Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, i have had snakes in the pass, and currently have snakes. mostly i have wroked with ratsnakes and king snakes. I am looking into getting a larger snake, but am unsure of what is good first time LARGE snake. I am looking for good temperament overall. any suggestions is greatly appreciated, thnx
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---> ROBERT

I Fear Two things in Life.GOD and MY WIFE!!

By large the question is...How Large? In Colubrids the largest are the Indigoes in this country. Some Pituophis get into the eight foot range. Some of the Asian ratsnakes can get over ten feet. In the new world, Spilotes ( Tiger rats) can get respectable size.

However for really big you get into Boas and Pythons.

When you get this large the food requirements can be very expensive. The largest: African rock, Retics and Burmese Pythons can eat a lot of groceries.

The smaller (slimmer) Australians are a bit more economomical. Carpets and such are less expensive than the others. Some species tend to be more Mercurical than other's in temperment.

Boa constrictor is about the best natured big snake (usually) and depending on location and sub-species can be anywhere from 7-14 feet. Anacondas can get big and nasty.

Beyond that it is a matter of personal taste.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

how big are inddigos and how much do they cost
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (mazy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

For more info, go to the Indigo forum (lots of helpful people there). But, in general, Easterna and Texas Indigos get anywhere from 6-8 feet. Some of the other drys get larger. Costs for easterns range from $500-1000 for babies (I'm not sure about the other species). Some of them (easterns especially) need special permits to own.

I've owned about a half a dozen snakes since I was a kid...and my eastern (the one I own now) is by far the coolest.

n/p
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Amber

3.18.0 Ball Pythons - Tucker, Taylor & Gang
1.1.0 Amber Corns
0.0.2 Amel Corns
1.1.0 Butter Motley Corns
1.1.0 Crimson Corns
1.1.0 Ghost Corns
1.1.0 Hypo Corns
0.0.2 Normal Corns
1.1.0 Okeetee Corns
1.0.2 Snow Corns - Aiden & Kids
1.1.0 Sunglow Motley Corns
1.1.0 Hypo Honduran Milk Snakes
0.1.0 Pueblan Milk Snake - Marishka
1.1.0 Sinaloan Milk Snakes
2.1.0 Dachshunds - Dakota, Montana, & Cheyenne
5.0.0 Ferrets - Tigger, Bailey, Cody, Keyta, & Bandit

i went with a jungle carpet python. i wanted something bigger then my corns and milk that i could handle by myself safely. he is great with handling and eats f/t jumbo rats. is 7 foot now. i researched alot before deciding on a JCP. their coloring is cool. the only difference in my corns and JCP is he likes it warmer. i house him in a 80 gallon tank with big branches. he just shed after 5 months and is about 3-4 years old.

As Frank points out....what do you mean by large? I will assume you mean a snake that gets up to or exceeds 10 feet.

Obviously the big pythons (retics and burms) get large. I can't say they are a snake I would recommend to anyone as they really get TOO large.

Yellow Anacondas stay a reasonable size, but are not very personable on average.

Some of the Boa constrictor morphs get large (Suriname and Guyana boas, for example) and are usually docile.

Several larger Australasian pythons get in this range. Amethystine Pythons (and related species) get long, but are fairly slender. They aren't the best natured snakes, however.

Olive Pythons are big neat snakes that are apparently more docile.
Some of the carpet pythons exceed 10 feet, although many of the most common morphs (i.e. jungles) are smaller.

A large blood python is generally under 7 feet long but it is a HUGE snake compared to the other pythons. They are a neat snake if you want a large snake but don't want to have to house a 15 foot animal. All the bulk without the length!

Just a few ideas to consider. BTW - have you considered to cost of feeding/housing a large constrictor?
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

i guess what i mean, is i want something that gets bigger then kings and rats, but i also want to be able to handle it by myself when its full grown safely. I don't know exactly what i want, i just would like good size snake that is impressive, yet not able to eat me lol! thnx for all the replies and all help is appreciated. thnx
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---> ROBERT

I Fear Two things in Life.GOD and MY WIFE!!

plain old common Columbian boa(they come in various morphs if you got money to burn). They get decent sized and are part very docile(of course as with any pet there are the exceptions)..I have one and she is amazing,by far my favorite snake regardless of all the fancy morphs, I would never give her up..She is 4ft right now but will get at most 8ft possibly a little more but doubtful..Males are smaller..
Some people say that columbians can get up to 10ft but thats the extreme and usually overfed..

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Male burmese generally stay on the smaller side.
There are always exceptions so you'd have to be prepared for that.
I dont find that my two burmese are that expensive to feed. they cost me about 15 bucks a month for rabbits for the two of them.
This is my male burmes. He's about 10ft weighs 40 pounds. Big but not huge in my opinion.

so whats the average size of a male burmese? i really like the albino type and was thinking of a burmese, but thought to myself that they get way too big and that i could not handle one by my self! can u pull yours out safely by yourself? whats the temperament like on burmese? any info is greatly appreciated! thnx
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---> ROBERT

I Fear Two things in Life.GOD and MY WIFE!!

both my burmese are perfectly fine. The male is very easy to work with. I havnt seen alot of other male burmese besides mine but the ones i have seen have been around the same size as mine.
I have no troubles getting the male out of the cage. Most of the time he comes out by himself when i open the door. The female is a little more difficult mostly cause she is about twice the size of the male.

1. Male Hog Island boa constrictor - about 5-6ft as adult and not real girthy compared to many other boa constrictors. Real nice pets.

2. Male Jungle Carpet Python - again, about 5-6ft and more slender than boas typically. Real easy pet.

And if you want to go a little larger than the above,

3. Male Colombian boa constrictor
4. Male Burmese python (these can get big but are so tame)

I was in your mindset about 4 years ago. Just wanted something a little bigger than kings/milks, but not giant. I found that the Hog Island boa was a perfect choice for my situation. Male boas are often less girthy than females. Example, a 7ft female is alot more boa than a 6ft male, and not just because of the extra 1ft. The difference in girth can be huge.
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Mark G
Montane snakes are the coolest...

And these days you can get them with all the extras (albino,hypo....) Good luck.