Choosing A Snake Species..

Discussion in 'General Snakes' started by willywonka, Jan 29, 2006.

  1. willywonka

    willywonka New Member

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    38
    Opinions please:

    Taking into consideration that each snake has its own "behavior", as a group which of the below species would you say would tend to be most docile & calm. I used to have a black pine snake & she was the moodiest thing I have ever came across in my life. One minute she was fine & the next you were her worst enemy. You never knew what she was going to do from minute to minute. I def don't want to get into that mess again with this snake. I also don't want a species that is shy/skittish either.

    Kenyan sand boa
    Western hognose
    Ball python
    rosy boa
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. Ash19

    Ash19 Well-Known Member

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    I would say probably a rosy boa or ball python.
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. elums

    elums Member

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    I would go for the Rosy or Sand Boa, I hear they can both be really tame.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. Skunky

    Skunky Well-Known Member

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    Balls are just too cute..and wonderfully docile!!
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. willywonka

    willywonka New Member

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    I was thinking ball too but they tend to be very skittish & afraid of their own shadow.
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. Skunky

    Skunky Well-Known Member

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    When they're babies, but they get much better when they get bigger and get used to their environment and handling.
     
  12. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    I don't find my balls are skittish at all, and I have 3 of various ages. They are very docile, and are really calm when they are being handled.
     
  13. willywonka

    willywonka New Member

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    As a general rule do rosys tend to be as calm an docile as you all have found your balls to be?
     
  14. Janice

    Janice ReptileBoards Addict

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    I don't keep rosy boas, but I've heard that they are pretty docile. They make a good first snake, but they are also smaller than a ball python.
     
  15. rosy

    rosy New Member

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    I've had my rosy boa since he was a baby and he's always been wonderful and docile. There's nothing to "grow out of" and I've known people (who used them for education) who would just pick up rosy boas in the wild to show them to people.
     
  16. lizard_man_Lane

    lizard_man_Lane Well-Known Member

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    All of the snakes on your list are pretty docile and can be handled. I have a ball python and it loves to be taken out. When she sees me in the room she comes out of her hide and tries to climb up the glass.
     
  17. willywonka

    willywonka New Member

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    I had talked to someone who sells rosy boas & was pretty set on getting one of them but then I come across this article on petplace.com describing the rosy boa & they said the below in the opening statement. Now I am not so sure anymore.

    "Although they are very secretive and quite apt to bite, rosy boas have a devout and continually increasing following. "


    ~ pdm ~
     
  18. reako45

    reako45 Member

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    Alright, looks like I'm the minority vote. I noticed no one speaking up for Heterodon nasicus (western hogs). I've got an '05 W. hog growing like crazy and he's the coolest thing on no legs. Aside from an occasional hiss, or head but attempt NOT strikes or bites, he gives no resistance to being picked up and handled. He's a colubrid and in my humble opinion, you can't go wrong w/ them. I've read that researchers believe that they are more highly evolved than many other species of snakes. I don't know whether that equates to being more intellegent or not, but he does seem more alert and in tune w/ his environment than the python or boa species that I have observed or kept.
    You also have to remember that, much like people, snakes are individuals, and mass generalizationa made about species in terms of temperment often don't hold true to certain individuals.

    reako45
     
  19. ringneck04

    ringneck04 Embryo

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    11
    i have a two year old eastern ringneck and she never bites or doesn't want to be handeled. she's pretty tiny however, not like a boa or anything of that nature, only 20". i don't handle her too often, once every day at most, but she's a really nice snake.
     
  20. rosy

    rosy New Member

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    42
    I have never heard anyone describes rosy boas that way. I have heard people tell about picking one up in the wild and being shocked at how docile they were. My biology teacher in high school had about 3 rosy boas and was never bitten or had any concerns, one of my close friends had 2 and the only time she was bitten was when she was dangling a mouse in front of it and it missed the mouse and got her finger, mine is never anything but charming, and I know several others who would vouch for them as well. At least where I live rosy boas and king snakes are the two most often used for demonstrations with small children. My snake book says that rosy boas are "easily handled, small, pretty, interesting, and hardy" and a regional herpetological society says "Though they are not commonly seen as pets, captive-bred rosy boas make an excellent first reptile. They rarely grow more than three feet long, and have a very docile and calm temperament." Not that you couldn't end up with a "biter" but I have talked to a couple of rosy boa breeders who assured me that those are extremely few and far between. I know that I held quite a few rosy boas while making my decision and none of them made me feel the least bit uncomfortable. I used to hate and be terrified of snakes and after holding a few rosy boas I fell in love and got one about 3 years ago and I have never looked back. =) Sorry this is so long, I'm just so passionate about my rosy and his fabulous temperment and I think it's so odd to hear them described as "apt to bite" when I have neither , read, seen nor expereinced anything that would suggest that. Good luck with your decision.
     

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