Ready for something a bit more exotic. Looking for opinions.

So don't get me wrong, I love my ball pythons. But I'm starting to get the itch for another snake and I'm looking for something a bit more challenging and exotic. I've thought about a Sumatran short tail, a woma, a carpet, a chondro, or even a wlp. I want to know if anyone has any recommendations for a challenging but rewarding python to work with. The only restriction I have is that I don't want anything bigger then about 10 ft. I don't really have the room or the extra set of hands for a giant.

I've got womas and they're great, you might also want to consider a Macklotts

I've never had Womas, but they are high on my list of snakes I want. I do have a Jungle Carpet, he is over a year old and still pretty nippy, but I really enjoy hem. If you are looking for something that not everybody and their brother has, I think a Woma would be a nice choice out of your list.

Yeah woma's have been on my list for awhile, people say they're pretty docile and really intelligent. I think they'd be a lot of fun to work with, although I wouldn't mind tackling something with a bad reputation either. I actually never considered a macklots before, I've only heard their name in passing, never looked too much into them. It seems like they would be a good option as well. Wish I had more money/space. I'd just get all of them.

Any good breeders worth mentioning for a quality hatchling or juvenile woma? Looks like different localities all look a bit different, would be nice to be able to pick from a couple different phases. And what sets them apart from ball pythons? I've heard they're very inquisitive and intelligent. Almost like an indigo.

They are different then ball pythons though you can keep them pretty much the same way (I keep mine in the top drawers of my racks that use the CB-70 size tubs) They feed differently, instead of a quick strike they're more likely to just push against the rat with their nose or shove it up against the side of the tub while slowly opening their mouth to grab on. It's been erroneously reported that they have no heat sensing organs. While they don't have any heat pits per se, they do have heat sensing receptors that I believe are located a little lower down on their faces unlike the heat pits we're more used to seeing on our pythons noses, mine do appear to 'look up' at me inquisitively when I open their tub, but I believe what they're really doing is zeroing in on my heat signature.

I bought one of mine from Nick Mutton at Inland reptiles. (http://www.inlandreptile.com/index.html) I don't remember who I got the other one from, it was at a local show.