what about all the other non-venomous snakes?

[BaLLPAddICT]

I was just wondering how many snakes there are that are non-venomous and how come the majority of them don't qualify or what not in the pet trade / morph investments.

[CeraDigital]

There are numerous snakes that are non-vemomous yet for some reason don't have a large market. I guess there are certain reasons, and what not, due to availability, defensive mehavior, adaptability to captive situations etc. I for one, think some snakes have a huge market potential if more people worked with them, such as the racers and coachwhips.


Captive bred Racers and Coachwhips do well, and feed readily in captivity on rodents, as well as get some size to them. They stay manageable, and come in a variety of colors varying upon each species, and are downright gorgeous. Maybe we'll see some markets begin to start growing for some species, and see them gain in popularity, and maybe we won't. I for one want to see the Coluber genus grow in popularity....as well as I have my eyes on the Kukri snake.

[daniel1983]

I was just wondering how many snakes there are that are non-venomous and how come the majority of them don't qualify or what not in the pet trade / morph investments.

You name the snake.....someone somewhere is keeping it. There are many different reasons that some are not as common as others in the 'pet trade'.

I know people that keep a wide variety of animals that are not common in captivity....why? Because they enjoy working with the animals....money and 'the trade' has nothing to do with it. I know of local people that keep locally caught animals and breed them...only to release the offspring back into the wild. You would be surprised about the stuff that happens outside of the 'online' reptile community.

Coachwhips and racers are a good example of wicked cool snakes that not many people keep. Sure most animals tend to be a bit nippy and will 'relieve' themselves on you without hesitation....but that is mainly because most available 'uncommon' native species are wild caught. Also, some states require certain permits to breed and sell. If I wanted to keep, breed, and sell the freakin' awesome Buttermilk Racer(http://www.fototime.com/%7B8862C7F6-...7D/picture.JPG) that is native to Louisiana....I would have to have a few different licenses.

If you look at the 'reptile market', you will see that the largest amount of owners keep animals that are 'easy' to some extent. Specialist such as lizard, egg, and frog feeders are not commonly kept because their food sources are harder to come by than mice or rats. Eastern hognose snakes, asian whip snakes, and Egg eatting snakes are all perfect examples of specialist feeders. Other snakes are not easily breed (Boelen's pythons).....some require very specific husbandry that only an advanced keeper can provide(redbellied water snakes http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife...s/030036-1.jpg)...somecome from environments that make them unlikely captives (like worm snakes or any other "in the ground" type species)...some are not as visually appealing as others but still very cool animals if you are into 'function' instead of looks (do a search on wart snakes).....some are just rarer in captivity(check out some of the red mountain racer family of snakes).....some are prohibited by law (Alameda Whipsnakes are one of the most beautiful snakes on this planet...native to California....but an very endangered species...)http://www.californiaherps.com/snake...xanthusmt2.jpg).....I could go on and on about snakes that are not kept in captivity as frequently as others.....simply because something about them is 'special'...

....the thing about this industry is that alot of people want pretty, interesting, easy to keep reptiles.....pet stores can' barely keep ball pythons alive, so why would they venture into Emerald tree boas?...I have heard of new keepers buying rainbow boas and accidentally killing them because they were not prepared for an 'intermediate' reptiles, so how would some take on keeping water dwelling species that feeds on fish....

This hobby has a lot of 'beginners'.....and people just beginning their interest in the world of reptiles can only handle so much. Talk to some 'old schoolers' and you will hear of all kinda different animals that they once kept just because they 'felt like it'. This hobby is growing by leaps and bounds everyday.....give everyone a bit of time, and you will start to see a bunch of 'odd' or 'rare' snakes being kept with a little more frequency...some might eventually make it to the 'pet trade'

[BaLLPAddICT]

thanks daniel and andrew for your help. where would you be able to get snakes like these? are there breeders around?

[daniel1983]

where would you be able to get snakes like these? are there breeders around?

Alot of it depends on what snakes are you looking for in particular. There are hundrends of different snakes in this world.....and no single source has them all.

...there may be breeders, there may not be breeders....depends on the animal. But like I said before, alot of the 'uncommon' animals are only available as wild caughts sometimes.

What snakes are you interested in?

[BaLLPAddICT]

nothing anytime soon or anything but i wanted to look into this for the future and find out if im going to be needing permits or licenses.. i would love to start something with rare snakes and have a rare exotics buisness started up sometime to introduce new constrictors into the pet trade.. no snake in particular or anything but snakes that are rare to the pet trade and that will be able to do well in captivity