How are Blue Beauties?

I'm looking into getting a Blue Beauty ratsnake, and I just wondered, from those of you who have them or have had them in the past, what do you think? I've been looking up whatever I can, but it would be nice to get some comments and advice directly from owners. How big of an enclosure would be good for an adult? Do they need any special humidity requirements? Are they hard to handle? The one I'm looking at is this one: http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=64&de=647795

(and for those of you who were on DYK and heard about the Bairdi male, I'm still getting him. I already paid for him, but my sister just offered to give me money to buy a snake for my birthday, so I'm looking again. and I worked out the space issues, rearranging things so I have room again.)

I found them pretty docile, but nervous. Didn't ever get bitten though, to memory. They need a humid hide when shedding, or they tend to shed in pieces.

elrojo said:

I found them pretty docile, but nervous. Didn't ever get bitten though, to memory. They need a humid hide when shedding, or they tend to shed in pieces.

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a humid hide shouldnt be hard, I already have them for the ball pythons and boa, so thats alright. thanks^^

Just be prepared for a BIG colubrid. Blue Beauties are the largest of the beauty snakes, and can get over 9-10 feet long without a second thought. Chris (tyflier) had a pair a while back that were rather aggressive. I had a Taiwan beauty that was cage defensive, and very skittish. From what I've heard the VBB's are quite a bit more active, and can be more defensive.

RobbiesCornField said:

Just be prepared for a BIG colubrid. Blue Beauties are the largest of the beauty snakes, and can get over 9-10 feet long without a second thought. Chris (tyflier) had a pair a while back that were rather aggressive. I had a Taiwan beauty that was cage defensive, and very skittish. From what I've heard the VBB's are quite a bit more active, and can be more defensive.

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I've gotten mixed info on that. Some people say theirs are puppy-dog tame, and others say they are aggressive. I'm still considering, so I dont know. I'm not really too keen on a 10-footer who wants to kill me. :sidestep: I prefer snakes that I can handle easily. From the photos and info it doesnt look like this one is too aggressive, but I cant be sure.

PurraLovesJazz said:

I've gotten mixed info on that. Some people say theirs are puppy-dog tame, and others say they are aggressive. I'm still considering, so I dont know. I'm not really too keen on a 10-footer who wants to kill me. :sidestep: I prefer snakes that I can handle easily. From the photos and info it doesnt look like this one is too aggressive, but I cant be sure.

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It really all depends on the snake, and how much it was handled. Sometimes, when you see "display snake" written in an ad, it means "look, but don't touch" snake.

As far as the seller, you might want to check this out:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105402

From what I've heard, he also deals quite a bit in fresh imports (I haven't completely investigated that, but that's what I've heard).

I've got a female VBB (Kokoro). She's growing like a WEED! I bought her at 18 inches (she was about a year old at that time - I THINK). She is now over 4 feet long and capable of eating a Medium rat or two without thinking about it. I'm looking at finding a nicer & taller enclosure for her, but haven't been successful yet.

Tempermentally, she frightens me a tad, but she's never tried to bite when out of her cage. She does strike at me when in the cage though.

Her mom was still at the store when I bought her... SHE was 13 feet long.

Kokoro is also VERY active, as Robbie said. She seems very intelligent too; watching you and following your movements. She also knows when I'm gonna feed her... long before I do!!! LOL.

I've had small groups of four species of Asian rats, and Vietnamese Blue Beauties were the least bitey upon that tiny study group. BB's were big, but not "big and scary." The radiated and *one* female Kunisar Island were more aggressive than mambas. They were poised for attack as soon as someone came in the room. If it weren't for that one Kunisar, I'd call them the cornsnake of Asian rats. But I digress, unless a hatchling tagged me and I forgot, I was never bitten by a BB. They are jumpy though, and really, really long and thin. I wouldn't recommend 'em to my nephew, but for someone interested in a very different group of snakes, the Asian rats are really cool.

RobbiesCornField said:

It really all depends on the snake, and how much it was handled. Sometimes, when you see "display snake" written in an ad, it means "look, but don't touch" snake.

As far as the seller, you might want to check this out:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105402

From what I've heard, he also deals quite a bit in fresh imports (I haven't completely investigated that, but that's what I've heard).

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EEK!! Thanks for that, I think I'll find someone else if I want one... I need to get into the habit of checking the BOA.

PurraLovesJazz said:

EEK!! Thanks for that, I think I'll find someone else if I want one... I need to get into the habit of checking the BOA.

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I only remembered because I had checked them out a while back when I was considering some candoia boas. Needless to say, that was enough for me to not go through with it.

If memory serves me correctly, he had a website up in the past, and that was where I heard he dealt in imports. But I'm not entirely sure.

RobbiesCornField said:

I only remembered because I had checked them out a while back when I was considering some candoia boas. Needless to say, that was enough for me to not go through with it.

If memory serves me correctly, he had a website up in the past, and that was where I heard he dealt in imports. But I'm not entirely sure.

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I assume he does some imports from ads of his I've seen, I just dont know to what extent.

PurraLovesJazz said:

I assume he does some imports from ads of his I've seen, I just dont know to what extent.

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With Asian rat snakes, I'd always be wary of exports. Even though there's plenty of CB, you can always find a WC for cheaper, but most of them don't make it past a month or two.

well purralovesjazz you have come to the right place. Beautys are great snakes get big 0tho. Up to about 10 foot for a male 9 for a female. Need high humidity for the most part. They also like to climb but make sure that you don't use like a tall mesh cage ever. I have seen pics of a beauty after nose rubbing not good. I use a 20 galllon long for a while but should have atleast a 4x2x2 these are very active creatures. They are virocious feeders so use tongs. They like several small items as opposed to one large one. Keep the cage moderatley warm i keep mine at 87 on the warm side and 76 on the cool side. Need two hides one on the cold side one on the warm side. They also enjoy a large water bowl I use large tupperwear containers for mine. They bask alot so I have a peice of wood that is risen and extends the majority of the cage. Also they can get aggresive and mean without handleing so handleing them as babes is important. But some end up mean. my male is already headed down that path he is pretty mean now. Make sure you have a secure lid. Also again they are big and can be mean make sure you know this before you get it and their size makes em sorta dangerous. I use aspen bedding for em. newspaper and cypress are both OK but I have had my best success with being able to onserve the snake using aspen (Hides under the newspaper, and the cypress never really dries) They get scale rot pretty easy if left in environment to wet as they are from humid areas no snake can stay wet to long (Javan wart snakes and sea snakes being the exception aswell as a few others) They kinda half constrict they have been observed to subdue prey by pressing it against things to kill it but also constrict. So make sure if you are feeding in cage to drie the mice before you feed. Hope this helps PM me if you need any thing else