large snake

K1LOS · 08-29-06, 11:19 AM

Hello, i have a friend who is looking for a new pet snake. He has experience with some boa's and ball pythons and a few corns. He is interested in getting a large snake now. Something around the 13 ft or so mark when full grown. Any ideas or recommendations I can give to him as what species to look at? I can't really think of anything that would be that size, but I'm no snake pro.

Thanks,

K1LOS

redtails · 08-29-06, 12:10 PM

Male african rock python(3rd largest) or a burm(4th largest) would work. They sometimes can get larger but tend to avg about that length. He could also try a scrub python(5th largest?), but they are a little more expensive and usually wc seeing as they don't breed in captivity too easily. I'd go with a nice afrock though, seeing as I have 5 already, but a cool looking albino burmese python would be nice too. Feel free to ask me anything at all about these snakes if you need more info.

Baby female afrock

Small(6.5') male afrock w/ rabbit

Small(6.5') female burm

Ross

K1LOS · 08-30-06, 04:55 PM

hmm... I thought those snakes would far out grow that size. I know he is a fan of afrocks, but he specifically mentioned he wanted something with a less aggressive nature. I guess that pretty much leaves him burms then right?

I thought burms maxed at 23 feet though? Not in captivity?

K!LOS

Reticsrule · 08-30-06, 05:24 PM

yes, burms and afrocks MAX OUT at somewhere around that size but that is by no means their average length. anything over 20 ft. in either of those species would be a MONSTER female. a male of either species will probably stay under 15 ft., although there are exceptions. if size is really that much of an issue and every inch counts lol, a male afrock would probably stay a little smaller than a male burm. and dont worry about afrocks having aggression problems. as long as youre friend buys a CBB baby, i can almost guarantee you he wont have any problems taming it down, if its even aggressive in the first place. hope this helps

snake 101 · 08-30-06, 06:22 PM

I know some types of burmese pythons get up to 13 feet. theres also Dumeril's ground boas which I think they grow up to 10 feet.

Reticsrule · 08-30-06, 06:30 PM

snake 101: male burms often only reach 13 ft. in length as adults but they CAN reach up to 17 ft on rare occasions. and about the Dumerils, they tend to stay in the 4-8 ft range, with an 8 footer being a pretty large female.

redtails · 08-30-06, 08:37 PM

Like dude said, if you go captive bred you get a nicer snake usually. The myth about the agressiveness was started because of wc animals that were used to snatching gazelle and baby waterbuffalo from the nile river being imported. I have 5 cb, and they are all as nice as a burm for the most part. 2 were sold as ill-tempered, but only 1 was and has calmed down quite a bit. They do love to hiss a lot and are pretty active compared to a burm, but otherwise exactly the same IMO. To my recollection there's no burms or afrocks in captivity over 23' right now so that would be correct, but there's VERY few females over 18' and almost no males over 16'. Make sure he doesn't handle big snakes without you there too, as it's pretty dangerous. I went to my mailbox and back with a 7' afrock around my neck and almost passed out on the way back cuz she decided the ride was too bumpy or something. Scary, my first close call from a snake.

crucified · 08-31-06, 10:52 AM

i have no experience with keeping burms or afrocks in captivity for long...
but from what i understand... male afrocks will avg around 13-16ft mark as well as burms.... thats when the growth slows down more...
they do have the potential to get larger but its mostly the females that get larger...
remember you dont need to power feed these snakes.. especially if its a pet... in the wild they take what they can get which is why they can go months with out food... and i am in no way saying feed them once a month or two... a normal feeding schedule isnt bad but they wont grow as fast if you dont feed them every 7-10 days like most ppl feed their babies....

as for aggression... if you find a captive bred python it generally shouldnt be aggressive... but babies do tend to be nippy and that can go away with size and confidence...

if he's looking for a display snake... a scrub would be awesome.. i actually have one available... awesome snake.. they get a fair size... but they are quick and can be quite aggressive... smart snakes..

or for boas... he can get a nice BCC... those get bigger than BCI and look awesome as well or a dummerils.. plenty to choose from... just check out the classifieds... hopefully you'll find something that catches your eye.. well his..ha

good lunch on your search geoff and i hope you help him pick out something nice...

post pics when you do...

K1LOS · 09-01-06, 01:29 PM

Okay, well i'll have a chat with him about the aggression stuff, see if i can sway his opinion on that one.

Good call on the bcc Joey, but I don't think he would go for that. He was pretty dissappointed when he discovered what size his bci will end up. He originally purchased it with the intent of having a large snake. I persoanlly don't consider my boa to be large, and doubt i ever will. The girlfriend would probably disagree though... Sounds like it will be either a burm, afrock, or retic, based on his personal preference I guess.

And yes, I will make sure he understands he will always need a second person to help once it gets to an adult size.

Thanks for all the input everyone. We are located in ottawa, if anybody heres of one for sale, or knows of a breeder around, please send me a pm here or at K1LOS@Hotmail.com on msn.

Geoff

crucified · 09-01-06, 10:06 PM

BCI's can get fairly large.. big enough.. :P

maybe a yellow anaconda? they get a good size and are amazing snakes....

try contacting Paul at Bighill Pets... bighillreptiles@hotmail.com i'm sure he can help you out in the search....

you got your bci from him...

K1LOS · 09-03-06, 10:11 AM

yeah, Paul and I have already been talking. I mentioned anaconda's to my friend, he didn't seem to have any interest. Tnx

Geoff

sc00t · 09-03-06, 11:34 AM

i would go with a male burm then, if he has the time an space to give it then he should really enjoy it, the two male burms i have are both around 14 feet an still growing, an all the females i have owned have all reached well over 13 feet but males tend to stay smaller, you just have to work with them an get them used to being handled an so they knew the difference of when its feeding time an handling time
thats my 2 cents on it an ive been breeding burms for about 6 years now

fish3x3 · 09-03-06, 10:53 PM

get a argentina or peruvian boa from riobravoreptiles.com they r the pretiest snakes ever and the peruvians can easily get to 12 feet long. if i had a camera id show u some of mine that i got from a budy that got em from riobravo. i would never get a afrock. i hear that they have bad attitudes and can get very territorial but thats just what ive ehard. if i were him id get a super tiger retioc or a lavender albino retic

Reticsrule · 09-04-06, 09:41 AM

peruvian boas (or any boas for that matter) will be lucky if they reach 10 feet. sure there are exceptions that are 12 feet but that is by no means the average length. and as we have already stated afrocks have a very undeserved bad reputation. they are often as tame as any burm or corn when purchased as babies and handled regularly.

fish3x3 · 09-04-06, 08:36 PM

yah my peruvian is 10 feet and is only 6 years old and i fed one xxl rat every 2 weeks. i love boa's but i realy want a normal burm