Alternative to dwarf retic

So I was so set on getting a sd x dwarf retic baby, was so close on the deal until I realize we are not allow to keep or transport any kind of retic where I live:mad:. I currently only have ball pythons but I want to step it up and get a bigger specie that is inquisitive, have personality yet not so big than it need two people to safely handle. From everything I have read retic seems to be it, I like the fact that they seems to be quite intelligent and i love love love some of morphs they have! So now that I can't get a retic what do you guys recommend I get instead that would fit my requirement and make me forget about the retic. I'm a little hesitate about boas while i like the size it eventually gets there color and pattern don't really wow me without going into the super expensive morphs, most importantly i have hear boas refer to as being "dumb" by many in the forum, not something i want for my strictly pet snake (I already own ball pythons;)). Trying to stay away from colourids because i don't know much about them and I don't like the fact that they like musk. any ideas?

oh and here are a list of snake that my wonderful city have prohibited me from owning

• Boidae
  
  
  • All species of anaconda (Eunectes spp.)
    
  • Cuban boa (Epicrates angulifer)
  
  
• Pythonidae
  
  
  • Amethystine python (Morelia amethistina)
    
  • Boelen's python (Morelia boeleni)
    
  • Seram scrub python (Morelia clastolepis)
    
  • Australian scrub python (Morelia kinghorni)
    
  • Oenpelli python (Morelia oenpelliensis)
    
  • Indian and Burmese pythons (Python molurus)
    
  • Southern African rock python (Python natalensis)
    
  • Reticulated python (Python reticulatus)
    
  • African rock python (Python sebae)
    
    
    Boelen's python too! not that i have money to buy one but still.... can't even dream now:(

Who said boas were dumb? If you've kept balls for any length of time you'll know they aren't exactly the smartest of snakes lol...

That what I meant while i love my balls they are a little dumb. Just from what i have read on various forum. But they could be comparing the boa to other species that are "smarter" say retics.

Colombian or Hog Island BCI male.

Mine don't act "dumb" and are just as inquisitive as my retic. Fun to handle but not a handful like some other species (depending on the individual). If you get a male you should be able to handle it just fine by yourself too (unless you end up with a massive male). A 4' viv should be fine as well.

For colors, what do you like? Maybe be can suggest some morphs for you to look into.

Though I think pure Hogs are dandy by themselves....

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ber2820122.jpg

But Colombians come in lots of cool choices too.

http://www.thefeaturedcreature.dream...a6a71f4_z2.jpg

I dont know what exactly attracts me to a certain morph, I love love love this lavender albino retic, especially with it full grown that is going to look crazy (i still cant get retic out of my mind). Both ball python in my collection right now has bold color and pattern but at the same time i really like the simple but eye popping mystic potion balls. I don't know what exactly i look for in morph but i do know that i love purple, purple in any morph almost always get a gurantee A+ from me.

I just picked up a juvenile I-J Carpet Python and adore her attitude and inquisitiveness, especially for such a small snake. And with the assorted varieties and crosses you can pick an animal that easily fits into your housing requirements for size.
I`d say that would be one to look into or, some of the boa`s. (BCC`s and BCI`s seem very popular but, I can never take my eyes off of a Brazilian or Peruvian Rainbow.)

I love the look of the BRB and PRB but they don't grow much bigger than ball pythons, I'm want something that is clearly a size up from balls. But excellent suggestion Love their looks but not on my priority list right now

Carpets.

Carpet! I love my 7 foot girl :) she's a rescue as an adult and was a handful in beginning but she has calmed and is fun to handle because she wants to see everything. I like putting her on shoulders and going out side shell para scope off my shoulders three feet up it looks cool

ooo i just google up some carpet morph. I like them some of them remind me off retics:O. I have always pass over carpet because of their reputation of being nippy. But now that I'm at a stage where i'm considering retic I don't think that should stop me. However do they require constant handling in order to stay tame? If i go on a holiday for a week or two will i come back to be greeted by carpet teeth?

Any owners can give me tell me a little about their carpet? More personality than a boa? Is it active and like to move around or it just more like burms and balls like to be more relax?

Also I see conflicting way of how people keep carpet, i see some putting them keeping them in tub and some keeping them in arboreal setups. Does it tend to move around its enclosure alot or are they like balls, prefering to hide?

What size enclosure am I expecting for a full grown female? Can you keep them in boaphile style caging? if so which model for a full grown so i can scope it out and imagine it in my bedroom tonight

My Jungle carpets have very nice personalities. The female is about 8ft and very inquisitive. She's always on the move while being handled. All my carpets seem to settle down at around 1 year old. The Jaguars are really cool and affordable now too. I keep my Jungles in Boaphile 422s and my Irian Jayas in Neodesha 3ft cages. Mine are out 99% of the time and like to climb at night.

i really like the idea of a carpet python now. how much do carpet pythons change as it grows? I want a adult that is bright yellow like this

http://www.acreptiles.com/main/image...termarkpng.jpg

but the babies i see usually looks like this
http://www.acreptiles.com/main/image...termarkpng.jpg

will all of them turn yellow over time? key of like a reverse aging effect of bumblebees in bp?

Carpets can change color dramatically from when they are hatchlings to when they are grown. From my understanding, they are a couple of years old before they reach their full colors. The important thing is seeing the parents of the one you are looking to buy, and even better if the breeder can show you one and two year-olds from the same pairings. It still isn't guaranteed, but it will give you a good idea of the baby's potential.

I already have some babies in mind and the price is quite reasonable.:) I'm still a little concern with their temperament though, people from other herp forums and groups are telling me carpets are in general very nippy, it is only the rare ones that are calm. some are even saying in general retic are less nippy and more tame than carpets..... any truth? Look up videos on youtube and there are quite a bit of video of carpets acting aggressive compare to say boa and burmese.

Also how fast do carpet usually grow?

Who are these "other forums"?! Don't you know that BP.net is the end-all-be-all of herp experts?! :salute: My IJ is very inquisitive and active. She is NOT "nippy". I think people who make those generalizations are referring to babies, not adults. especially since I can't imagine referring to a bite from this girl as a "nip". My girl was already an adult/subadult when I got her, so I can't attest to growth rate, but I bet Google can help there. ;)

they are not english forums :P. look up their growth rate seems like they grow really slow compare to balls.... looks like my new addition can spent quite awhile inside the bp rack:D

I have a 3 yr old Irian female and I can tell you that when she was a juvi she was definitely nippy. It took some time but now shes sweet as pie. I have gone away for a week to a week and a half at a clip, and she wasnt really handled when I was gone, and she has been fine.

With regular handling and TLC shes has grown in to being a fine addition to my collection. Plus I love arboreal pythons and her colors and patterns are so unique they definitely pop right at you (esp since colors seem to be important to you)....

IMO if you want something even more crazy but be forewarned they are aggressive, go with a Cooks Tree Boa. Wicked coloring and crazy looking eyes but they are nippy.... Was the first snake to ever sink into me too...

Good luck with your search! Whatever you get I am sure it will be great...

Carpets can really be hit or miss. I have 3 carpets and have handled quite a few others. I would say there is about a 70% chance a carpet will become an easy to handle, trusting snake.

I have an adult female Diamond Jungle that I got at about a year old and have had her for about a year and a half now that is still pretty jumpy. She doesn't strike anymore but you can tell she still doesn't like being handled. I would not trust letting anyone else hold her unless they were ok with possibly getting tagged. a 6 ft jumpy carpet can be a little intimidating to some.

I also have a male Jungle that that I got about the same time as the girl that I hand picked as a hatchling. He has never even struck at me and is super calm and inquisitive. He is one of my favorites.

Then there is my Coastal Jag who is only about 8 months old and wants to bite everything. Hoping he will calm down over the next year because he is gorgeous and I want to be able to show him off without scaring the hell out of people...

Not trying to scare you off from Carpets but just want to make sure you understand that Carpets are nothing like Ball Pythons and aggressive ones usually will not calm down on there own, and can take a lot of working with to get them to calm down. That being said, they are an amazing species to work with and are a great stepping stone for people wanting to work with larger snakes.

yea that's what others been telling me too. whether the carpet turns out tame or not is really luck of the draw. If i pick a carpet that is relatively tame at a hatchling will it stay like this as it grows? Don't have any breeders locally so I will get the baby shipped, gonna have to trust the breeder's word on whether the baby is nippy or not

I had 2 females to choose from for my Irian Jaya, the one with the nicer head pattern was nippy (but at around 50 grams and hungry I wouldn't expect anything else). The one that came home and is still in QT surprised me by being very curious but showing no inclination to strike. After being picked up she didn't even show signs of wanting to flee she just checked me out thoroughly, wrapped around my arm and got comfortable.
Seeing her demeanor totally sold me on that girl.
What started as strictly a pet has me already thinking I should keep an eye out for some I-J axanthics, granites and maybe some jags.

O/T: Normally I am not a fan of hybrids but you "have" to see these, especially the 2nd snake.
http://moreliatrophyclub.com/Hybrids.html
Even if that bit everyday it would almost be worth it just to see that daily.

Oh and you really should see Treeboa's snakes in the Morelia subsection of bp.net. He has some very nice specimens.

^ wow thanks for that link, the hybrids look so crazy! but it must be out of my price range and it doesn't sound like this hybrid will be any easy to handle than just carpets:P

Who did you get your carpet from? Any canadian breeders you can recommend me?

I'm heavily leaning towards carpet but is there any other suggestion from owner of other species? I still have some interest in boas but many of the boa morphs just look the same to me, too many brown snakes but it seems like boas is calmer and less hit and miss in terms of tameness in comparison to carpets. Decision Decisions

Quote:

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Originally Posted by threezero

^ wow thanks for that link, the hybrids look so crazy! but it must be out of my price range and it doesn't sound like this hybrid will be any easy to handle than just carpets:P

Who did you get your carpet from? Any canadian breeders you can recommend me?

I'm heavily leaning towards carpet but is there any other suggestion from owner of other species? I still have some interest in boas but many of the boa morphs just look the same to me, too many brown snakes but it seems like boas is calmer and less hit and miss in terms of tameness in comparison to carpets. Decision Decisions

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I got mine through Tails and Scales. They have a webpage using that name (.ca)
There are colour/pattern morphs available in Boa's if you want a "showier" snake but, prefer boa temperment.

Peruvian RB are a bit bigger than BP's (7 to 8 feet according to this site http://www.therainbowboa.co.uk/rainb...care_sheet.htm). They prefer higher humidity so set-up will be a bit different.

Also, I would keep an eye here and at local reptile expo's:
http://www.reptilescanada.com/classifieds/
Look for highly rated sellers and a snake that fits your needs, it will come eventually.


My new girl has made me a dyed in the wool Carpet fan. If you can find some you like nearby, I would definately suggest asking to handle them and see if you find one that fits with-in the attitude you want.

My new cold-blooded baby:
http://i1357.photobucket.com/albums/...ps548ab18c.jpg
@ a whopping 53 grams.

Yea i know about reptilescanada classified, i religious check it everyday for bp deals :). I got in contact with Jay Clark he is about 2 hours away from where i live so looks like i can go a personally check out the babies. I have my eyes on this girl, reasonably price but i'm not sure about the temperament. Jay told me that his coastal females are only 7 feet? i though they go bigger? in any case i will pick up a female anyways and hope she grows into a monster. What do you guys think about this baby? Its suppose to be a coastal tiger jaguar.

http://cl.ly/image/2T1x1z1c382N/Scre...24.33%20PM.png

My roommate has a pretty well behaved carpet as a rescue. He was crazy active and pretty fun. :D I like them overall but they are too arboreal for my tastes. Do you like blood pythons? Those are my realistic wishlist pythons if I ever decide to go bigger than my current BPs! I kind of like the idea of dealing with a fiestier species, but from babyhood to up my chances of getting a well behaved beast. ;) But allt he carpets I know of were pretty cool. A little hissy as adults but not badly behaved and some really pretty colors on those guys!

Carpets are semi arboreal.. Not going to be very happy in a rack tub. Especially as a baby. I know people do it, but in my opinion its not much different than making tree pythons be in a tub with nothing to climb on. My boy was wrapping around the cage latch making it impossible to open the door without pinching him. The moment I put perches and a ledge in there he was happy and stopped constantly trying to find ways out.

I have my carpet in a giant 4x2x2 Rubbermaid I have wooden perches screwed into it that has the light above that and my snake room is heated :). She spends good time on the perches it's cool watching her hunt off of them. I just added a showbox Rubbermaid in their for a water dish to help with a hard poo and she now seems to be laying in it to help her shed now haha.

if i do go through with the new addition the rack/tub will only be temporary untill i save up enough for a boaphile or similar style cagings. I will for sure provide branches or other stuff to climb on in the tub in the meantime:D

If you are looking for something large and colorful you could consider a short tail python.. a fatty is very different looking then a retic or carpet, but they have some Amazing morphs and colorations. I have seen some females that get around 6ft, but alot of people either lovem or hatem. Just a thought :)
Also i love my boa, she isnt as bright as a carpet, or a retic that's true, but she has a orange creamy coloration I adore. And her inquisitive personality is fantastic.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/hu6uzuve.jpg

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Absolutly love our sd albinos!

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps569f1ef8.jpg

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps1c93e49a.jpg

http://i690.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps66a4ecb5.jpg

^stop making me jealous :(. although sd size dwarfs totally be keep without raising much alarm or neighbours calling the cops me ..........:please: how old is your sd here?

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Originally Posted by threezero

^stop making me jealous :(. although sd size dwarfs totally be keep without raising much alarm or neighbours calling the cops me ..........:please: how old is your sd here?

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They're all a little over a year old. The females should be around an adult carpet size, will def fit in cb70 tubs.

A little late to the party here... But I have to throw a vote to boas. There are morphs out there. And even if you didn't buy a morph, their personalities will more than make up for the lack of colors. I love my boas. They are very inquisitive, and fun to handle.

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how is boa's personality compare to carpets? Boa's look really doesn't do much for me, to much brown... some morph does catch my eye though like this one

http://www.scserp.com/SCSPhotoGaller...Striped001.JPG

but i believe this is way more than the $300ish i'm looking to spent

Boas are amazing!!
I love mine and he's such a sweetheart. He loves to come out of his cage and climb around. And he's going to get to a good size too.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/byta3y7a.jpg
Look at Dat Fayce. Aww

You can find some neat boa morphs for decent prices you just need to keep an eye out. You can also look at olive pythons (iv seen some can get up to 12 ft) and alot of the dwarf boas are really pretty but not as large. A carpet may be your best bet though... there are alot of things out there... so keep looking.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by threezero

how is boa's personality compare to carpets? Boa's look really doesn't do much for me, to much brown... some morph does catch my eye though like this one

http://www.scserp.com/SCSPhotoGaller...Striped001.JPG

but i believe this is way more than the $300ish i'm looking to spent

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How about an albino?
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/7ydapubu.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/temu7a2u.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/tyzasavy.jpg

I don't know about carpets. But my boas are very curious, and they aren't jumpy or shy, they can stay out for hours with out getting stressed. Wish I had better pictures of her, and her whole body. But they do not hold still for photos.

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I recently went through the Carpet vs Boa debate, as I wanted something with size that would not hide all day. Even flirted with the thought of a SD Retic. I found a sweet Tarahumara Boa, locally, and jumped on it, as it involved no $ (non reptile trade) and was a gorgeous snake. She's awesome, with tons of personality. I have room for a mid-sizer, so I'll be back in the boat again.

Not really an albino person the only albino to ever catch my eyes is the albino retic :P so in generally boas are more relax than carpet? which have a higher feeding response? is there any morph of boa that is ... for a lack of better word,not brown based?

I've got both Boas and Carpet and while I think the boas are just a hair calmer, I think the carpets are a bit more interesting and inquisitive. Another interesting snake you might consider is the macklots python. They're nippy as all get out as babies but as adults they calm right down. Here is a forum that might be able to answer more of your questions about the morelia species. http://www.moreliapythons.com/forums/forum.php

Not all boas are brown.. Plus boas have great personalities in my opinion. Inquisitive and intelligent. Way more than a ball. Here are some of mine..
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/4y5equvu.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/9ene7u8a.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/9uby9uty.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/aqave6e9.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/y4ezada8.jpg

And this is my Coastal Jaguar carpet.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/ugygasa6.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/23/yjy3anyq.jpg

^ wow thanks for that post those are some beautiful boas, very striking. But seeing the last two picture reaffirm my decision:D it's settle I'm gonna get a carpet. Well be sure to photobomb the forum once I have her