Suggestions on next addition?

Hey there all! I'm a rather new serpent keeper, but I'm looking to add another to my household sometime soon. I've found while caring for my bp that I want something a little more... interactive. He's pretty chill and we don't have feeding issues (yet...hah), but I didn't realize quite how... nocturnal and subterranean he was really going to be.

For some reason I feel more comfortable with heavier bodied/larger serpents so corns and colubrids are out, really leaning boa. I'm enamored with how beautiful they are! I know that realistically we aren't a good fit for a giant 10+ft specimen, but I'm curious if anyone would be willing to offer suggestion to what I should look into getting. Obviously, I won't be making a purchase until I've done due research on the species and have the husbandry requirements to a "T". I'm just... window shopping at the moment.

Essentially... I'm looking for something that won't break 15 or 20lbs full grown, shouldn't get above maybe.. 8 feet, has a generally calm temperament (of course I know babies are bitey and it takes time to develop a rapport with any), and is a more.. intermediate level rather than advanced.

Any boa imperator should fit the bill nicely. As far as size is concerned, common/Colombian will be the largest and should top out right where you are looking, although exceptionaly large individuals do exist. Locales from Central America will generally be smaller, and the true dwarfs will stay quite petite. Usually the males are a bit shorter and notably thinner than females, but again, there are exceptions. Although they are thick bodied, a healthy (not obese) 7 ft boa should weight 20 to 30 lb or so.
In any case, boas grow very slowly (when properly fed) so you'll always have time to adjust, it's not like a retic that's 3 feet in April then 6 feet by August 😂
Good luck!

I would agree that a boa would def fit the bill here. They are easy to care for and if fed responsibly they can be quite manageable when they are adults. They are fun snakes.

Personally I don't really like the look of the head on a boa or the blockiness of the body, I'd suggest a Super Dwarf reticulated python!

I'm reading up on the different bci options, and apparently the ones that I gasp over are almost always bcc. I'm doing light reading on Dumeril's at the moment and they seem pretty amazing. Thanks to you all for any suggestions you're sending my way!

I say window shop anything and just pick something up that grabs your fancy. I always say I want X snake and then I usually end up with something else haha. Only snake I am hard and fast about now is a Pucallpa Peruvian BCC as I'm at about my limit on snakes so I have to be picky. So I'm stuck waiting until around Sept to Nov until guys like Brian Boas, Vin Russo and Joel Diaz have neonates for sale. Although I might cave if I find some godly Suriname or Guyana as both of those would be cheaper than the Peruvian. But it would have to be a smoking hot one lol.

Regardless you cant go wrong with a dumerils or sd retic or boa. I have all of them in my sig and they are all awesome. The biggest thing is find a snake with a laid back temperament. It will make it much more enjoyable. I had a jungle carpet which was really pretty and I liked her but she was so defensive, I couldn't even reach in the cage to change water without running a 50/50 chance of being tagged lol. But my other stuff are really mellow. Even Caesar my sd retic is a lounger. I reach in all the time and pick him up and he for the most part is happy to come out and check stuff out. Sometimes he gets pissy and will shove my hand away with his body and if that doesn't work, he tries to go into a hide haha.

But again, if you are set on a heavy bodied snake, any boa or dumerils will fit that bill. A sd retic will also to a certain extent but they aren't near as thick as a boa but they are very interactive lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I say window shop anything and just pick something up that grabs your fancy. I always say I want X snake and then I usually end up with something else haha. Only snake I am hard and fast about now is a Pucallpa Peruvian BCC as I'm at about my limit on snakes so I have to be picky. So I'm stuck waiting until around Sept to Nov until guys like Brian Boas, Vin Russo and Joel Diaz have neonates for sale. Although I might cave if I find some godly Suriname or Guyana as both of those would be cheaper than the Peruvian. But it would have to be a smoking hot one lol.

Regardless you cant go wrong with a dumerils or sd retic or boa. I have all of them in my sig and they are all awesome. The biggest thing is find a snake with a laid back temperament. It will make it much more enjoyable. I had a jungle carpet which was really pretty and I liked her but she was so defensive, I couldn't even reach in the cage to change water without running a 50/50 chance of being tagged lol. But my other stuff are really mellow. Even Caesar my sd retic is a lounger. I reach in all the time and pick him up and he for the most part is happy to come out and check stuff out. Sometimes he gets pissy and will shove my hand away with his body and if that doesn't work, he tries to go into a hide haha.

But again, if you are set on a heavy bodied snake, any boa or dumerils will fit that bill. A sd retic will also to a certain extent but they aren't near as thick as a boa but they are very interactive lol.

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I did a thing guys... he'll be here Tuesday and I'll post photos then.

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