New Here (advise please?)

[Hurrok]

Welcome to the forum! I haven't had any experience with Rosies or rat snakes but ball pythons are great!

They are pretty calm and I've never had an aggression/biting issue, except one (out of 11 snakes). It all just comes down to socialization, the more you take them out the more comfortable they will be.
People consider them to be pet 'rocks' but they are more active than you think! Definitely not as flighty as corns can be. Plus maxing out at around 4-5 feet is pretty handle-able.
I've had a few friends and family members come over who are afraid of snakes, and when they find out I've got a few of them they get a little freaked out. But honestly as soon as I take 1 or two out and let them hold them or even just pet them their perspective changes. Even with one particular friend who will not touch them like their life depends on it has learned to appreciate their beauty just by watching them interact. It is so cool to see

The majority of people who come to visit that are afraid leave wanting one of their own!

[MizCandice]

Originally Posted by Terranaut

Just tossing this out there....first you mention stuff about your wife but in the next bit mention the snakes you like personally. If you stick to keeping the wife happy and ok with your snake I would drop getting what you want for what she wants. Show her some snakes and see what she thinks. I would also recomend a ball python. Get your snake of choice in a few months. The body movement of some snakes is what freaks some people out. Balls do not move in that ribbony sorta colubrids movement. I find this is why many people are less afraid of bigger slower snakes. Anyway....trust me and get your wife a snake first.

Firstly Welcome to the forum and back to herping!!
I have to agree with this, I love corns and they were my first snake too , ( I was a convert from the hell no I dont want a snake in the house crowd), but when you first take them out and they are all writhing and moving it definately made me nervous as a noobie. If you get a ball Id go with a yearling though as hatchlings can be VERY nippy. Good luck I hope things go well.

[mpdescha]

Thanks again for all of the helpful replies! I agree that a nervous, squirmy snake could definitely set off the fear factor, even if it doesn't bite. That's one of the main reasons I was interested in a rosy boa. From what I hear they are comfortable to just hang out, not constantly writhing and moving like some of the colubrids. I would just hate to get a rosy and it turn out to be one of those fabled biters I've read about. I think if the snake tried to eat him (regardless of size) that would be the end of my herping .

Anyone here with any rosy boa specific experience that can assuage my fears about ending up with a bitey snake? I've read that Mexicans are the calmest. Is any of this true? Thanks,

-Mack

[Terranaut]

Sorry. I did screw up the who's who, husband wife thing.

[mpdescha]

Originally Posted by Terranaut

Sorry. I did screw up the who's who, husband wife thing.

Haha no worries.

[Charis]

I currently have three Mexicans and would recommend them, I'd just make sure that your SO only handle it when it's well fed and not around feeding time. All three of mine have bit me once each, feeding bites that were partly my fault, though my yearling female did go through a bitey period that seems to have passed since I upped how often she eats and started feeding her in a separate container.

That said, from what almost all the big Rosy boa breeders say, there are very few truly "mean" Rosy boas out there and in nearly all cases, simply increasing how often a bitey one eats gets rid of the bitey behavior.

[Starbuck]

MPdescha, i *think* my rosy is a mexican (you can look at her if you search through my threads) and she has NEVER bitten or even hissed or acted like she would bite, and she went through a period where i was giving antibiotic injections every other day or so, and she went to the vet and had a tail abscess lanced with only local lidocaine, and didn't even need to be restrained very much during the whole procedure; just needed to keep her head away from the incision while they worked. She is by far the snake i trust the most of all of mine (not that i don't love the excitement from the other 6 )