Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so my wife and i are wanting to get another snake and had decided on a columbian boa intell we found the bloods. so today we happen to find one at a locale pet store. so i asked the "reptile" sales person what its temperment was like and she replied "foul". as polite as could be i responded with "oh so he or she doesnt get held very much?" thinking that a single employee only has so much time to interact with the animals. any way this woman went off on me like i had just slapped her in the face and proceded to tell me that these were not snakes that are ment to be handled, that they have a "nasty" attitude by nature, as they get bigger it will only get worse no matter how much you handle them , and i had better think about weather i want to own a 6ft 50lb snake that is going to be "pissed off" all the time be for i purchase one .so if any of you could share your experiances with your bloods with us we would really be very interested in hearing some first hand info on these guys (good or bad) thanks jake and tricia

More than likely I would suspect this is a wild caught blood.

First and foremost, ALL baby snakes have a tendency to be "foul" tempered. Its the name of the game. "I will hurt you so you do not kill me"

Second there is a different way to handling bloods. People who have complained about their temperment to me often restrain when handling. Bloods DO NOT tolerate restraint or rough handling.

They make a challenging snake. Pretty precise care is needed for them. They are a bit more advanced than a ball python. But other than that get thru the baby nippy-ness and you should be fine.

Take a few moments to look over the care sheet I attached below. BTW a 50 or 60 lb Blood would be INSANELY huge and twice the average size. Males are smaller, like most snakes and they really hover around 5-6 feet with females topping out in the 25 lb range. Large snakes are possible, but most will be low 20's.

Blood python care sheet

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Cindy Steinle
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thank you for the info and care sheet. it would be nice if these pet shops had any info on the animals they are selling like where they got them from. it would also help if they had peop;e there that were a little more knowledgable and a lot less pissy. thanks again for the helpful info.

Most pet shops do not employ qualified keepers. Those that do are rare and you will find most if not all of them advertising on this site. Having dealt with rescue and pet shop evaluations for over 15yrs I can definitely say your best source of quality snakes and INFORMATION is the breeder. This is especially true for the mall or chain pet shop.

Though not to be too critical, occasionally you find a bright star in some of these shops who can help. Just inform yourself before you make your final selection.
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That particular employee should have been dealt with for her attitude which sounded like what she described the snake to be..
As Cindy pointed out "most" petshops will carry cheap to purchase imported animals which have been stressed to their limit..US breeders put love in their hobby and their animals generally reflect it..Near every or every state has shows where one can view an abundance of animals and often produced by that individual who should openly share their knowledge and answer any questions ya might have..Blood pythons can be as tractable as any of the boas and pythons..Stress is a nasty thing and does nasty things to the organism involved..
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www.serpentim.com

Thanks Rich for specifying "most". Although I don't have any experience with keeping the Blood Pythons, yet, I would never tolerate one of my employees turning a customer off to a specific species because of their alleged reputation. I realize that Bloods require different handling than Ball Pythons and would try to educate the customer on the differences, as well as providing other sources of information for them to educate themselves. I would also try to gauge the customers level of experience before making a sale. Without talking to people, you may be dealing with someone who has a lot of experience in keeping other species and is looking for a new challenge. My biggest concern, and I see it all too often, is that people purchase an animal that they are not ready to care for, for the rest of its life, and the animal ends up back with me, or worse. Bottom line, we encourage responsible pet ownership, even if it affects the bottom line. Enough of my speechifying, good luck with your search for a new baby, whichever species you choose. And please realize all pet shops are not the same.
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Tri State Pythons

Excellent advice from the others. If you don't have a lot of constrictor experience I would go with the Colombian boa as they can be some of the calmest and most forgiving of snakes and get a blood python later. That being said I have raised red, black, and Borneo bloods. With proper environment and gentle handling all of them are tame and easy to handle. Getting a captive bred and born baby from a good breeder goes a long way in this. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

In my experience with my own personal animals and animals I have produced,babies are usually a little temperamental or snippy.But what do you expect everything in the wild feeds on babies,and you put your hand in there environment and they think you are going to eat them.I acquired all of mine as babies and they were all pretty foul tempered at first,but as time goes on they calm down.All of mine you can reach in a pick up no problems,but as said by everyone else they don't like being manhandled or restrained.They may hiss a little,but I kinda think that is there way of almost like communicating.(just my opinion).I think they are one of the most rewarding captive pythons you can have.You get the girth of a burm in less than a boa length.Plus look at all the new morphs being produced almost every year.They are a great snake.