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  1. #11
    BPnet Veteran Spicey's Avatar
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    I like the little guys. Prob'ly never gonna change there.
    "Something Clever"

    1.0 Paradox Albino KSB - Spotticus
    0.1 Dutch Rabbit - Wendy

  2. #12
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    My ‘chain’ is kinda predictable..

    Started with the ‘gateway’ snake... a Corn snake then moved onto Royals .... King and Rat snakes ... Boas , Retics and Burms .... now I’m in my 60’s and I’ve cut back the numbers dramatically to just 10 Royals , Corns and Kings ..


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro




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    Hugsplox (12-17-2020)

  4. #13
    BPnet Veteran Hugsplox's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    Quote Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    Good on you for thinking well ahead and doing the research needed prior to acquiring new animals. I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of The MORE Complete Boa Constrictor by Vincent Russo for some in depth reading on their their care and natural history. The Complete Carpet Python is currently out of print and commands a high price, but the authors, Nick Mutton and Justin Julander are working on The MORE Complete Carpet Python as we speak with an anticipated release date hopefully in early 2021.

    I'm honestly hard pressed to recommend one over the other, as both have very different and very appealing qualities for a variety of different reasons. I say get one of each and find out why firsthand.
    One of each isn't a terrible idea, and I really can't think of a downside to having both, other than trying to sell the idea to the wife. I'll check out Mr. Russo's book, I found it on Amazon but it looks like it might take awhile to get it so I'll check some of the local book stores before putting in an order. I'll keep an eye out for the release of the other as well. Even if I only end up with one or the other I don't think you can have too many books on animals in the house.

  5. #14
    BPnet Veteran 67temp's Avatar
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    I started out with corn snakes. My first snake not a corn was a SD retic, which is quite a jump. The retics are almost like cats. They do what they want with no logic to their actions. They also seem amused by knocking stuff over or off shelves when they have free roam time.

    Our BCi is one step above a BP but just slightly bigger with a little bit more of a feed response. Still a slow calm species.

    Except for our BCI most of mine are sub-species that on the smaller side. Ie my 2017 IJ (carpet python) isn't any bigger than a corn snake so I'm not really sure it qualifies as a "larger reptile".

    I try to avoid things with legs but my other half seems to like things like tortoises, tegus, geckos and skinks. Legs just seem to equate to even more housing space and more frequent feedings.
    Silent Hill Reptiles and Rodents
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    1.4 Carpet pythons
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    1.1 of SD reticulated pythons, cali kings,black house snakes,trans-pecos,northern pines
    1.2 Japanese rat, 1.3 natrix n. natrix
    6.1 Balls, 1.0 orange Halloween ATB, 1.0 bci

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    jmcrook (12-17-2020)

  7. #15
    BPnet Veteran Hugsplox's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    Quote Originally Posted by 67temp View Post

    I try to avoid things with legs but my other half seems to like things like tortoises, tegus, geckos and skinks. Legs just seem to equate to even more housing space and more frequent feedings.
    This is one of the reasons I got out of keeping bearded dragons. Don't get me wrong, I love them, they're fun to keep and fun to handle, but jeez do they eat. Especially when they're young before they make that switch to more veggies than feeders, I was going through 100s of dubia roaches, enough that it became vastly more cost effective to breed my own, and I only had one dragon. Crested geckos are still my favorite though, and they're easy because they just eat a powdered diet supplemented with a few crickets a week.

  8. #16
    BPnet Veteran WrongPython's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    I've gone through the same small-to-large-species transition as a lot of people, but not necessarily in the traditional way.

    Technically the first reptile was a little green anole I had as a wee kid. They lasted about a year or two. They were fun, but the experience left me a bit wanting, and I still loathe dealing with feeder crickets to this day.

    The first step up was a menagerie of (relatively small) native herps I helped care for a couple years at an old volunteer job. When all was said and done, I'd run the gamut with a corn, an Eastern king, a black rat snake, a Dekay's brown snake, an American bullfrog, American toads, painted turtles, Eastern box turtles, a musk turtle, and a juvenile common snapper. The corn was my favorite out of the bunch and they effectively served "my" perfect first snake -- just the right size, a total sweetheart when I had them out, and a reliable eater. The turtles were fun too, but the amount of clean up they required (particularly the aquatic turtles) got old after a while. All in all, it was a great, enjoyable first experience working with a slew of herps and a larger collection that left me wanting a reptile of my own, even if life demanded that I had to wait a bit.

    The next step us was when I was finally able to get reptiles of my own. I started out wanting either a corn or a Honduran milksnake (a colleague's now 30-years-old Honduran was what reignited my passion for reptiles), but I also felt like I wanted something a little more substantial. Eventually I came across ball pythons, and a little more reading and one trip to an expo later, I'd found my ideal snake in terms of size and substance. A busy field research season forced my to hold off getting a snake at said expo, so I did a some more reptile reading in the interim. It was then that I came across dwarf and semi-dwarf boas, and after a bit more reading, I found that their personalities were a better match with what I was looking for than a BP. Research season ended, I made a return trip to the expo, and the rest is history.

    I'll probably always be a mid-sized constrictor person. They're substantial snakes, but they're not so large that maintaining and housing them is a pain. The species/localities I've chosen should also stay small enough that I can comfortably handle them myself 20-30 years down the road. This last part is pretty much a requirement in terms of species I bring home -- if I don't think I can manage it and provide it with good care myself over the long term, it's probably not something I should take on.
    0.1 Sonoran Boa sigma​: "Adelita" ('19 Hypo het. leopard)
    1.0 Boa imperator longicauda: "Kuzco" ('19 het. anery)
    0.1 West Papuan Morelia spilota​: "Pandora" ('20)

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    Hugsplox (12-17-2020),jmcrook (12-17-2020)

  10. #17
    BPnet Veteran Snagrio's Avatar
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    I've only just gotten back into snakes with a good ol' BP (had a corn snake when I was a pre-teen/teen), but someday I'm considering making the leap to a BCI, namely see if I can't find one from a rescue. There are so many of the poor things that people abandon and it'd be wonderful to give one a second chance when the time is right. It won't be for quite some time due to finances and current living situation (no way would my folks agree to a snake that large in their house). Plus right now the animals I already have are in much more pressing need, in fact as I type this I'm in the middle of a big aquarium upgrade project for my fish (transitioning from a 55 gallon to a 125) and it's probably the most ambitious thing I've undertaken thus far.

    But nonetheless, when the circumstances align in the future I'd like to give bigger species a try.

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    Hugsplox (12-17-2020)

  12. #18
    BPnet Veteran Hugsplox's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    Quote Originally Posted by Snagrio View Post
    I've only just gotten back into snakes with a good ol' BP (had a corn snake when I was a pre-teen/teen), but someday I'm considering making the leap to a BCI, namely see if I can't find one from a rescue. There are so many of the poor things that people abandon and it'd be wonderful to give one a second chance when the time is right. It won't be for quite some time due to finances and current living situation (no way would my folks agree to a snake that large in their house). Plus right now the animals I already have are in much more pressing need, in fact as I type this I'm in the middle of a big aquarium upgrade project for my fish (transitioning from a 55 gallon to a 125) and it's probably the most ambitious thing I've undertaken thus far.

    But nonetheless, when the circumstances align in the future I'd like to give bigger species a try.
    Aquarium upgrades are incredibly ambitious even going from a 20 to a 29 for me was a huge deal. When we upgraded to our current 45 (which my wife and I agreed was as big as we were going to go) that took an entire day, and that's not counting the week of substrate prep, purchases live plants, etc etc. That's also the reason I downgraded from three aquariums to one.

  13. #19
    BPnet Veteran Hugsplox's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    Quote Originally Posted by WrongPython View Post
    I'll probably always be a mid-sized constrictor person. They're substantial snakes, but they're not so large that maintaining and housing them is a pain. The species/localities I've chosen should also stay small enough that I can comfortably handle them myself 20-30 years down the road. This last part is pretty much a requirement in terms of species I bring home -- if I don't think I can manage it and provide it with good care myself over the long term, it's probably not something I should take on.
    This is super important and I was trying to think of a good way to say it earlier without seeming depressing. I'm in my 30s so anything I bring home I have to be able to take care of myself when I'm 60-70, so the mid-sized constrictors are where I'll be staying as well.

  14. #20
    BPnet Veteran Snagrio's Avatar
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    Re: Going from small to larger reptiles

    Quote Originally Posted by Hugsplox View Post
    Aquarium upgrades are incredibly ambitious even going from a 20 to a 29 for me was a huge deal. When we upgraded to our current 45 (which my wife and I agreed was as big as we were going to go) that took an entire day, and that's not counting the week of substrate prep, purchases live plants, etc etc. That's also the reason I downgraded from three aquariums to one.
    You're telling me. Took an entire day moving the 125 from the original owner's place to mine (was also a 4 hour's drive round trip on top of that) and it came with several big cichlids so everything had to be done quickly and reassembled right after getting home. Gonna have to rehome them all though as they're both incompatible with most of my existing fish and will destroy any live plants I attempt to add.

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    Hugsplox (12-17-2020)

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