Choosing a species

[Ditto]

Hi! I'm not exactly sure what to call this thread lol
So I want to get another snake next year (most likely February as there's a reptile show a few days after my birthday & I can justify a big-ish purchase to myself lol), and it's kind of far off right now but I'd like some opinions.
I love bps, they're what made me fall in love with reptiles and that's what I was originally planning on getting, but this forum has introduced me to so many amazing species and now I'm not so sure!
So I'm wondering what's exactly is out there that's still fairly beginner friendly? I can't house anything that gets too much bigger than a bp, and I'd like something that would tolerate handling (and preferably not tooo expensive lol)
and I know there's been a billion threads about this before, but I was looking and it seems even the most recent ones have been buried lol, sorry for being kind of repetitive!
thanks for reading! <3

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[Skyrivers]

Garters, rats, kings and corns. Also dwarf boas are nice.

[Hannahshissyfix]

Yep lots of bright colored colubrids that are cheap and I think they deal with frequent handling much better than BPs.

Garters, rats, kings and corns. Also dwarf boas are nice.

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[enginee837]

I will always recommend woma pythons. They are super hardy, great eaters and they are very inquisitive. When I enter my snake room the ball pythons retreat to their hides and the womas and black-headed pythons come out to investigate. As adolescents they do require a snake hook due to their insane feeding response but as adults most mellow out and become quite pleasant to work with.
There are numerous species out there that fit the same bill however. I would look for something that is visually appealing to you, tolerates the level of interaction you want and has fairly lenient husbandry requirements.

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

Depends on what you like there are smaller species of pythons if you want to stay with pythons such as IJ, or Darwins.

After that there is the world of colubrids usually people's favorite are Corns and Milksnakes if you like slender snakes.

[Ditto]

Thank you all for your replies! I think I'm gonna look into some colubrids and dwarf boas
Does anyone here keep hognoses? I think they're absolutely adorable but I've heard they can be pretty difficult

[Justin83]

I love my garter snake, such great little characters, always busy and fantastic feeders. I'm treating mine for a mouth infection ATM but even after being man handled and having iodine in her mouth she feeds. She is only the size of a pencil ATM too.
As above, dwarf boa or smaller carpet or even a male blood (or Borneo or Sumatran short tail) python if you are willing to keep humidity right, with all these tho don't buy online I'm, buy one that's chill from the word go, from someone you can actually handle it.
Bhb have nice scaleless Texas rats too.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Thank you all for your replies! I think I'm gonna look into some colubrids and dwarf boas
Does anyone here keep hognoses? I think they're absolutely adorable but I've heard they can be pretty difficult

I do and I also breed them.

They are adorable and they are not difficult (well at least not the females), I always recommend people looking for pet hognose to get a female, male have a tendency to be difficult and picky feeder at times.

One thing I also always remind people is that while they are not prone to bite (I am usually a bite magnet and never been bit) and that they are read fanged (which is a poor venom delivery system) they are however considered mildly venomous, nothing that will kill you, generally speaking it's a bit of swelling but some people have had swelling up to their arms, your possible reaction really comes down to your immune system, if you are allergic to bee stings and such I would not recommend them but instead recommend sand boas which are similar in size.

[Ditto]

I do and I also breed them.

They are adorable and they are not difficult (well at least not the females), I always recommend people looking for pet hognose to get a female, male have a tendency to be difficult and picky feeder at times.

One thing I also always remind people is that while they are not prone to bite (I am usually a bite magnet and never been bit) and that they are read fanged (which is a poor venom delivery system) they are however considered mildly venomous, nothing that will kill you, generally speaking it's a bit of swelling but some people have had swelling up to their arms, your possible reaction really comes down to your immune system, if you are allergic to bee stings and such I would not recommend them but instead recommend sand boas which are similar in size.

I've heard the picky eater thing but I didn't realize that it was mostly the males, interesting! I'm not worried about the venom as my body doesn't really react to anything negatively, and even if I did have a reaction I highly doubt it'd be anything bad
How do they do with handling?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I've heard the picky eater thing but I didn't realize that it was mostly the males, interesting! I'm not worried about the venom as my body doesn't really react to anything negatively, and even if I did have a reaction I highly doubt it'd be anything bad
How do they do with handling?

They do great, they tend to be vocal when you open their enclosure (huff and puff) must it's all bluff, once you handle them they are fine and not prone to stress at all.