Going from small to larger reptiles

[WrongPython]

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.