Noob question regarding Boids

[Blitzjg]

I am curious about the tails of boas and pythons. I notice that a lot of them have the small tail following a wide body. I find this very awkward-looking and am curious as to what family or division of the snakes is this limited to or is it all-encompasing? I was thinking about getting a BP or some sort of boid, but didn't realize BPs have this disproportionately small tail.

What is the evolutionary purpose of it?

[Alexandra V]

To be honest, I have no clue what the evolutionary purpose of a short tail would be - by contrast I'd imagine a long tail would be favourable for climbing, so most arboreal and semi-arboreal species have longer tails, and snakes like ball pythons that are terrestrial wouldn't need them since they don't do much climbing.

I'm assuming that this is going to be your first snake, correct me if I'm wrong, but aside from a ball python if you want something with a longer tail you could go for a red tailed boa, or if you want to go in a totally different direction you could look into corn snakes too.

[loonunit]

I'm not entirely sure about the evolutionary purpose of having a short tail, but it is indicative a terrestrial species vs. an arboreal species. Some arboreal boids do have very long tails--- green tree pythons, emerald tree boas, rainbow boas, for example.

Ball pythons are somewhere between terrestrial and semi-arboreal. They den underground, seem to genuinely enjoy climbing, but often fall. In fact, sometimes they might even fall on purpose: I swear I've seen my pythons decide to charge straight off of the dining room table rather than try to climb down the chair, because it is faster and more efficient. I've certainly seen my babies do it when I had a clutch of them in a 5 gallon tank, and I switched on a light and "caught" them all out climbing on a branch. (They all froze---and then one by one, over the next 5 minutes, we them watched drop to the bottom and scuttle into the hide.) They're surprisingly agile about falling, and they have pretty good control over any fall equal to their own length. And the body fat helps them distribute the impact.

So I guess.... if that's going to be your strategy, that a long tail is just an extra thing for a predator to latch onto?

Red tail boas and carpet pythons are far more arboreal than balls. But I never think to check their tails. How long are they, relative to their bodies?

[loonunit]

Ball pythons are klutzy as all get-out. It's alternately hysterical or stressful if you keep them in a tank, depending on how worried you are about the falling.

But if you give them a tank, and a branch, I can pretty much promise you will start hearing THUMPS within 20 minutes of turning the lights out at night.

[Blitzjg]

I currently have an Abbott Okeetee corn, he's great, but not much of a companion (given as much a companion a snake can be). He tends to be pretty active when I handle him. I figure the boids are more docile and likely to just hang out.

Are GTPs difficult to care for? I looked into Emeralds a little bit and they seem to be higher maintenance than most snakes.

How do GTPs compare to BPs in that regard?

Also how important is live feed for boids? My corn eats frozen (thawed). I think I would have a tough time feeding live.

[Alexandra V]

I currently have an Abbott Okeetee corn, he's great, but not much of a companion (given as much a companion a snake can be). He tends to be pretty active when I handle him. I figure the boids are more docile and likely to just hang out.

Are GTPs difficult to care for? I looked into Emeralds a little bit and they seem to be higher maintenance than most snakes.

How do GTPs compare to BPs in that regard?

Also how important is live feed for boids? My corn eats frozen (thawed). I think I would have a tough time feeding live.

GTPs and ETBs are going to be a little harder to care for than a ball python because they aren't quite as hardy. But if you're looking for a snake to just hang out with, I would personally not recommend either of those - they have a reputation for being aggressive and difficult to handle. They do have strong feeding responses so feeding prekilled shouldn't be too big of an issue for them.

[Blitzjg]

Are you saying that BPs should be good with Thawed?

[Alexandra V]

Well in that post I was referring more to GTPs and ETBs but most ball pythons do well on frozen thawed as well (that's what I have all of mine on and never had problems).

[loonunit]

Baby ball pythons typically have to be started on live, then switched over to thawed. (I've had only had one hatchling in 25 take thawed as its first meal.) The older they are, the harder they are to transition from one kind of prey to another (live to frozen/thawed, mice to rats, etc.) Babies rarely take more than a few weeks to switch; adults can take up to a year of arguing. And sometimes they regress back to live after shipping stress.

But! My entire collection is currently eating f/t.

GTPs and ETBs take higher humidity, need arboreal set-ups and misting, and occasionally won't know how to drink from water bowls. They might also be less cold-tolerant? I live in Arizona, and I just don't feel like having to constantly battle with low humidity and mold... but I know plenty of people in the desert who keep healthy GTPs. Some of them are even friendly and get regular handling.

GTPs and ETBS have real teeth, and much scarier bites than ball pythons. Ball python bites are a joke. Twice a year somebody will post a genuine latch-and-wrap bite on the forums... but even those are harmless, once the shock wears off.

You know about the seasonal anorexia, right?

[Badgemash]

But if you give them a tank, and a branch, I can pretty much promise you will start hearing THUMPS within 20 minutes of turning the lights out at night.

Ha ha ha! Am now remembering the good 'ol days of Little Dude waking me up in the middle of the night, every night, doing exactly that. I have totally seen him do it off the roof of his hide now that he lives in the rack. Silly boy .