What species should I get?

[LynnGunn]

I'm interested in getting another snake, I have plenty of experience given that I currently have 4 snakes. I've only dealt with the more common species that you see everywhere, and would like to venture out into some more exotic snakes. I have a large interest in pretty much all of the Australian pythons, especially Womas and Carpets. Size isn't too much of an issue but something that wouldn't get much bigger than 6-8' is ideal. Any suggestions?

[Reinz]

Boas and Carpets are great!

If you're thinking towards Aussies, I really enjoy my Carpets a lot. They will make you up your game as a snake handler. They are very determined where they want to go and faster than BPs and Boas. They are major climbers which make them one of the best display snakes.
Esmarelda, Jungle Carpet

The Irian Jayas are the smallest, averaging out at 5 ft or a little more. Jungles average 6-7 ft. Coastals 7-9 ft are the largest.

Etta, Coastal Carpet

Lizzy, Coastal Carpet

Now a big thing you run into is that there are a lot of intergrades, mixing, making lots of mutts out there. That's not bad, mutts are beautiful. But if a guy sells you a Jungle and you are only expecting 7 ft max, and it has Coastal in it, it may get bigger. Not only longer, but thicker as well.

There are "pure" breeders like Nick Mutton, just go in with both eyes open.

If you do settle on a Carpet, I highly suggest this book as the Bible for Carpets, it's not cheap, but worth every penny. And tons of photos too!


Esmarelda, the art lover

Mack, Coastal Carpet

[cchardwick]

I guess to start you'd have to ask yourself what is your goal with having snakes, do you want pets only? Do you want to breed? Do you want to handle your snakes a lot or just have displays? I have 20 tubs in my rack and I'm currently going through and selling some and buying more, my goals have changed since I started keeping them. I actually just sold a male adult Woma python LOL. I planned on breeding him but changed my mind and decided to go with super dwarf retics instead, mostly because they bring more money and have a lot more color morphs. Plus my tubs are almost too big for a Woma, but I think would fit a SD retic nicely. I also have a bunch of king snakes, really cool but breeding them doesn't bring much money, and most don't have that many color morphs. Plus I'd like to go with mainly one type of food - rats. With my smaller king snakes they need pinky mice and I want to get away from breeding mice and just stick with rats. Even with 20 tubs there are so many snakes it's difficult to decide what to keep and what to sell and what to breed, all of them are like family pets to me. I'd suggest watching some videos on YouTube or going to the reptile shows to see what's out there. For me, to see the snake in person really changed my mind about what I wanted.

[Sauzo]

Carpets also can turn on and off like a lightbulb with attitude lol. Allison can be a sweetie one minute and then bite or head butt me the next minute. And she absolutely hates pop cans, she will try and bite them. Here she is in her queen of the perch glory lol.


Oh and make sure you switch them to rats asap. Everyone got me all paranoid about Allison maybe being a permanent mouser but guess I got lucky. After about 3 tries, she switched to F/T rats. She still gets an attitude though lol.

[enginee837]

You cant go wrong with any of the aussie pythons. Carpets are great, I have had them in the past. We have had Womas for about 6 months and I can say the are one of the most inquisitive snake species I have ever worked with.

[EL-Ziggy]

I really don't think you can beat carpet pythons. They're beautiful, great display snakes, not too big, usually solid eaters, and relatively easy to care for. I've heard that young ones can be nippy but all 5 of mine have been pretty docile. They're definitely my favorite species of snakes to keep.

[RamMac]

I really don't think you can beat carpet pythons. They're beautiful, great display snakes, not too big, usually solid eaters, and relatively easy to care for. I've heard that young ones can be nippy but all 5 of mine have been pretty docile. They're definitely my favorite species of snakes to keep.

I have only had my Jungle for 2 months but so far i lover her. She was nippy the first few weeks but too tiny to do any damage. She is now still nervous as she is still quite small but now only head butts and tries to escape. Handling is great and she relaxes quite easily. She's beautiful with bright yellows even at her tiny size. Australians have definitely turned into my favorite species especially Carpets because of this little Jungle. Looking forward to acquiring more in the future.

[Sauzo]

I still vote retics or boas as my favorite. Boas for the mellowness and retics for the interaction. Never had a snake sit and watch me clean another snakes cage lol. Caesar just sat there peering over the litter dam and watched me clean Vic's cage below for about 15 mins haha.

[EL-Ziggy]

I love the diversity of carpets as well.

jungle:


coastal:


Bredli:


albino:

[crenfrow524]

Boas and Carpets are great!

If you're thinking towards Aussies, I really enjoy my Carpets a lot. They will make you up your game as a snake handler. They are very determined where they want to go and faster than BPs and Boas. They are major climbers which make them one of the best display snakes.
Esmarelda, Jungle Carpet

The Irian Jayas are the smallest, averaging out at 5 ft or a little more. Jungles average 6-7 ft. Coastals 7-9 ft are the largest.

Etta, Coastal Carpet

Lizzy, Coastal Carpet

Now a big thing you run into is that there are a lot of intergrades, mixing, making lots of mutts out there. That's not bad, mutts are beautiful. But if a guy sells you a Jungle and you are only expecting 7 ft max, and it has Coastal in it, it may get bigger. Not only longer, but thicker as well.

There are "pure" breeders like Nick Mutton, just go in with both eyes open.

If you do settle on a Carpet, I highly suggest this book as the Bible for Carpets, it's not cheap, but worth every penny. And tons of photos too!


Esmarelda, the art lover

Mack, Coastal Carpet

I like the idea of screwing that style of hide to the top. Do you find it hard to clean? I may have to give this a try sometime.

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