What's Your Favorite Species of Snake to Keep?

NMTs

NMTs

Theraphosidae Rancher
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It's been years since I've really kept snakes - I used to breed large pythons and boas but I ended up letting them go when my son was born. Since then, I've kept a few smaller ones here and there (corn snakes, garters, a glossy snake, and a bull snake), but never really got back into the hobby. One of my favorites from the old days, though, and probably the only one I'd consider keeping again eventually was the Brazilian rainbow boa (Epicrates cenchria). I just thought they were gorgeous, unique, and mine was a total sweetheart. They get large enough to be impressive, but not so big that you have to keep them in a separate room like Burmese pythons or red tail boas - you can keep adult rainbow boas in a 75 or 125 gallon tank comfortably. They're a little more demanding husbandry-wise, but nothing crazy. Anyways, that was my fave. 👍
 
viper69

viper69

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Mexican Black Kingsnake was the best temperament ever owned even slightly better than my pied ball.

Woma is fiesty a bit

My Hog Island is great too
 
NMTs

NMTs

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kingshockey

kingshockey

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years ago it was red tail boas/milk snakes and an amazon tree boa once i finally got it used to not thinking my hand was food and striking at it and trying to climb to the top of my head eveytime i had it out. but it was the coolest to feed out of all my snakes with the way it hunted from its high perch
 
Introvertebrate

Introvertebrate

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NMTs said:
It's been years since I've really kept snakes - I used to breed large pythons and boas but I ended up letting them go..................
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...........so Florida has you to thank for all those invasive snakes. ;)
 
NMTs

NMTs

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Introvertebrate said:
...........so Florida has you to thank for all those invasive snakes. ;)
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Ha! Only if someone that I sold to moved them 1750 miles to the east! My breeding stock lived their entire lives in my possession in beautiful NM. 😉 I'm pretty sure Florida has plenty of residents to thank for their feral reptiles (and fish, and tarantulas, and...).
 
Westicles

Westicles

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Hands down, my 2 "common" boas and my coastal carpet python. My Honduran milk snake would probably come in next place.I would mention my "ghost" phase bullsnake, but I can assure you there's nothing fun about the messes he makes!
 
Shrike

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I had an andean milk snake that I absolutely loved keeping. There might be prettier tricolor milksnakes out there, but andeans reach an impressive size and have a very chill disposition. Mine passed on a few years back and I haven’t had a snake since. It might be time to change that though! I’m leaning towards Pituophis, specifically bull snakes. It’s the IL kid in me.
 
ScorpionEvo687

ScorpionEvo687

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I've only ever had 2 Corn Snakes but if I were to ever get another snake again it would probably be a Ball Python or, if it wasn't for the fact I live w/ my parents and if space wasn't an issue, I'd get a Red-tailed Boa. Absolutely love Red-tailed Boas. Awesome snakes and I think they're probably the absolute largest snake the majority of people could reasonably handle & manage. A Burmese Python or Reticulated Python is simply gonna be too much for most people.
 
Westicles

Westicles

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Shrike said:
I had an andean milk snake that I absolutely loved keeping. There might be prettier tricolor milksnakes out there, but andeans reach an impressive size and have a very chill disposition. Mine passed on a few years back and I haven’t had a snake since. It might be time to change that though! I’m leaning towards Pituophis, specifically bull snakes. It’s the IL kid in me.
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Bullsnakes are absolutely awesome in my opinion. Word of warning though, they are messy! That is no joke
 
Westicles

Westicles

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I haven't had one for a few yrs now as mine died shortly after reaching 19yrs old, but I've always been and will be a big corn snake fan. The morphs that readily available now are gorgeous!
 
The Snark

The Snark

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Reflecting on this thread for quite a bit if I kept snakes and had the wherewithal to provide it with a comfortable natural environment safe for it and myself I'd opt for Opheophagus Hannah. Their intelligence appears to be magnitudes higher than other snakes and they obviously have an agenda of their own I'd like to study... if need be for months or even years. Trying to grasp a very alien mentality and way of thinking.

What are they thinking? When the containment was opened they watched me, just observing as I came within 3 feet and continued to watch until I was about 20 feet away.
1674869572122.png

I once saw one in an irrigation canal, trapped by fast moving water and steep sides. After a lot of effort I was able to hook it and get it on top of the bank. About 6 feet away from me it caught it's breath for a moment then slowly moved past me within a foot of my shoe and went into the undergrowth. It had to know a human was right there but completely ignored me.

A delightful moment. A Hannah casually swimming past in no great rush. It was looking for shallows of course, a frog spawn buffet breakfast. The are as at home in the waterways as they are on dry land. One can tell the time of year by their color. Very dark olive green brown to almost black in the cool season to absorb heat. The color changes to a tan olive then to a light blond at the height of the hot season.
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8 legged

8 legged

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After trying hognose and python I found my joy in Boas. I love my Tarahumara Boas but my favorites at the moment are these two Hog Islands...
...ball of love!
DSCN6579.JPG
 
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DaveM

DaveM

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My first will always be my favorite, apologies for being sentimental. He was a wild caught ball python (sorry, 1980s when I was a little kid not knowing anything, and captive bred were not available). He was imported as a large adult, covered with horrible scars, big patches of irregular scales, and he was infested with engorged African soft-bodied ticks -- took hours to find and remove them all from where they were lodged up underneath the scales. We had some kind of special bond that would make one think twice about whether snakes can feel love. He would perk up every time I entered the room, and would try to get out to me, as though he always wanted to be held.

An eastern worm snake was also cool. I made a bad mistake overfeeding it with far too many worms. Since they burrow, I couldn't see the snake for many months. I eventually dug it out and found it was so fat that it was shaped like an American football. Feel very bad about that, but, lesson learned, with a much reduced feeding regimen, it was a good pet, interesting to watch as it moved through tunnels (after I later engineered an enclosure with subterranean viewing panels).
 
Westicles

Westicles

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DaveM said:
My first will always be my favorite, apologies for being sentimental. He was a wild caught ball python (sorry, 1980s when I was a little kid not knowing anything, and captive bred were not available). He was imported as a large adult, covered with horrible scars, big patches of irregular scales, and he was infested with engorged African soft-bodied ticks -- took hours to find and remove them all from where they were lodged up underneath the scales. We had some kind of special bond that would make one think twice about whether snakes can feel love. He would perk up every time I entered the room, and would try to get out to me, as though he always wanted to be held.

An eastern worm snake was also cool. I made a bad mistake overfeeding it with far too many worms. Since they burrow, I couldn't see the snake for many months. I eventually dug it out and found it was so fat that it was shaped like an American football. Feel very bad about that, but, lesson learned, with a much reduced feeding regimen, it was a good pet, interesting to watch as it moved through tunnels (after I later engineered an enclosure with subterranean viewing panels).
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Oh yes, I remember as a kid going into pet stores in the 80s and drooling over the different snake species that were available. Of course I didn't know that they were all probably wild caught and not healthy. I never bought one, but I still vividly remember seeing boas, ball pythons, different kings and milks, etc. Basically all of these cool snakes you only saw in books.
 
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