I'm Doomed..

[Uncle_Rev]

I met a person quite a few years back (when I was volunteering at the SPCA Texas) that had brought in an 8 foot reticulated in a plastic drum. The moment our super started to crack the lid the lady bailed.

It was underfed, majorly pissed and was striking out like there was no tomorrow. We had to call in a herp because no one on site had any experience with snakes.

It was so beautiful and crazy and all over the place. I completely understand your love of the retic. I hope in time you find one perfect for you!

[NennaMeerkat]

Hey Kayla I was just wondering...what do you think will be your first snake? And sorry if this has been answered/asked in this thread already

[lpbldg18]

ever look into the carpet pythons instead of GTP? my jungle carpet very very rarley leaves his tree, plus coloring is amazing bright yellow and black. plus you can handle them more. just a suggestion

[marionsclan]

Originally Posted by lpbldg18

ever look into the carpet pythons instead of GTP? my jungle carpet very very rarley leaves his tree, plus coloring is amazing bright yellow and black. plus you can handle them more. just a suggestion

How big do the jungle carpets usually get and is it because they're friendlier that you can handle them more often?

[Lankyrob]

GTPs are very fragile and dont do well with handling at all however Carpets are much hardier and easier to care for.

[Kayla90]

Originally Posted by NennaMeerkat

Hey Kayla I was just wondering...what do you think will be your first snake? And sorry if this has been answered/asked in this thread already

For my first I'll be getting a ball python
I'm not sure which morph I'll be getting yet though, but I may also go for a normal.. It depends on what happens in the moment when I finally am able to get it I guess :P

ever look into the carpet pythons instead of GTP? my jungle carpet very very rarley leaves his tree, plus coloring is amazing bright yellow and black. plus you can handle them more. just a suggestion

Mmm they are also quite beautiful, but I love the gtp for they're colouring, green is my favourite colour lmao.. But eventually I hope to have a wide variety of snakes, which will hopefully include both a gtp and a carpet python..

It was so beautiful and crazy and all over the place. I completely understand your love of the retic. I hope in time you find one perfect for you!

Exactly! I hope so too, though I will probably have to move from toronto before I'm able to get one... in that case I might end up moving to quebec/ottawa since stephan says there aren't any/minimum restrictions on snakes there.. and he's the giant snake whisperer so I have a feeling I may be able to find the perfect one for me Do you have any retics of your own?

[Jenn_06]

Im happy your very open minded and asking questions and not running to a pet store and getting a retic or another large snake they are beautiful but a lot of work.

[Will0W783]

Hello and welcome Kayla- it sounds like you're a lot like I was when I first started. Wanting it all.

I got my first snake- a ball python, seven years ago. A year and a half later I bought my second- a milksnake and my fiance bought a house snake. Several months later, we both got one more snake. Then we discovered reptile shows and it snowballed. I always researched each species I wanted before I got it, but in hindsight I would have been much better off moving more slowly. I went from 5 snakes to 25 snakes in a year. With that many it was hard to quarantine for longer than 2 months each, and some snake was always not quite right because I had too much variety. At the high point, there were 39 snakes. Every animal got proper care, but I was drowning myself in food bills, vet bills and tripled the electricity bill for the house. Also with that many and a full-time school load, caring for them was becoming more of a chore than a relaxing hobby, so I knew something had to change.
A year ago, I decided I needed to choose which species I really couldn't be without, and that had similar keeping requirements, and just stick with them. I'm now back down under 20 snakes, and haven't had health problems with any of them in over 6 months. I still have a few that are for sale to proper homes, but it's back to being enjoyable to care for them again and not a daunting task.
So the best advice I can give you is that, no matter how hard it is to restrain yourself, do it for the animals. It's so easy to get carried away and amass more snakes than you can handle and give individualized care for easily.

As for good first species- I really don't recommend ball pythons as first snakes. They are very picky eaters in a lot of cases, and do not tolerate lapses in humidity or temperature well. There are a lot of people that keep them with no problems ever, but they can be tricky to set up properly if you've never had a snake before. They also can be finicky about cage size. At first I kept my BP (3-foot male when I got him) in a 55-gallon aquarium. He would only eat 2 white live mice every other week. He wouldn't touch rats, wouldn't eat more often, wouldn't eat mice that weren't all white. He was a terrible pain in my butt. That winter, the radiant heat in my apartment dried things out badly and the snake was having stuck eyecaps. After two months of struggling with low humidity, I let my fiance take him to his brand-new townhouse and we moved him into a 30-gallon breeder tank. Within a month he was chowing down frozen/thawed rats, and the smaller cage was much easier to humidify. I now keep all my snakes in melamine or ABS plastic cages.

What I would personally say are the best first snakes would be things like the corn snake (come in many beautiful colors, are usually docile, handle cooler climates well, and eat well), milksnakes (similar care to corns but can be shy), and if you really love pythons/boas- things like Children's pythons or Carpets.
Carpet pythons are probably the best first python IMO- they are hardy as heck, eat like horses, are very active but usually very docile and have similar face structure to the GTP. Carpets are also semi-arboreal, so they can teach you a lot about what to expect from a GTP. I have a very old male GTP who is a very docile snake, and two male Emerald tree boas who are tamer than a lot of ball pythons I know. They are great snakes, but it's very tricky to get their setup perfect...and if it's not perfect they dont' do well.

Like Stephan said, take your time getting into giants. I had a superdwarf retic for 3 and a half years and she was wonderful- very tame. But when you opened her cage door, she flew out for food- every single time. It could be scary and you had to expect it. Retics are usually consistent if you give them a routine; they are very smart for snakes and can learn a routine. But they have INSANE feeding responses and always want to eat. So they can be terrifying. I got bitten by a 9.5-foot female and needed stitches. They are not snakes to be taken lightly, but if raised right and given respect they require, they can be some of the most rewarding snakes to keep. There's nothing quite like a 16-foot tame python.
I recommend getting a Burmese python before a retic- it will give you experience with a giant python, but Burms tend to be far more docile and lazier than retics. Also, if you ever visit the states, my door is open for you to come and see me work with my big ones.

[Kayla90]

:O 25 snakes in a year... I don't think I could handle that many at once on my own yet.. lmao I think you're addicted to snake shopping... :|

So the best advice I can give you is that, no matter how hard it is to restrain yourself, do it for the animals. It's so easy to get carried away and amass more snakes than you can handle and give individualized care for easily.

Yea I get that.. see the best thing about me is that even if I wanted to continuously buy them I know for sure I wouldn't be able to afford them lmao.. I can't afford one right now which is why I'm waiting till I can make sure I can properly care for it.. cause I would hate myself if my snake suffered cause I was impatient..

As for good first species- I really don't recommend ball pythons as first snakes.

Well basically I went from wanting a gtp for a first, reading about how that's a horrible idea for a first time snake.. cause they need soo much care with humidity and such..
Thank you for the advice, but while I've never owned a snake before I am taking the time to learn about them before hand.. Not that I have anything against corn snakes or milk snakes .. I think they are absolutely adorable, but I just want a bigger snake.. some that when I hold it I'm not afraid I'm going to crush it... Even ball python babies are waay bigger than corn snake babies lmao. I've always loved pythons because of how big they are.

Like Stephan said, take your time getting into giants

Lol ohh most definitely.. I can't even own anything bigger than a ball python where I live right now.. So I'd have to move first.. and they also aren't on my "want want want NOW" list lmao they're just on my "a snake I would loove to own at least once in my life" list..

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by lpbldg18

ever look into the carpet pythons instead of GTP? my jungle carpet very very rarley leaves his tree, plus coloring is amazing bright yellow and black. plus you can handle them more. just a suggestion

^^^^^
this

carpet pythons are easy to keep,very forgiving if mistakes are made

an all round hardy species

they are out hanging off a branch most days

great feeding responce's

come in all sorts of colours and patterns

if you get a hatchling you will learn as it grows and it will get you used to larger snakes

carpets grow anything from 4 to 10 feet depending on which carpet you go for (there are exceptions that can get bigger)

they are roughly the girth of a coke can

cheers shaun

[stephanbakir]

Shaun cant tell people to get carpets without being severely biased.

[Will0W783]

Lol, but you gotta admit- if you're going to be biased towards something, carpets are a great species to go for!

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by stephanbakir

Shaun cant tell people to get carpets without being severely biased.

me and chuck are trying to convert ALL snake keepers into CARPET keepers

every home should have at least one room full of carpets mate

cheers shaun

[SkYyaMe1623]

Shaun if I ever get another snake it will certainly be a carpet python. I saw a few at a reptile expo a few weeks ago. What prevented me from getting one is that as soon as the breeder opened the top lid of a case holding a few babies, all of them went right into strike mode. Also, I saw a HUGE adult black and white diamond python that upon first glance I said to myself "if that thing were in my room I'd be in wayyyy over my head' lol

I ended up grabbing a designer ball python for good looks without the edgy temperament. Either way I do have a liking for carpets, and I'm sure thier personality makes them fun to keep.

[lpbldg18]

every home should have at least one room full of carpets mate

cheers shaun[/quote]

Couldnt agree more!