Carpet pythons

[Gio]

Carpets were formerly my thing. I love carpets. They can be easy if you give them what they want. But they can grow to be snappy. I just learned to ignore their snap, and all of my past carpets grew out of it. I did learn that if I handled them everyday, they would not snap. If I gave them days off, there was no telling. They're beautiful snakes and great for home display because of the arboreal nature of them. As for an almost guaranteed scaley friend, they're no ball.

OH,

I don't know about the last part here.

There are plenty of testy royals out there, and plenty of wonderfully, pleasant, inquisitive, active carpets.

We have a royal here. Boring is a great description, but that's how they live in the wild. Secretive, and out of sight until its time to eat. As far as a "friend" I have a motionless rock in my lap that usually wants to be away from me and more like back into a hide.

The carpet of ALL snakes here, which includes a boa constrictor, and a young retic, is the most "social/friendly" and predictable snake in the house. They are all solid, but the carpet seems to enjoy company. She doesn't technically enjoy anything, but WOW what a snake to display and handle without worry.

You are correct that there is often a need for some handling work on the front end, but the reward later on in most cases is beyond well worth it.

IMO carpet pythons and boa constrictors are wonderful first snakes for the right keeper. Royals are great, but the feeding issues they present are often misunderstood by most keepers and it lead to questions and stress. The snake itself is fine but then you step back and just look at all the worried royal keepers that post feeding questions you get a picture of something other than ideal IMO.

Of the 4 snakes here, and they are all completely different species from completely different continents, I find the carpet to be the most entertaining and "friendly". The retic is becoming a special part of the crew, and the boa constrictor is perfect, in every way sans a "personality".

I'm not knocking your post, but I will say the chance for a keeper to obtain a "scaly friend" can be very, very high with almost any carpet species.

As a matter of fact, some wild carpets are very handleable and non-defensive.

The O/P is going to love this experience!

What was it that made you go from carpets to royals? Usually things progress the other way