Help Me Decide?

Mathayus · 05-22-12, 10:35 AM

I am interested in getting another snake, but I am not sure what kind to get. I have two corns right now, and I'm looking for something that gets a bit bigger. I am trying to stay away from ball pythons, because I would prefer something that not everyone has.
My top choices are Colombian Rainbow Boa and Dumeril's Boa. My main concern is temperament, activity, and difficulty of care. I have heard many things online, and I wanted to get opinions from people who have kept one or both types.
Any and all input would be greatly appreciated!

StudentoReptile · 05-22-12, 10:38 AM

I've kept Dumerils boas before. They're awesome.

Just curious..have you considered other larger colubrids?

Mathayus · 05-22-12, 10:47 AM

I have not. What colubrids are you thinking of? I am somewhat new to the snake scene and am not yet familiar with all the types of available snakes.

Mathayus · 05-22-12, 10:52 AM

Forgot to add Brazilian Rainbow Boa to that list as well haha

StudentoReptile · 05-22-12, 10:54 AM

Well, there's a large variety of king snake species, most are equal to or larger than the average corn snake. There's the "Pits" (genus Pituophis) which includes pine, bull and gopher snakes, all of which exceed kings and corns in size.

I dunno what your price range/budget is, but other more obscure and pricey options are cribos, and Asian ratsnakes.

Other boids are carpet pythons, blood pythons, and tree boas.

Really, it all comes down to how much space you can devote, how much money you are willing to spend on initial price, what appeals to you visually, and if handling is important to you. Some snakes are really beautiful, and make great display animals, but don't tolerate regular handling. Others are as tame as a reptile can get, but otherwise, can be very unexciting and/or not that colorful.

Fredricks · 05-22-12, 11:06 AM

Student summed it up perfectly

I love the BRBs. Beautiful snakes, love seeing a snake soak and a lot cheaper than I initially thought.
Bulls, gophers and pines are for the most part daily noisy, but tame out quicker than you would think but keep up the noise. Part of their charm

Mathayus · 05-22-12, 10:20 PM

I'm really leaning toward the BRB. I like the fact that they still get pretty big, but not as big as say a red tail. I am also a fan of anything arboreal, and always have been, even back when all I could think about was tarantulas. Also leaning more towards their coloring...

alessia55 · 05-22-12, 10:28 PM

Sure, a lot of people have ball pythons... but depending on your budget, you can get a really "fancy" one. Some are visually stunning. Hate to brag (

) but here is my Pika... he's an albino.

There are hundred upon hundreds of morphs to ball pythons. Depending on your budget, you could get some really nice looking ones. They're also a great pet, easy to care for, laid back, and will be a great lap snake to watch TV with.

Are you looking for something a bit feistier than a corn? Or something with good temperament that will enjoy being handled? What size are you interested in? Long and slender? How about more girth? The rainbow boas and dumerils look very different from each other, so I'm guessing your aesthetic interests are pretty wide.

Also, how much time do you have to put into their care? A snake with higher humidity requirements may take up more time, for example. Depending on your budget, you might want to consider the cost of another enclosure, heat source, thermostat, and feeding needs. How large of a prey are you willing to feed? rats? rabbits?

Lastly, don't forget to check if any species are illegal in the local laws of where you live!

Dehlida · 05-23-12, 12:00 AM

Get a pit, active, large, great feeding responses, hardy. They make outstanding captives and display animals.

Fredricks · 05-23-12, 04:16 AM

If you are leaning towards a brb then go for it. Just research like crazy and make sure you can keep the humidity up

MrBD1980 · 05-23-12, 06:33 AM

Only one word of warning....I have a BRB and love it, however they are *very* shy/secretive snakes and it's not that often I catch mine out and about exploring.

Another potential drawback from your wants is that although BRB's begin life quite arboreal I understand that many of them grow out of this as they get older and remain very terrestrial in the end, although this may be more to do with individual snake personalities as opposed to any inherent trait.

Don't want to dissuade you as i think BRB's are awesome, but these are points worth considering when your making your decision to make sure you get what you want!

Hope this helps

Brian

hellosugaree · 05-23-12, 02:23 PM

You want one of these:

buffcoat · 05-23-12, 06:02 PM

I love my Joon (100 het albino bull snake.) She has such an attitude until she's out and about. Feeding response is nothing like I've seen, although I guess here real soon Im going to get to house a Dwarf Retic. Anyway, sorry to get off track. Bull snakes are a great "larger" colubrid. The hissing and the tail rattling is so neat. Very easy to care for. Normal humidity levels no extreme heat variances and like I said before very hardy eaters.

GarterPython · 05-23-12, 06:23 PM

How bout a Carpet! A carpet is my dream snake. Irian Jaya Carpet Pythons don't get much bigger than corn snakes.

hellosugaree · 05-23-12, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarterPython

How bout a Carpet! A carpet is my dream snake. Irian Jaya Carpet Pythons don't get much bigger than corn snakes.

Yes they do.