Thinking about snake #2, opinions?

I truly love my BP, he is everthing I could want in a family snake. He enjoys being handeled, is tolerent of the children (age 6-13), has a ton of personality, and has been a low maitnace eater. However, there are times when he is feeling anti-social, and while I understand and respect that, I miss being able to handle him for the week he sheds for instance. I find myself serously considering a 2nd snake, but am unsure what kind to go with.
Ideally I would like a snake with a little size to him, I've never been too fond of the little thin ones. I don't want anything anything bigger then a large rat or 2 once a week because of space/prey availability concerns. I feel resonably confident in my handeling/basic husbandery and would be fine with a slightly more advanced snake. This one would be for my husband and I, not the kids so something more tempremental is fine, but I do still want to be able to handle him. I'd like somthing a litte more colorful, and maybe active in his tank, which will be a glass tank with a UTH set up simaler to sampson's. I am NOT intrested in breeding, I will most likly go with another male to prevent any 'accidents' , not that they will be housed together, but why take the chance right? I am also not intrested in an expensive morph, this is a pet not an investment. I would honestly prefer one that is at least an adolesent so I have an idea of his personality, but get that that is not likly to happen. I am looking at a 3ish month time frame, I like to do my research, but there are so many options I could really use a point in the right direction.

Boa all the way. I got a little pied BP girl and while she is great, she pales in activity and willingness of interaction to my BCI girl. Of course a boa will need a much larger cage, larger food and more precautions since making a mistake with an adult BP is one thing but making a mistake with an 8ft boa is a whole different game. That said, my 6ft BCI girl is super tame and usually likes to have her head pet or her body pet and loves when I leave the cage door open as she just hangs out in the doorway with her head resting on the litter dam for hours. You definitely wouldn't regret a boa but remember, if you get "tired" of your pet, trying to get rid of a large boa is much harder than a BP so keep that in mind as your boa is going to be with you a long time. Oh also boas don't hide nearly as much as BPs. My BCI girl only uses her hide when she is shedding or times when she is feeling grumpy and doesn't want to be pet or touched which isn't very often.

Another vote for a boa. If you don't want to risk ending up with a 9-10 foot BCI (not likely, but possible) then there are smaller locality boas like Caulker Cay or Tarahumara BCI's, Dumerils which have a reputation for being very laid-back and manageable, Brazilian Rainbow boas which are awesome once they outgrow their baby nippiness/defensiveness, etc.

spending more time refining husbandry with Sampson before moving on to something bigger like a BCI. After all, Sampson just got away for several weeks. Imagine if a BCI did the same thing. The BCI is way more active and much stronger and can escape from much stronger enclosures than your BP. By the way, I know that everyone who watched that last thread is glad Sampson is back.

David

If your stuck using a glass tank, depending on the size you should stick to something that will be able to live in the tank comfortably. While you may want something bigger and heavier it is not fair to cram it in a tank that is not big enough just so you can be happy.

How big in the tank? This really all depends on that.

For a smaller option a Hognose come to mind. Mine is a joy to own because she is always out and about. She climbs, swims, and burrows all over her tank. They are not large but they are fun to own and could fit in a glass tank pretty easy.

For a larger option a Short Tail may fit the bill as long as the tank will work. They are heavier but not to long. They can have a little attitude but are usually great snakes.

Out of the boas listed I would go with the Dum. I need one in my collection.

Kind of off topic but KMG, how are hoggies? Those are on my list of a "next" snake as soon as I pick up my AP cage for my pied BP girl. I'll have her old cage freed up and im tossing around the idea of either a baby jungle sunglow BCI, a clown BP or some morph of a hoggie. Are they active during the day? My BP is a night owl, my normal BCI is fairly interactive during the day and my orange starburst beardie is a very interactive pet rock so I kind of want something else active during the day that I can also hold other than my beardie. Plus which breeders do you recommend for hoggies?

You may want to take a look at carpet pythons. There are a number of varieties, nicely colored, and many don't exceed 9 feet.

It's a 55 gallon screen top, the same as my BP is in. He is pushing 4 foot, and the local herp dealer said I should be put plenty of stuff and 2 or more hides in the tank because it was a little big for him. I am guessing then that a 6ish foot sanke would be very happy in it, possily even 8ft? That's part of the reason for posting this. As to Sampson's walk-about that was a incorrectly set cage clamp. I have solved the problem by using a more user -friendly method. I got the 2 of the velcro 'belts' full rolls of carpet come strapped in from work I had to cut them down but considering what that carpet weighs I think it's safe to say he'll stay in his home from now on. It also requires quite a bit less dextarity to manage and as I have some lingering issues (made worse in winter) from an old injury it makes more scence. He also came home right after finishing his shed, so I'm going to call that a husbandry win, or at least pure tummy love.

BOA BOA BOA! My Sunglow Boa (Red Tail morph) is absolutely the best snake I've ever owned!

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Originally Posted by Lyssa981

It's a 55 gallon screen top, the same as my BP is in. He is pushing 4 foot, and the local herp dealer said I should be put plenty of stuff and 2 or more hides in the tank because it was a little big for him. I am guessing then that a 6ish foot sanke would be very happy in it, possily even 8ft? That's part of the reason for posting this.

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An adult common BCI or Dum is not going to fit well in a 55 gallon tank as it's too narrow. One of my adult BRB's came with one, and he did fit in it, but he's a slender boa. A dwarf dum that tops out at 5', an adult male BRB, or one of the smaller locality BCI's like a Sonoran or Tarahumara would also fit.

The problem with all of these is screen top = problems maintaining humidity. There are threads where people have shown how they altered their 55-gal tanks to be used on their sides, with plexiglass drop-doors installed on the top (which is now the side), to give the snake more floor space and improve heat and humidity retention. Here is a recent one: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...a-tank-on-side

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Boa all the way. I got a little pied BP girl and while she is great, she pales in activity and willingness of interaction to my BCI girl. Of course a boa will need a much larger cage, larger food and more precautions since making a mistake with an adult BP is one thing but making a mistake with an 8ft boa is a whole different game. That said, my 6ft BCI girl is super tame and usually likes to have her head pet or her body pet and loves when I leave the cage door open as she just hangs out in the doorway with her head resting on the litter dam for hours. You definitely wouldn't regret a boa but remember, if you get "tired" of your pet, trying to get rid of a large boa is much harder than a BP so keep that in mind as your boa is going to be with you a long time. Oh also boas don't hide nearly as much as BPs. My BCI girl only uses her hide when she is shedding or times when she is feeling grumpy and doesn't want to be pet or touched which isn't very often.

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I followed Sauzo's advice and got a 5 ft Boa for my second snake. She's everything that he said it would be.
I couldn't be happier!
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...884582027c.jpg

I think I agree with everyone on this with adding a few more. Carpet/diamond pythons good choice. Boas are great, like mentioned you can get dawrf and cool color morphs. My favorite but under rated is the woma pythons. Or if you have the money to spend and want something no one has you could get a black headed python. About the size of the boa without the girth. I'm a big fan of Australian snakes and most of them if cbb are great

As much as I like the BP's, if I want to pull a snake out of its enclosure and hold it I invariably end up picking either a boa or a king snake.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

An adult common BCI or Dum is not going to fit well in a 55 gallon tank as it's too narrow. One of my adult BRB's came with one, and he did fit in it, but he's a slender boa. A dwarf dum that tops out at 5', an adult male BRB, or one of the smaller locality BCI's like a Sonoran or Tarahumara would also fit.

The problem with all of these is screen top = problems maintaining humidity. There are threads where people have shown how they altered their 55-gal tanks to be used on their sides, with plexiglass drop-doors installed on the top (which is now the side), to give the snake more floor space and improve heat and humidity retention. Here is a recent one: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...a-tank-on-side

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Agreed, the 12 inch width is not appropriate for a heavy bodied snake. At one time I kept larger Honduran milks in 35 gallon tanks turned on their side, it worked out reasonably well. Obviously not heavy bodied snakes, but the 36x18 size was nice for them. I hate the weight of glass tanks and no longer use them.

As for the OP's original question, I would like to add sumatran short tails to the list of candidates. Not too long, heavy bodied and very we'll mannered. An adult could be kept in a 55 gallon tank on it's side, but not upright.

I've heard about the side set ups but not seen exactly how it was done, thanks for that. That is toatally doable and most likly what I'll go with if I do get a larger snake. I'm thinking a smaller boa, but still not sure what kind. I don't want to spend a crazy amount so a lot will depend on availability in the area, but at least I have a basic starting point. On a side note I have half the screen covered to maintain a proper humidity/temp. It was high on my list as Sampson's prevous owner's lack of husbandry caused multibal layers of stuck shed and a burn. My poor baby was in a cold basement with a heat lamp, with no cover on the screen and a UTH heater that had a layer of rocks over it.

I'm actually about to pull the trigger on this little boy as my deal for a BCA fell through....

[IMG]http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...psejf6ekdk.jpg[/IMG]

And as for caging, pretty much no glass cage is going to work well for any boa since first they get fairly big if you are talking a BCI or BCC which are the most common and second they are pretty strong so some little flimsy screen top isn't going to keep a 6ft+ boa from pushing through it.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I'm actually about to pull the trigger on this little boy as my deal for a BCA fell through....

[IMG]http://i1056.photobucket.com/albums/...psejf6ekdk.jpg[/IMG]

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Gorgeous!


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The side tank lay-out was for a small boa, was it not? I thought it said Red-Tail, but I could very well be mistaken. What is the bidggest snake (in feet prefeably) that would be comfortable in that enclosier? I work at home deopt so I can totally get the side figured out. I think I will stay with those carpet belts for added support also; they are easy to latch close, but hold a ridiculous amount of weight.

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Originally Posted by Lyssa981

The side tank lay-out was for a small boa, was it not? I thought it said Red-Tail, but I could very well be mistaken. What is the bidggest snake (in feet prefeably) that would be comfortable in that enclosier? I work at home deopt so I can totally get the side figured out. I think I will stay with those carpet belts for added support also; they are easy to latch close, but hold a ridiculous amount of weight.

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I prefer at least one square foot of floor space per foot of snake length, though that can also vary a bit based on how heavy-bodied the snake is. For instance, a my six foot long Dumeril's boa will need more space than my six foot Mexican Black King snake or Brazilian Rainbow boa.