Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,
I have a question that I need some help with. I currently own a cornsnake, and in the past have had geckos, beardies, skinks, and various native herps in my life (all of which have either died of natural old age, or - in the case of my geckos - stayed with my family when I went away to university). My corn is the only snake I've ever had. I would like to graduate to a larger snake, with the intention of adding it to a school demo/educational show that I'm putting together with my other animals (parrots, etc) So, here's the question: I would like to 'move up' to larger herps, perhaps more demanding or 'interesting' than the beginner herps I've kept in the past, but whatever I choose also needs to be capable of being an 'ambassador' and visiting schools with me, without becoming too stressed out.
What are everyones thoughts?

You may want to look into some other North American rat snakes - such as possibly a texas bairdi, any varation of black rats, everglades, yellow, other texas, gray, etc... They're very close to a corn, however some will grow larger, and yellows and texans have a reptuation for having a bit of a temper. There are also a number of boas and pythons you may wish to try your hand at, however i'm not too familiar with those. I would NOT reccomend a green tree python or amazon tree boa - they are too delicate to have to deal with a collegate atmosphere.
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-Chris

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

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

Corns or Columbian Boas. Both are hardy, docile and faily tolerant of handling.

Hmm... I'll just rattle some off with approximate size and color. Black rat snakes (up to 8 ft, variety of morphs), Florida or Eastern kingsnake (5-8 ft color varies), Redtail boa (6-10 ft can usually adopt one), Jungle Carpet python (5-7 ft spectacular black and yellow, homicidal maniacs as babies but respond well with handling), Brazilian rainbow boa (6 ft, lovely iridescence), bull or pine snake (6 ft or more give or take, tan to black depending on species), Trans Pecos rat snake (maybe 4 ft tan with black H markings, easy to care for, but still lovely rarely seen animal).

But one question, when you say visit schools, do you want the snake to just behave itself on stage in a noisy auditorium, or be petted by a long line of kids? Because many snakes can handle the former, not too many can the latter. If it's a really mellow snake for a line of kids, the redtail, king, or either rat snake would probably be the most able to handle it. I think...

Thank you for getting into educating kids. Goodness knows we need to get out there.
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

I would like to provide kids as much opportunity for touching/interacting w the animals as possible. At the same time, I recognize that there are animals that I really should include in the program that may not respond so well to a bunch of kids poking at them.
I would be open to aquiring one or two species that the kids could interact with (I already have my corn, so that's already one that works well), and perhaps one or two shier, less suitable for handling, but more impressive from-a-distance animals.

Well, I know there are some I'm forgetting and I may be biased, but for a showy animal at a distance, not much can really beat a well bred Jungle Carpet Python with it's slender powerful build and vivid black and yellow. There's also the possibility that the snake would become mellow enough for hands on interaction.

But for something that's impressive and good for hands on, maybe a regular red tail boa would be appropriate. They're big, impressive, slow moving, and I'm sure there's exceptions to the rule, but all the red tails I've met have been very calm and gentle. Though it may be ideal to get a spotter to help you with the hands on part, just to herd kids and help with the bulk. If it's an animal you've adopted, you can also tell the kids about it's case history and why it's so important to take responsibility, plan ahead, do research, etc.

Of course another half and half animal, could be a milksnake, so on stage you could explain defensive mimicry to the kids. I understand they're generally docile, but they're sort of little, slender and active, so you'd have a little bit of a handful. The kids would have to be very well behaved, orderly, and follow the "two finger petting rule"

Hope this helps.
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

I currently work as a wildlife demonstrator at a science center here, and we have several milksnakes that we use. They are pretty calm, and respond well to the 'two finger rule' but I think they're pretty common, and a lot of kids ask if we have anything 'bigger' and often its a boa that they ask for by name. Since all of ours are Canadian animals, no boas in our collection.
Because of the frequent requests for boas, I know these kids are seeing them somewhere, probably know someone w a pet one. I was thinking one of these snakes would be good for starting a discussion on why big reptiles don't always make good pets, and the need for responsible ownership, conservation, etc.

Well then, for an impressive, handleable, semi-intermediate snake, a red tail boa sounds like the right species.
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Thanks. I think that is the species I've decided on, given the overwealming recommendations from everyone I've gotten responses from on this board, and others.
Now to do some research and planning!

Colombian boas are a good choice. I own two right now. A couple points I'd like to make. First, males stay smaller than females. Males usally top out at 6 ft. females often grow to 8 ft. and are heavier, some females can reach 10 ft. and weigh 60 lbs. Second point is they require a larger cage at least 4 ft. long for the male and they have a higher temp. requirement. They must be kept at 80 degrees with a hot spot of 88 degrees. Good luck with whatever you choose.
Chuck

Based on participation in many, many educational shows, I would recommend:

>>one of the Pituophis, maybe a big bullsnake or Sonoran gopher snake – as long as it is tame, of course. Their care requirements are no more demanding than those for your corn snake. They do produce lots more smelly wastes, however.

>>a ball python. Compared with some of the other large boid snakes, ball pythons are tough and long-lived creatures - as long as you are able to meet their heat requirements in cooler weather. A full grown adult appears impressively large to the general public.

-Joan