Giant Constrictors

About seven years ago, I was working on a variety of Large Constrictor projects (Burms & Retics) but after a few expo 'raids' and all the talk of banning 'potentially' dangerous reptiles, I saw prices drop, I witnessed production by some breeders drop dramatically, and made my decision to downsize, so to speak, and gave up my BIG BOYS & GIRLS for other projects. Now 7-8 years later I see they're doing well, prices are stable, and newer morphs have sparked new interest. I'm all for it, but I honestly think that when some of the major producers of these animals cut back production it helped. It all goes back to suplly & demand, I remember private breeders having one or two clutches of Albino Burms, and selling them off for $50 each...pretty scary.

My question to everyone is, do you feel that GIANT Constrictors are still a good choice from the business part of it. Production numbers, maintenance, etc...or has the Boa Morph & Ball Python BOOM hurt these amazing captives??? Just curious.

All of your replies are very welcome, if you read it, then please by all means reply to it, or start a new thread on something that may interest you!! Thanks!!

Well, it's sad, because they make great pets for a lot of people, but then many people have them that really shouldn't. I wish we could just make people smarter about their pet purchases so there would be absolutely no need for laws concerning them.
I personally try not to buy anything I won't be able to lift. Just a personal preference though.

Erin B.

I think the boa constrictors and ball pythons are still more popular due to their being more children interested in the hobby. But dont get me wrong i love big snakes I just dont like it when they arent taken care of handled responsibly. The other day i saw i biker riding his motorcycle with his 6 foot burmese around his neck! Not very pleasing to my eyes.

In my opinion from the business end, the huge guys are going to be overshadowed in the future by the balls, corns and boas. With the boom in attractive racks/caging, people can collect quite a few of the smaller guys but room is always a problem with giant snakes.
Because of rising costs it is getting more expensive to feed and heat the big guys, too, so producing them is proportionately more expensive.
Certainly I do not mean to dissuade you if you love the big guys. But the investment and upkeep are large and unless you are on the cutting edge of new morphs, I believe your profit percentage will be smaller than if you work with snakes that need smaller amounts of food and housing.

I'm going to be the "voice of opposition" on this one.

I try to discourage everyone I can from getting into Giants. It's a bad idea. The vast majority of the time they are not cared for properly, they are bought by people who overestimate their ability to handle a giant snake, and they end up getting dumped or killed.

There are far too many breeders and pet shops that will sell Burms, Retics, Anacondas, and the big Boas to anyone with money; without any sort of screening process at all to ensure that the person understands exactly what they're getting into. A lot of people are buying them as status pets, to show how "cool" they are. Just as with Green Iguanas, they buy them on impulse or for image, and don't take the time to study them and realize that 1) they have very specific care needs, 2) they're going to take up a lot of space, and 3) they are very difficult to handle, often requiring two or more people once they exceed a certain size. If you're only interested in making money, you don't belong in the pet trade, no matter what kind of pets you're selling. Pet sellers have a responsiblity to ensure as much as possible that their animals are going to people that can properly care for them.

Too many are kept in sub-standard, too-small enclosures, on bad substrates (such as pine shavings), with inadequate heat and humidity. Most people also live-feed, because it's "cool" or "natural" to watch the snake killing it's prey. A lot of people I've seen with them will also underfeed them, assuming that that will keep the snake smaller; resulting in snakes that are malnourished, have long-term health problems, and develop a very aggressive feeding response and personality.

I've seen far too many Burms and Redtail Boas being sold, or even given away, by owners who never bothered to investigate just how much expense was going to be involved, and how difficult they are to handle when they start getting over about 7 or 8 feet. Once that snake hits 12-15 feet, it can pretty much do what it wants, and there isn't squat-all you can do to stop it unless you've got several people there to help. People buy them assuming that if they get to big, they can just donate them to their local zoo or university; but zoos and universities don't want them. So if they can't get rid of them, they either simply neglect them, kill them, dump them at an animal shelter (in which case, Animal Control kills them), dump them off on a rescue organization (most of which are already overloaded with Burms and Iggys they can't find homes for), or the worst of all, release them into the wild.

People also often fail to realize just what sort of creature they're dealing with. While there is some truth to the "snakes are what their owners make them", most snakes also have inherent natures that are hard to modify. While Burms tend to be fairly docile snakes, it is much harder to tame them down than it is to make them aggressive. Retics tend to be fairly unpredictable, and even small amounts of bad handling can turn them mean. Anacondas, particularly Greens, are naturally a very aggressive and bad-tempered snake, and there is some debate on just how tameable they really are.

(I know one person who has a Redtail, Retic, two Burms, and a Green Anaconda. Although she does have help caring for them, all but the Redtail and Retic are still babies, and the Retic is only about half-grown. I'm expecting to see her either trying to get rid of them about 5 years down the road, or ending up killed by one of them, most likely the anaconda.)

Giant snakes (anything that gets over 8 feet long) are very difficult creatures to care for properly; and should only be owned by advanced keepers with a lot of experience, resources, and assistance. I will actively discourage anyone and everyone from getting into Giants, whenever possible. As much as I love them, I will not own any myself until I'm damn sure I can cope with something that requires that much effort.