes, go for it. You will grow with it as it does. At least thats what I did. Bought a boa had it for a couple months and then wanted a burm and went for that to. I have made mistakes but have learned and she was small so know I now.

Retics, I am looking into getting one and have been for a long time, I will be most likly be going with a dwarf retic first to see what they are like, before I mess with a real giant and pay. I heard they are alot more alert then a burm and more active. And you get one of those your looking at 16 ft plus most likly and should expect that.

Rock pythons, way to aggressive and unpredictable, I say advances people only, they are colorful but not worth the hassle. Just my opinion, if Brian Smith was around he would let you know as well. You want somthing you can take out.

I totally agree on all that, especially the African Rock Pythons.I recently bought a male African Rock, love him to death, i accept the fact that when he gets big i wont beable to go take him out of his cage and handle him like people to their burms and such without taking a big risk.
And yes, Rocks are VERY unpredictable, my guy is still little, but I can pick him up and he will be calm, nice and enjoyable to hold. I can pick him up the next day, he will be hyper, then i can pick him up again, and he will go right for my face, so they are VERY unpredictable
99% of people would say im not ready for a Rock python, being maybe i havent kept other species to introduce me to large aggressive constricors, but like someone said on the Retic forum, NOTHING can prepare you for these snakes other than having one yourself...all i know, is no matter what attitude this python gives me when hes bigger, i know ill care for him, and even if it is tough, i WILL care for the big snake, aggro or not.

Do you think that african rocks have such a bad reputation because they haven't been captive bred as long as burms? Thats what I think. I know retics had an aweful reputation till about the time the tiger mutation came around (as far as I know). Now that they are cb so much they seem to be getting a far better wrap.
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1.4 Columbians
2.7 Kenyans
0.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Borneo Blood
0.0.2 Blue Tounged Skinks
3 Dogs
3 Cats
1 Ferret
1 Wife

I completely agree. IN the late 70's and throughout the 80's almost all snakes sold in the pet trade were wild caught imports. MOst retics, rocks, bloods, hell damn near ll the snkaes were extremely defensive and very prone to bite and musk. Due to this a lot of them have developed extremely bad (though in most cases unfair) reputations. Over the last 2 decades many people have been working with retics, rocks and burms and they have become a lot more suitable to be pets. For some strange reason rocks never really caught on and not many people have been breeding them. Recently it seems more and more people have been getting in to rocks so I strongly feel that given about five to ten more years that they will be more docile and better suited for a pet. Just my thoguths on this matter. Todd

Yes i agree. They havent been common enough in captivity, i remember when people were saying how nasty Retics are, i read the Retic forum, RARELY seen a mean Retic...went to a few shops, held some retics, all were docile, so I wouldnt even consider a Retic a aggressive snake, but of course WC will be demons.

I wanted to bring up something I read a few months ago in a reptiles magazine about anaconda's. They were talking to a couple of the main breeders of them and how different there setups were. One provided huge lagoon style soaking bowls so the animal would be more natural and lived in the water. The second provided only a small watering bowl and the animals were not ale to soak. They both maintain a healthy collection and neither seem any worse then the others. They both produced babies and were successfull. So basically, I jsut wanted to say that providing a huge soaking area for an anaconda is not absolutley necassary. Todd

One question for you is what kind of snake are you looking for? Are you looking for a big snake that will be relatively calm, and just kinda hang around on your lap, even as it grows, burms

Do you want a large snake that will move about and be fairly curious, even though it may make handling a bit more of a chore? Retics

Do you want an aggressive snake that will keep you on your toes, even on those days you may just want them to just be nice? Rocks and Anacondas.

The type of big snake that you want, really just depends on the personality of the snake that you want. And of course you are not going to be guaranteed to get a calm burm or an aggressive rock, but these are the stereotypes of the species. Talk to the breeder you are getting your animals from, and your doing a good thing by asking questions here. There are lots of people here willing to help. Good luck
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1.0 Albino Green Burm
0.2 Normal Burm
1.1 Java Retic

Out of curiousity, where would a coastal carpet (morelia spilota mcdowelli) (adult length of about 7 to 8 feet maxed out at 11-12) be relative to the other big boids like the blood python. Also, what about the scrub python (morelia amethistina)? Those guys can get up to 20 feet and are australia's biggest pythons.

nm
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hAuNtEr oF fOrUmS

0.0.1 Morelia spilota mcdowelli

"I am not Charlie Brown on acid."-Bart Simpson
"I am not high."-Me
"Rats and mice are only cute until they bite you. Snakey, it's dinner time"-Me, also

Ya, Scrub Pythons do get big, they can be very aggro too. And for their girth they are STRONG. a 10 foot Scrub is stronger than a 10' Rock...and the Rock python is bigger around

I might be wrong, but the scrub python is related to the amysteine (sp)...maybe either another name for it or, a subspecies. Not sure exactly, but something like that. Haven't done a lot of research on them yet.
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1.4 Columbians
2.7 Kenyans
0.3 Ball Pythons
1.0 Borneo Blood
0.0.2 Blue Tounged Skinks
3 Dogs
3 Cats
1 Ferret
1 Wife

As i understand it there are two scrub pythons.

Morelia amethistina - "Scrub Python"
and Morelia kinghorni - "Australian Scrub"

Don't know much about the differences btwn them other than the amethistine python is the generic scrub python while the Australian Scrub is very, very rare in captivity outside of Australia (http://srs.embl-heidelberg.de:8000/srs5bin/cgi-bin/wgetz?-e+[REPTILIA-Species:'Morelia_SP_kinghorni'])

They used to be considered the same species until recently.

Considering retics and burms the australian pythons are the leaner meaner cousins
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hAuNtEr oF fOrUmS

0.0.1 Morelia spilota mcdowelli

"I am not Charlie Brown on acid."-Bart Simpson
"I am not high."-Me
"Rats and mice are only cute until they bite you. Snakey, it's dinner time"-Me, also

I've owned all of the big five before (once had at least one representative from each species in my collection at the same time), and I can say with a fair amount of certainty that a Burmese is the best big snake option for beginners. They are just better mannered than the others. Retics are second in my book. I've owned several of them, and would not hesitate owning another one. All of mine had great temperaments. The anaconda I had was pretty nice. She bit me three times in two years, two pretty bad bites, one little nip. I considered her tame and I would show her to schools, etc. I wouldn't own another one, though, because of the water requirement. They do require a large water container. They are more comfortable in that environment. African rock -- couldn't give me another one. I know some people say they are misunderstood and get a bad rap for no reason, but I've had some, and mine deserved their nasty reputation. And I do believe in a few years the aggression will be bred out of them. Scrubs -- the one I had was very aggressive. Probably the most aggressive snake I've ever owned. The African rock was unpredictable -- nice one day, nasty the next. She was the hardest to handle. The scrub was just plan nasty every day. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. And her teeth were very long. I used to handle her with leather gloves, and she could bite through the gloves. Also, the scrub only ate birds. Couldn't give me another one of these.

All that being said, the best snake for a beginner is the smallest big snake someone can get and still be happy. Most people just don't know what goes into caring for a big snake when they purchase a 20 inch baby from a pet shop.

RP