Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Budsteam]

Hi Claire,
Welcome aboard!

I am a comparative novice on here, having only had herps for a couple of years so all your feelings and questions are still very fresh in my memory.

We have 3 snakes - a Florida King - Brookie, a Diamond x Jungle Carpet Cross - Snappy, and a Royal - Elvis, acquired in that order for no particular reason.

Of the 3, hands down, the king is the most sociable, and is easiest to keep in that its 'home requirements' are more flexible than the others.
Our Brookie may be extra friendly, and I have heard of snappy kings, but he comes out at least once a day and pushes on the flexi's zipper when he wants to come out, the only time he goes quiet is when in shed. We got him purely by accident in that we saw him in the shop handled him and as they say - the rest is history, we knew straight away this little fella was for us and he really took to Jerry.

Of the other 2, I would put the Royal as next suitable for us beginners, very calm and friendly, a real handsome cutie. But he's nocturnal so we don't see him so much - except at weekends when I stay awake a bit later! Once they have settled down and eating OK they are great to handle and have a silky smooth skin. When Elvis comes out he'll have a little look around then happily sit on your lap in front of the TV (couch potato!) As you have probably heard, Royals can be awkward eaters, they also need higher temps than the king so viv design needs to hold the heat well.

The DiamondxJungle is, for character, my favourite
Wild eyes, very inquisitive and she is also VERY pretty. However she is still young and doesn't like being handled as much as the king does. She has never bitten us but can be moody and does hiss sometimes (er hm - note she is the female of the 3! ) She is also very wriggly and fast. Feeding though - no problemo! ZAP every time!
For viewing though a good snake as they are arborial so rather than hide up, they spend their time hanging (often precariously!) off the edge of a high perch - so you have to provide a high hide and climbing branches.
Unless you can get a more mature, calmer carpet therefore, I'd save these for later.

So it depends what you want, looks, character, hardiness, interactiveness, night or day snake and what type of accommodation can you provide, now and at full growth (we saw some beaut boas at a show but just knew they would outgrow the space we had). For a fun, comparatively easy to care for sociable snake, I'd go for a king first off, even better if you can get one that's a year or so old rather than a babe. (Brookie was a couple of years old when we got him).

If you can handle the snake before you buy, do so, I'm a great believer in instinct and I think you will know when you get to meet a few snakes which one is right for you - Love at first sight ahhhhh


Good luck Claire and keep us all posted !