Thoughts and opinions / experience?

[07N54]

Heyyo! I'm new to the forum and I have a ball python and a corn snake currently. I was thinking about getting my dream snake (emerald tree boa) because I have access to a 125g tank that I think would be perfect for the size of emeralds. I was just curious about the aggressiveness of emerald tree boas. I've heard mixed opinions and experiences with them. Some people have told me that if you start young with handling them frequently they won't be too aggressive and how would you go about feeding them? Would you free them frozen or lives? Etc. I figured this would be the best place to start for information on them.

[Roman]

I have no personal experience with Corallus, but a friend of mine had kept a pair for some time and we were talking about his experience with them. So I have no firsthand knowledge, but I might give you some pointers.

For the size of the enclosure, I can’t tell you since I am not familiar with sizes in Gallons. If you could provide the actual dimensions it would be far more easy to comment on that. You need something tall, since ETB like to climb and rest up in an elevated position.

In my opinion an ETB is a display-only snake. They are nocturnal, only active during nighttime. So during daytime it is usually no problem to do the necessary maintenance in the enclosure. This changes dramatically during night time. The pair of my friend would strike at anything as soon as the doors would open most of the time. Have you ever seen the fangs of an adult Corallus caninus? You definitely don’t want to get bitten by that!

Even if your future snake would be not as defensive I wouldn’t disturb it if not really necessary (medical examination or treatment). They refuse food if they are stressed, so trying to tame them might result in a not feeding response.

If they are settled in, they feed on thawed rodents or chickens without problems, just make sure that food is warm, so their heat receptors “see” them.

[kudzu]

Have no experience with tree boas or pythons. Just from a little prior research on arboreal species, I will say would be very careful to only get a captive bred snake and completely avoid wild caught. Also, I would not want to use one of the standard 125g aquariums. Most of those are approx. 72"Lx18"Dx24"H. In standard orientation those might be tall enough, but I would find a top entry enclosure inconvenient to clean and maintain. More importantly, reaching down on snakes and most animals seems to make them more defensive.There are some large aquariums that are 24" deep. Those could potentially be set on the side, allowing you to enter those from the front. That would help.

[pet_snake_78]

From what little I have read on them, it seems many of the wild caught ones do not make it long term in captivity. So while you would initially save money with them, once you add in the vet fees you'd probably be losing money on a snake that may or may not end up living. My advice would be to pick a good breeder that's had long term success, purchase stable stock from them, and follow the same protocols they are already having success with. I doubt the fish tank will be a recommended enclosure so I'd probably skip that one.