Good Transition Snakes

[foxzhu]

In your opinion, what are good snakes to build experience, as far as size goes, before getting into a large species? Meaning snakes smaller than burms and retics but larger than your average snake.

[craigafrechette]

I'm guessing you're looking for something bigger than say a Kingsnake or Ball Python?

If that's the case you're probably going to be interested in many types of boas, carpet pythons, maybe blood or short tail pythons or maybe a bull snake?

I personally don't have experience with boas (yet) or carpets, but I have a little experience (since New Years eve) with my Borneo Short Tail Python.

It's really going to come down to what YOU want in a snake. Do you want something you can handle easily and frequently? Do you want more of a display snake that you only handle occasionally?

Giving us more info will help us help you...

[EL Ziggy]

Boas, carpet pythons, bull snakes. Those are all pretty decent sized critters. I don't keep boas but my carpets and bulls are somewhere between 6-8 ft. The care requirements are pretty easy too. If you're interested in a baby giant I'd highly recommend an Olive python. They average about 10-12 ft.

[bigsnakegirl785]

The species most commonly listed for this won't really get you ready for a large giant constrictor...even the largest boa constrictor is no match for a full grown retic or Burm, or other similarly large snakes.

Their behavior can also be radically different. Some giants may be active and highly arboreal, some can be a bit more lazy.

It might be better to just try to get hands-on experience with adults of your chosen species than try to gain experience using other species. The only snakes that will compare to a giant will be a giant.