Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone. kinda lengthy but id really really appreciate some help.

I recently aquired a 4 foot x 2 foot terrarium
thats bout 3 feet high. So I've decided to add a new herp to my family. I am experienced with snakes. Mostly ball pythons, corn snakes, rat snakes, and my pride and joy mexican black king. However all of these are fairly small snakes and I wanna try something a bith larger now, and I think the new cage should be able to do the trick. The hard part is deciding on a snake.

So here is what im looking for in the new guy. Something around 5-7 feet, 8 at the max, which im not even sure would be suitable for the terrarium. I'd like something that isnt very reclusive and likes being handled. Price range would be no higher than 400. I tried researching on my own, and I got really fond of the Braz. rainbow boas, so gorgeous. However, everyone says they very shy and get antsy when you hold them for any period of time. Then i looked into Emerald tree boas alot, and people say they get very snappy when held too much. So now any suggestions would be greatly appreciate so that I can start researching them.

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

What kinds of ratsnakes do you currently have (other than corns)?I am a big fan of the North American Ratsnakes, and several of these would fit your size requirements with a small enough girth to live in your cage for quite some time. I find that most of my "other" ratsnakes are much more active than my corns, especially when they think that feeding time is near. Also, I have not had any trouble "taming" any of mine, not even my Texas Rats. Duffy

I agree with Duffy. I have a licorice stick black rat (which will grow to about 7 feet), a neonate black rat (around same size), and two texas bairdis (about 4-6 feet grown length). I havent had any trouble taming any of them. I just personally love all the colors and morphs of the black ratsnake so I would highly reccomend that...their girth is small like duffy said and can live in that enclosure for a while, yet they do more than just lie around the cage doing nothing.

One of the favorite pictures i've found with a wide varities was compiled by Mike Jolliff...i'll post it below.

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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat(Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)

I had a green red tailed rat snake (dunno if thats its exact name, never saw one before.), not really mine, i just took care of it. My brother who i was living with at the time owned it, but didnt kow much bout snakes, and got it because it was pretty. I took care of it and helped hmi learn, but it was a pretty mean lil snake and bit very often, so he eventually decided he wanted to sell em = ( was a lovely snake.

Jungle Carpet Pythons. I have a 6 foot female that is real docile with handling. She loves her branches and they don't get to big around like a boa does. They average 6-8 foot.
Babies can be nippy but will grow out of that stage with constant gengle handling. Adults can be tricky sometimes switching them to rats. Mine switched with no problem. There is a great site about carpet pythons... www.acreptiles.com

does the enclosure i posted sound fine for a carpet python, i should be able to put alot of branches in there to facilitate climbing. also, whats the diameter on an average sized adult?

I'm not sure on the other carpet pythons but my jungle carpet is as big around as your thumb and middle finger almost touching. They are not big around. I house mine in a 80 gallon tank which is 4'wide x 2'foot tall x 18" deep. So sounds like your enclosure would be great for a jungle.

Be sure to check out that site www.acreptiles.com It has loads of info on carpet pythons.

I have branches in with my jcp plus hide boxes. When she is in shedding she likes her boxes. I bought her as a yearling so she was pretty good with handling and still is. I can disturb her at anytime and she will let me pick her up.

Dumerils don't get as large as the common boas and are very impressive looking and are docile when raised from a baby.
and a 4 ft. cage should be good for one its whole life.

If you want to stay with colubrids, then you may want to consider a Russian Rat. It's not uncommon for them to exceed 6 feet in length with considerable girth. They tend to be very docile. They're very active, diurnal, and love to climb, so they make interesting captives. Mine is almost never in her hide box and has been quite docile even as a hatchling. They are my favorite pet snake.

The only down side is that they are from a naturally cold climate and tend to go off-feed in winter. Also, they have a fast metabolism, so a little more cleaning is required.

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

I did check out the hog island boa. Looks like a great snake but really didnt strike me personally. The jungle carpets seem kinda nice and i'll probably be adding them to my list of possibles. Ive been trying ot see how they handle. Everyone says they are very docile, but so are Rainbows for the most part. only thing bout the rainbow that turns me off is they get antsy when held and become very mobile. Looking for a big lazy snake = )

I understand that my expectations may be too high, but never know to you look hard enough. As far as the rats go, i guess i should have been specific. They are great snakes, but looking to try something else.

Tough question. But a lot of fun trying to figure out! Lots of great choices. If you live where its okay to keep an Indigo and you don't mind the high maintenance they would be hard to beat and a lot of people have easterns that they think are easy going. Pythons and Boas as a very general rule move less and defecate less than your colubrids as you already know. Black milks are a personal favorite but it will be awhile till they get big enough for that nice cage.Also don't forget the Bulls/ Gophers. a lot of folks love their personalities and some get very satisfyingly LARGE. Good luck and have fun! Bob.