Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First off, I am looking for a good PET snake that can be handled daily.
(I have a very high pain tolerance, so it is okay if the snake takes time to get sed to being handled.

I was thinking of a Green Tree Python or Emerald Boa. (I like the colors a lot)
(I am at or above itermediate skilll level)

I want to get it around 3-4 feet, and feed it live food (monitoring it and making sure the food doesn't bite back!)

I see that the classified ads on this site have good prices (300-500), would it be advisable to buy from a classified ad?

Thanks!

>>First off, I am looking for a good PET snake that can be handled daily.
>>(I have a very high pain tolerance, so it is okay if the snake takes time to get sed to being handled.
>>
>>I was thinking of a Green Tree Python or Emerald Boa. (I like the colors a lot)
>>(I am at or above itermediate skilll level)
>>
>>I want to get it around 3-4 feet, and feed it live food (monitoring it and making sure the food doesn't bite back!)
>>
>>I see that the classified ads on this site have good prices (300-500), would it be advisable to buy from a classified ad?
>>
>>Thanks!

All snakes need to be left alone for about 2 days after feeding, so they can't be handled every day. If you want something you can handle, you definetely do not want a Green Tree or Emerald. If you want a boid, you could get one of the "dwarf" boa constrictors, such as a Hogg Island, Nicaraguan, Crawl Cay, or Corn Island. A male should stay around 3-5'. Also, Ball Pythons and Short-tail Pythons stay around 3-4', although they are alot heavier than the boas. Jungle Carpet Pythons are shaped alot like the Green Tree Pythons, and are alot more docile. Also, there isn't really any reason to feed live, frozen/thawed or prekilled is safe and easier, and frozen rodents are usually alot cheaper than live.
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MY COLLECTION:
1.0 '04 Columbian BCI
0.1 '05 Sumatran Blood Python
1.2 Ball Pythons

MY WISHLIST:
A Northern Blue-Tongue Skink
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
1.1 Hogg Island Boas
0.1 Columbian BCI
1.1 Sumatran Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Borneo Short-Tail Pythons
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.2 Spotted Pythons
2.4 African House Snakes
2.4 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Rankins Dragons
2.6 Crested Geckos
1.1 Purebred Dobermans
0.1 black German Shepherd

Thanks!

And by the way, do the snakes themselves prefer live or dead food? I would think they would prefer live prey, at least my old python did, he never ate a dead mouse after I gave him a live one.

I believe that most arboreal pythons and boas surpass four feet. Even Jungle Carpet Pythons can surpass six. And Amazon Tree Boas, while stunning and graceful are nasty little high strung buggers whom handling would be a detriment to. Considering things, I'd advise a temperate species, maybe a wriggly little Thayeri or AZ king or some kind of rat snake like a Trans Pecos? If you open up your potential length range up to 5, a lot of options open up.

As for the live vs dead debate, my snake would eat anything to be sure. I feed her f/t since she's not the cleverest and doesn't really know which end of the mouse to start with. (among many other reasons) But if you warm the mouse up to normal mouse body temperature and wiggle it in a set of tongs, you might get a pretty awesome feeding response from a safe snake 'tricked' into hunting dead prey.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

well if u want a small python spotted or childrens would be really good but if u want something bigger diamonds and jungle have an awsome pattern but can be a bit more expensive nand liv rats or mice can bite your snake when feeding but its good to watch a snake eat live prey hope this answers ya problem!

First off, I am looking for a good PET snake that can be handled daily. (I have a very high pain tolerance, so it is okay if the snake takes time to get sed to being handled.

There are a lot of snakes that are tolerant of handling. I think a cornsnake or one of the other ratsnakes would be a good choice. Why not a Baird's Ratsnake? Gorgeous coloration (as adults), docile, cheap and get around 4-5 feet.

I was thinking of a Green Tree Python or Emerald Boa. (I like the colors a lot) (I am at or above itermediate skil level)

Both of these snakes would be a poor choice. Emerald Treeboas are not only intolerant of handling, they are pretty hard to house correctly (temperature and humidity requirements are tricky). On top of that, they can be problematic feeders. They are NOT a snake for an inexperienced keeper.
Green Tree Pythons aren't as difficult, they just aren't for the inexperienced. They do require careful control of cage conditions and they don't tolerate handling.

Off the top of my head, there aren't really any green snakes that make good beginner snakes. Most green snakes are coincidentally either very high strung, very aggressive, or both.

I want to get it around 3-4 feet, and feed it live food (monitoring it and making sure the food doesn't bite back!)

I think you need to rethink this. There is no reason to feed live food to a snake unless it won't take prekilled food. And prekilled food is cheaper and easier to deal with (freezers don't stink up your house!).

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

thank you for the advice.

I think I am going to get a jungle carpet python.

And I guess I will feed it prekilled food, that seems to be the general consensus among the experts here.

I'm a big fan of small pythons. I'd also suggest you check out Savu pythons and Children's pythons. Savus are climbers, which IMO makes them great for handling.

And I definitely agree with the advice of serving only pre-killed food.

I'd go with a black mamba or possibly an inland taipan...both don't get very big, take kindly to handling and are about as dangerous as a teddy bear....

(Only kidding of course....)

-Kris

If it weren't got that whole "having to inject an adrenaline shot directly into my heart within 8 seconds of being bitten or die a horribly painful death" thing I would get a Black Mamba. They are beautiful snakes.

LOL

mm

Defintally steer clear of GTP's and ETB's. Not only can they be mean, but they should not be handled more than once a month or so (as I've been told by a GTP breeder). Corns, Kings, Milks, Ball pythons, or small boas are good. The bigger snakes are a bit easier to handle, as long as they are not huge. My hogg island boa is really sweet, he is a bit over 4 1/2 feet long, full grown, and tame. My ball python is also really tame, a bit shorter than 4 feet. Ball are less expensive than hoggs, but both makes good pets.
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0.1 Irian Jaya carpet python
1.0 Hogg Island Boa
0.1 Ball python
1.3 Crested Geckos
4.6.0 Leopard Geckos
0.1 Western Hognose snake
1.0 Albino Lavender California Kingsnake
1.3 Bearded Dragons
0.2 Water turtles
0.0.1 Rose Haired Tarantula-Sammy
1.0 Umbrella Cockatoo (belongs to my mom and I)

i have 7 snakes and they are all pets. 4 corns, tangerine dream honduran milk, solomon island boa (they are a small boa) and a jungle carpet python. if you go with a JCP read up about them alot. some of them can be very picky to feed. some will not take to rats when they get big enough. i've read of some people that have to feed 15-20 mice to fill them up. and as youngsters some can be very snappy.

mine is a 7 foot male and about 4 years old. he is wonderful with handling an very docile. i can take him out anytime. the only time he tried to bit me was when he was 3-4 foot and i was feeding him in a feeding cage. went to move him to his own cage and he went for me. so even though eveyone says to feed snakes in seperate enclosures i don't. and i never have a problem.
'safar' went on a 3 month hunger strike last year over sept to dec. finally ate 1 or 2 lg rats (f/t of course. MUCH safer as everyone will tell you) and is now on a another strike. this is my JCP...

I would say, for sure, get a childrens or a spotted python(or a stimsons but they are more money). A male childrens will stay around 3-3.5 feet while a male spotted could grow up to 4.5. You wont break the bank on feeding since they stay relatively small, and they make great pets. My spotted is wonderfully tame, unlike my carpet python, who is also tame, but doesn't seem to "like" people so much. Babies of these species are notorious for being nippy, but with gentle and persistant handling they grow out of this stage quickly. This nippiness translates to STRONG feeding responses in adults, which is lots of fun. >:-D

Here's Foster, my 3 y/o male Spotted. He's a monster at around 4.5 feet.

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1.0 Spotted Python
1.0 IJ Carpet Python
0.1 Ball Python
1.0 Variable Kingsnake
1.0 Savannah Monitor RIP
0.0.1 Emperor Scorpion