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Any recommendations?

Sisuitl

Sisuitl

I dig'em!
I've decided to expand my current collection of serpents into more than two species. Mostly I am interested in colubrids, the asian rat snakes and other species of american colubrid in particular. Does anybody on here have particular favorites aside from corns? The only really big stipulation I have is that they have similar temp requirements to corns as they would be sharing the same room.
 
Definatly check out Bairds ratsnakes. They are uncommon, underrated, have nearly the exact same care, go through one of the largest color and pattern changes of any snake in North America, and their adult colors are justs as variable as all the corn morphs out there. Last but not least, they are simpley amazing.

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The Bairds are nice as well as the Trans Pecos Rats, but if you want to branch out from the rat snakes, I heartily reccomend Lampropeltis Alterna , The Grey Banded Kingsnake. One of my favorites :cheers:
 
Gotta throw my $.02 in. The African House Snake is amazing. They come in many colors, they breed year round, eat like machines and they don't get to big. Here is a care sheet for them- http://www.kingsnake.com/housesnake/ - and here is a pic of one of mine.
 

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A local pet store gets them every once in a while. I have also found them on KS. If I have money and I see them for sale I buy them. I know there are a couple on KS right now, but I have no money for them at the moment. The Namibians are really cool too, and I think I saw some of those for sale somewhere recently.
 
coloubrids: hognose, the pituophis family.
boids: amozon tree boas, sand boas. umm just kinda not the common stuff.
 
I quite like the Western Hognoses as well .... cute snakes.

No idea how hard they are to get hold of in the USA but a place near me has had a European Leopard Rat for quite a while now. Think the price tag is putting people off buying it. I thought about but decided against it in the end. They do look quite Corn-ish though so if you want something different maybe not the one to go for.

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Personally, I'm still mulling over getting an African Egg Eater later this year. Dolcie temperament, easy to get food (quail/small chicken eggs) and no teeth! I'd have to double check but I don't think their required temps are radically different to a Corn ... maybe slightly warmer but nothing too unmanageable.

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What species of egg eater? Even different subspecies have greatly different needs as many prefer different bird species, different hights the nests are ate. Perhaps I'm thinking of a different type of egg eater, but they dont tolerate husbandy errors, humidity is very importent, they stress out easily, can fast for months, and its not easy for everyone to get the correct size of egg year round.
 
I would suggest boids. There my favourite kind of snake. The ball python in particular, But also sand boas and red tail boas.
 
Rubber boas, too, if they're not illegal in Oregon. Here in WA they can't be wild caught, but you can get them through a breeder.

I've got a few nice kings, a hognose and maybe a few different ratsnakes I could sell to you. I'm going with stick with corns, baird's, BP's and Russian ratsnakes.
 
Thats the species I was thinking of. I'm not sure how they are over there, but over here they are definatly very hard to get ahold of and nearly all are imports. Definatly a challenge to care for.
 
DaemoNox said:
What species of egg eater? Even different subspecies have greatly different needs as many prefer different bird species, different hights the nests are ate. Perhaps I'm thinking of a different type of egg eater, but they dont tolerate husbandy errors, humidity is very importent, they stress out easily, can fast for months, and its not easy for everyone to get the correct size of egg year round.
Click to expand...

I've only done a bit of preliminary research on these ... trust me, I'd be doing a lot more before actually making a purchase.

They're not a breed thats widely available in the UK but these guys ...

http://www.exotic-pets.co.uk/egg-eating-snake.html

... have three sub-species for sale. They imply that quail eggs will do the trick, which would be OK as I can source those. I have read that they can be picky so I'd certainly we wanting to speak to current owners of any specific sub-species I decided to buy to get a lot more info on their upkeep first.

I've been keeping corns for 15 years now and made my mistakes with the water snake I owned briefly prior to the corns.

Having been down the road of not doing my research first, and subsequently paying for it further down the line (with the water snake .... my corns have - with one notable exception when I first started breeding them, I wouldn't be planning on breeding egg eaters - have all been happy and healthy).

I look before I leap these days .... don't worry.

Anyway, that site is only recommending temps a few degrees above corns. Easily achieveable. They also recommend a moist hide - again no problem. I'm aware of the possible fasting as well as it's something they often do in their natural habitat due to the seasonal nature of the availability of their food.

So, I thought it a reasonable recommendation for someone looking for something a bit different. Not the simplist snakes in the world to keep perhaps, but ny no means up there in "expert only" territory as far as I'm concerned.

As long as the pre-purchase research is done properly I think they'd make a very interesting addition to anyones collection.

Oh, the only part I'm not keen on from that link above is that they all seem to be imported wild caught. I think I'd rather find a captive breeder to buy from .... I've found one on a UK forum - I think he'd be someone I'd be keen to get in touch with before I take my interest any further.

Some awesome pics on the same forum ... incredible snakes. :)

http://www.livefoodshop.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=34868&hl=
 
I'm not trying to talk you out of it; it was just that your post to me sounded as if they were as simple as corns to care for. I know someone who has sucessfully kept all three subspecies, each one having its own preferences. One prefers nests on the ground of certain bird species, the other prefers nests not too high but not on the ground, and the other likes to climb a bit. Some of them prefer finch and canary eggs and wont even touch quail. For the one person I know who keeps them it has ended up being just about the only species they are dedicated too because its such a challenge, but also very rewarding.
 
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