# recommended me a species



## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

I want to another snake after getting my BCI I really have fell in love with her and would like another. currently my short list is a surriname red tail (male due to size of adult) or a pied ball python.

although both are are excellent beautiful snakes I want to know what else is out there as an option as my local shops mainly deal in the usually ball python morphs, boas, corns ect so some left field suggestions would be really interesting :

my criteria is as follows 

handleble - I have a 7 year old son who is as much into the reptiles we keep as myself. so tolerance to handling is important 

Size - a 6x2x2 would be the max for now I know some BCC's may need bigger in this case I would provide it as it would take many years before it required it and by then I do plan on insulating either my garage or shed in future 

difficulty- this would be my 2nd snake but I also keep 2 beardies and I have kept lepord geckos in the past so not entirely new to keeping reptiles

price- I'd say circa £400 as that's roughly the price of those mentioned above and I plan on saving a while and really considering my options

if you could tell me why you have made your recommendation or why you think the species I'm currently considering are a poor choice please let me know

I look forward to reading your suggestions 
thanks


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Don't limit yourself to shops. Try the classifieds on here.


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## spigotbush (Feb 8, 2019)

dont limit yourself to pythons/boas, there are some great colubrids. 
i will continue shouting the virtues of the russian rat snake from the rooftops as long as i have breath in my lungs. they are a good size, physically resilient and fairly comfy in our climate, and almost dog like in nature once grown. i dont need to pick mine up, he will just climb up onto my arms. he is significantly more handleable than my corn snake (who is a very friendly chap already) and is almost always up and about. even when in shed he will sit out in the lights for the majority of the duration. they really benefit from a nice viv, my adult is in a 6ftx2.5ftx2.5ft and he makes full use of that space. 

downsides would be they need to be brumated, not complicated but requires some forethought. my male will stop eating in october and nothing will tempt him so its time to cool him down and brumate him until roughly the end of february (though that can also be a positive in that you get a financial break when costs would be highest). then they can be very fast and busy in hand until you figure out the quirks. both of mine, adult and hatchling, hate to be unsupported or grabbed. just waiting a moment to let them get a grip on a hand or arm first will have a lovely calm animal.

snakes'n'adders have a good video about them, and thrasops did a fantastic article about them which would great places to start looking into them. i would certainly not want to be without them again, they are an awesome pet. i love my corn snake but as an interactive pet i would say the russian rat snake is far superior.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

spigotbush said:


> dont limit yourself to pythons/boas, there are some great colubrids.
> i will continue shouting the virtues of the russian rat snake from the rooftops as long as i have breath in my lungs. they are a good size, physically resilient and fairly comfy in our climate, and almost dog like in nature once grown. i dont need to pick mine up, he will just climb up onto my arms. he is significantly more handleable than my corn snake (who is a very friendly chap already) and is almost always up and about. even when in shed he will sit out in the lights for the majority of the duration. they really benefit from a nice viv, my adult is in a 6ftx2.5ftx2.5ft and he makes full use of that space.
> 
> downsides would be they need to be brumated, not complicated but requires some forethought. my male will stop eating in october and nothing will tempt him so its time to cool him down and brumate him until roughly the end of february (though that can also be a positive in that you get a financial break when costs would be highest). then they can be very fast and busy in hand until you figure out the quirks. both of mine, adult and hatchling, hate to be unsupported or grabbed. just waiting a moment to let them get a grip on a hand or arm first will have a lovely calm animal.
> ...



This is exactly why I made the post mate 

sound ill take a look thanks for the recommendation


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

If you already have a BCI, then in my honest opinion there is no point in getting a surinam..... surely you would want something different. If you're going to buy two snakes that are that similar you may as well just get a female for your male and try and breed them, as thats a fun and interesting part of the hobby. 

I think ball pythons are incredibly boring and you won't get much from them. They also don't behave like other snakes so don't really teach you anything. 

If you want to stick with boas, then a Brazilian Rainbow Boa would be good and fits all your criteria. 

A carpet python would be a good choice for a python for a 6x2x2. 

Though yes you could go for something completely different and try colubrids. Northern Pine Snakes or Bull Snakes would be good, nice and hardy, quite large active display snakes. From my experience both can be very chill and handleable, the pines more so than the bulls. 

People on here can recommend you stuff all day, and they'll always be biased. Have a look around more and see what you like, better to buy something you are interested over something someone recommends for you.


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## spigotbush (Feb 8, 2019)

LiasisUK said:


> People on here can recommend you stuff all day, and they'll always be biased. Have a look around more and see what you like, better to buy something you are interested over something someone recommends for you.


thats very true, but its so easy to miss things. if i hadnt had the ruskie recommended to me they would never have been on my radar. when i started looking into them they sounded like a significantly better fit than anything i had on my shortlist. i had spent hours trawling around thinking i was being quite thorough and still missed several species. it worked out for me, that recommendation sounded perfect and the reality far surpassed my expectations, couldnt be happier.
dont get me wrong, i absolutely agree that people should keep looking and take recommendations as wholly biased. what fits really well for one may be awful for someone else so it should always be carefully considered. however they can sometimes highlight something that doesnt show up easily. the info is out there if you look specifically but without a name its sometimes hard to find.


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Research is the best bit, and discovering stuff/species for yourself is what makes it fun and it makes the animals more.... err... important? I guess is what I mean, special? personal?

When I was a kid when I started I just used to get those books that had loads of different species in, with a bit of care about each one, but had like 100 species in. Read about every single one. 

These days the best thing to do is go on sales websites; shops, morphmarket, classifieds on here, European classifieds, etc. Just look at everything, google every name. Finding all the weird and wonderful is all part of the fun. I think being told what to buy detracts from the hobby, it's one of the reasons many don't last long. They take recommendations from others and find the animals boring so sell them.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

okay after some searching and a trip to a local rep shop I think I'm narrowing my search on spotted pythons, some king snakes and rat species 

from holding/ some research I'm really interested in the spotted python. the irridecence is crazy in good light, seem to tame lovely, good eaters and relatively active. 

the temperament of the King snakes seems a little hit or miss. and the russian rat snake brumation kind of puts me off if I'm honest 

the research continues


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## Bombjack (Jan 16, 2015)

Kings are amazing! Some being feisty/temperamental adds to their 'personality' in my opinion.


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Spotteds are great, I have quite a few. Really nice species.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

Webby35 said:


> I want to another snake after getting my BCI I really have fell in love with her and would like another. currently my short list is a surriname red tail (male due to size of adult) or a pied ball python.
> 
> although both are are excellent beautiful snakes I want to know what else is out there as an option as my local shops mainly deal in the usually ball python morphs, boas, corns ect so some left field suggestions would be really interesting :
> 
> ...


Pied Royal easy 












Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## mooselee (Oct 8, 2007)

LiasisUK said:


> Spotteds are great, I have quite a few. Really nice species.


I can vouch for that. 👍


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## Swindinian (May 4, 2020)

mooselee said:


> I can vouch for that. 👍


Second that.
Some Antaresia can be feisty, but definitely highly recommend the genus. 
I have maculosa (spotted) and a couple of stimsoni orientalis (or childreni, if you go by more recent taxonomic proposals), and have been delighted by the experiences.

They generally seem to be very confident and inquisitive, active and engaging. 

I also think they are beautifully patterned, some are more iridescent than others.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Rat snakes are an extremely diverse groups. Corns are a rat snake!


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

Webby35 said:


> okay after some searching and a trip to a local rep shop I think I'm narrowing my search on spotted pythons, some king snakes and rat species
> 
> from holding/ some research I'm really interested in the spotted python. the irridecence is crazy in good light, seem to tame lovely, good eaters and relatively active.
> 
> ...


Have a look at bull, gopher & pine snakes. Normal wild type bulls & gophers in particular are stunning, orange & yellow with a bold black & brown chequered pattern on the back & sides. Easy to keep & feed too, like king & rat snakes.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Get yourself a radiated ratsnake, nice size, fairly chunky, attractive too.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

Well today we made our decision and got a pair (male and female) of lake chapala garters
not quite the kings and antaresia I went to look at but they are such curious little snakes, really cool blue coulering and friendly. my son fell inlove with them even after handling the children's and spotted python's avaliable, spent his evening off the ipad/away from watching them which is a first in a long time as can be seen below.
Thank you to all who posted, I promise your time hasn't been wasted as I've picked up another viv 😉

also we made this 36x18x18 pictured below during my time off work and the holidays so been just the best father son experience although not entirely perfect for the species we've gone for I hope we can rectify that together too 😀

if anyone could give me any ideas on how I could include more water for these guys for now as I save to get a exo terra to do a paludairum build
thanks again everyone


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks good, and a nice choice. 
For water, just use a large bowl. They don't need to be kept semi aquatic.
I hope you are ready for the babies that are coming though. They WILL breed. You will need to remove the babies as soon as you see them, as they will simply be seem as an easy meal by both adults. I would also suggest having a separate secure box for feeding so that you can separate them. I would personally remove the male as he is smaller. After they have fed, keep apart for a fair amount of time so that both adults are out of food mode when they get back together again.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

ian14 said:


> Looks good, and a nice choice.
> For water, just use a large bowl. They don't need to be kept semi aquatic.
> I hope you are ready for the babies that are coming though. They WILL breed. You will need to remove the babies as soon as you see them, as they will simply be seem as an easy meal by both adults. I would also suggest having a separate secure box for feeding so that you can separate them. I would personally remove the male as he is smaller. After they have fed, keep apart for a fair amount of time so that both adults are out of food mode when they get back together again.


Yes, this was another factor in getting them, where we got them offered to buy babies back from us which is handy. I was going to separate them when feeding too I have a spare faunarium to seperate them for feeding


thanks for the advice


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## Swindinian (May 4, 2020)

Webby35 said:


> Well today we made our decision and got a pair (male and female) of lake chapala garters
> not quite the kings and antaresia I went to look at but they are such curious little snakes, really cool blue coulering and friendly. my son fell inlove with them even after handling the children's and spotted python's avaliable, spent his evening off the ipad/away from watching them which is a first in a long time as can be seen below.
> Thank you to all who posted, I promise your time hasn't been wasted as I've picked up another viv 😉
> 
> ...


Fantastic, great choice! Am sure you’ll enjoy them immensely


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Webby35 said:


> Yes, this was another factor in getting them, where we got them offered to buy babies back from us which is handy. I was going to separate them when feeding too I have a spare faunarium to seperate them for feeding
> 
> 
> thanks for the advice


That's good. In fairness you will probably be able to sell the babies fairly quickly as garters have gained popularity. They are usually fairly easy to get feeding. The babies need to be separate too as and when you get them. A good option is something like live food tubs, as the lids are tight fitting and they have plenty of ventilation.


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## StuG (Nov 4, 2009)

How RFUK has changed over the years, I can’t believe no one has screamed about a guard for the light lol!
Great species to keep, and Ian is entirely correct in everything he says. 
I have kept various garters successfully in semi aquatic set ups, as you gain more experience and confidence definitely worth checking out as can be really enjoyable to watch them in such set ups


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## al stotton (Jul 27, 2008)

Great choice and what a wonderful sight seeing your little man enjoying his new snakes and set up.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

StuG said:


> How RFUK has changed over the years, I can’t believe no one has screamed about a guard for the light lol!
> Great species to keep, and Ian is entirely correct in everything he says.
> I have kept various garters successfully in semi aquatic set ups, as you gain more experience and confidence definitely worth checking out as can be really enjoyable to watch them in such set ups












done pal just the gaurd I had before getting the garters was huge so got a smaller one when I found one. 
will be looking round over the next few weeks for examples of semi aquatic builds to get some ideas


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

Excellent! 

And this is why its worth taking the time to look into species for yourself, as I would never have recommended garters haha. Not because they aren't interesting or difficult to keep, just because I don't really like the care of them as I find the fish diet too annoying.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

LiasisUK said:


> Excellent!
> 
> And this is why its worth taking the time to look into species for yourself, as I would never have recommended garters haha. Not because they aren't interesting or difficult to keep, just because I don't really like the care of them as I find the fish diet too annoying.


To be honest my lake chapalas are taking large mice (female) and fluffs (male) so not so difficult but get what you mean, I'm making a trip to a tackle shop to try and source some smelt/sprats. eventually I hope to include water in there enclosure and feeder guppys as I think it would be an interesting feeding behavior to watch but need to figure out how to encorparate a large enough water feature into the enclosure first


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

They are big for garters.
I had a pair of Lake Zacapu garters several years ago the female happily took rat weanees and chicks!


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

ian14 said:


> They are big for garters.
> I had a pair of Lake Zacapu garters several years ago the female happily took rat weanees and chicks!


just wish there was more guides for them I've read the steven bol guide and one on gartersnake.info but would you say feeding the female once a week is sufficient given she's gravid ?


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

More than enough. Depending on how far gone she is she may not eat. I've always found with garters that the closer they get to birth the less they eat.
Bear in mind too that as the embryos develop she will have less space for food.


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## Webby35 (7 mo ago)

ian14 said:


> More than enough. Depending on how far gone she is she may not eat. I've always found with garters that the closer they get to birth the less they eat.
> Bear in mind too that as the embryos develop she will have less space for food.


 Thanks for the advice


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