Hi Greg:
Always happy to hear about another person becoming interested in what for me has been a life long obsession. I agree 100% with everything said by Craig, he's a veteran of the "art" and knows from 1st hand experience. I would like to add a couple of my own ideas for what it's worth.
My first thought is about the concern over being bitten.
Unlike with "hots", getting bitten should be of very little concern. In fact, if it is of serious concern, you may be well advised to stay away from the entire Corallus family of boas and most of the python species as well.
Reptiles are reactive creatures which respond predictably to very specific stimuli. One of the things they react most predictably to is handler/keeper stress. During periods of increased stress, mammals emit chemical evidence of increased hormone levels, accelerated heart and respiration rates, increased perspiration and a rise in surface body temperature. This mammalian “fight or flight” response mechanism has over the course of evolution become one of the triggering keys found in many species of snakes. Eat or be eaten is the law of nature, and the reptile brain (which does NO high math) reacts to the stimuli it’s programmed to pickup. Over time, individual animals may become desensitized to certain stimuli and threat responses may diminish. However, the potential to trigger an attack is always present, and EVERY “handling keeper” WILL at one time or another, trigger it. If you are going to free handle, you are going to get tagged. Knowing this ahead of time, accepting it and moving on will go a long way to preventing it. I’ve been tagged many times, most bites are not memorable, but a few have been. In every instance however it’s NEVER been the animals fault, and I’m still here, with all my parts in pretty good working order, so I have no complaints.
The second thought is about handling. Although I don’t prescribe to the “look don’t touch” doctrine proposed by many keepers, my experience with the different species of arboreal boids and their relative demeanors has taught me that handling is something that should be done sparingly. I want my animals to be as stress free as possible, but at the same time, I wish to be able to enjoy them, and work with them freely without the constant anxiety of knowing that at any moment I may be under fire. For me it’s a balancing act. I have no animals that I can not freely handle, but I certainly respect them all, consider their nocturnal, arboreal natures and do as little as possible to stress them out. Having said this, what follows is my evaluation of each of the species.
<li> I have NO experience with Scrubs, but assume from my reading that as a species they are generally wary, a bit high-strung, aggressive and probably not good candidates for handling.
<li> The Hortulanus group (ATB, CTB, TTB) are by far the most naturally aggressive and irascible. As a rule, they are not a good candidate for a touchy feely keeper either. However, these are the hardiest of the Corallus family of animals, and make good entry level animals for husbandry training because of this more forgiving constitution.
<li> Annulated Tree Boas are generally much less aggressive than Hortulanids but share the wider range of environmental tolerance.
<li> Northern Emeralds are in general more tolerant of handling than the Hortulanids but are by no means fans of handling. Virtually all can be easily acclimated to the handling necessary for maintenance, and most become accustomed to infrequent recreational handling by confident knowledgeable individuals.
<li> Basins Emeralds are in general the least high-strung and most handler tolerant of the entire Corallus group, but both Emerald races require strict adherence to rigid husbandry practices.
<li> Chondro pythons due to the nature and fragility of the young are more difficult to desensitize to handling. Certain races are much less naturally aggressive than others. For an animal that offers the least stressful and most enjoyable handling experience, the Aru race is generally accepted as being the most docile. While none of the neonates should ever be handled (or at the least very, very sparingly), Arus offer the likeliest chance of acquiring young sub-adult animals that will not respond aggressively towards being handled.
<li> Indo Tree Boas are again a species about which I have no 1st hand knowledge, but my understanding is that they tend to be less aggressive than Hortulanids, but more so than Basin Emeralds. Their husbandry is a complete blank to me, as I have never researched it.
<li> Madagascar Tree Boas are the “Bullet Proof” members of the tree boa clans. Their husbandry involves a greater range of tolerances, and although much less arboreal in nature than the other species, they still qualify as highly arboreal. My limited exposure to them has been to individuals that are calm and easy going, yet aggressively easy feeders so they too would seem to me to make a good entry level arboreal, although not a good teaching/learning tool for husbandry skills where the other species are concerned.
Well… that’s about it… looks like I’ve written another “BOOK” here… hope you weren’t too bored. Good luck and happy herping…
Joe P.
<a href=http://www.emeraldtreeboa.org>DGS - The Emerald Tree Boa Organization </a>