what is best first giant?

[percey39]

You guys keep forgetting that the morelia kinghorni or australian scrub python is a carpet species. They have been recorded at lengths of over 8m, but in captivity a 6m snake would be rare. Also the 8m specimen is a very old recording. They have no where near the girth of your big 4 but can still weigh up to and over 40kg's.

[bighog85]

Obviously there is no hard and fast rule on different species personalities but I keep all of the giants except the scrubs so I can give you some insight. Burms typically are the calmest. My largest is 17' and about 210 pounds and she is a puppy. I take her to schools with kids all over and she is totally chill. On the other hand, another burm that I have is absolutely the nastiest snake I have. Strikes the glass whenever I walk up to her cage and only the best handlers can do anything with her or she will tag you bad. My retics are the same way. My biggest girl is awesome, super calm just very active and curious. But I have another about 12' female that I don't quite trust yet. My rock python is still pretty young but really calm so far but my buddy has one that is absolutely evil. However, I would not really recommend these guys after only having dealt with ball pythons. The chances of something happening is still very much there and you really need to have experience with the giants before you get one. I always recommend that people find a local herp society and chances are someone there will keep a big one that you can maybe get some experience with. But, with all that said, if you are insistent on getting one I would have to probably say get a burm. They usually turn out ok and out of the five that I have, only one is mean.

[Will0W783]

Trippysmurf, check out my thread on the Giant Pythons forum about "the importance of secure caging and double-checking your routine". I have been keeping snakes for over 6 year, and this bugger still got loose on me. It took me and my very strong fiance over 10 minutes to get him down and we both threw our backs out. These guys are neat snakes, and very impressive, but no joke. If you've only kept BPs before, I would suggest moving up slowly, such as with a coastal carpet python (6-8 feet) or a super dwarf retic (6-8 feet).