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Dbz4246

Dbz4246

Jessie's BALListic Morphs
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Alright, I have been thinking about getting into a species of colubrid to keep and breed. BUT, I have tried rats (and corns), kings, and bulls. All were a no go, they just didn't do much for me.

The species that I do currently breed are ball pythons, and this is my first year at having babies, I also am planning to breed rainbow boas once the few I have get up to size.

The species I have looked at were House snakes, False water cobras, and Hognose (yes I will also post in the hognose forum). If you can, please tell me the heat requirements, feeding, growth size, or any other information about the species that you think will be helpful with my decision. Also the amount of morphs (or localities) of each species will be helpful to. After I decide what I would like to go for, I will do extensive reading and research on the animal, so dont worry :D

Thanks to all of Fauna for their help, and any suggestions will be appreciated :thumbsup:
 
Ok, I have narrowed it down to two species: hognose or house snake, can anyone tell me about house snakes?
 
I'm late to this thread, but I would recommend you keep and breed garter snakes. They are fun and interactive snakes to keep and are easily bred.
 
Aren't garters more prone to musk? And I'm not too sure but I think garters are illegal to sell in Texas, I thought I had read that somewhere but have to make sure
 
Dbz4246 said:
Aren't garters more prone to musk? And I'm not too sure but I think garters are illegal to sell in Texas, I thought I had read that somewhere but have to make sure
Click to expand...

From my personal experience only a few cbb garters will musk as babies but most if not all will stop musking as they get older and accustomed to being handled.

I don't know if it is illegal to sell garters in Texas but if they are I think it will only pertain to garters native to Texas, like the eastern blackneck garter.
 
Bells said:
I don't know if it is illegal to sell garters in Texas but if they are I think it will only pertain to garters native to Texas, like the eastern blackneck garter.
Click to expand...

Hmm ok, I'll have to check them out as well, and yea I think your right but ill check up on in to make sure
 
I used to keep African house snakes. Wonderful little colubrids. In my opinion, they are pretty much the African equivalent of corn snakes, in terms of general care and behavior.

But they do have that python-esque head and they're very strong for their size. Almost like someone crossed a Children's python' head and coloration with a cornsnake's body.
 
Hognose snakes are fun, too! Obviously, the most popular and easiest to keep is the western hognose, which take more readily to rodent prey. They like it a little warmer than most other colubrids, and have a higher metabolism, which means they eat a little more often (every 3-5 days).

I would avoid any other hognose species.
 
That's good info to know! And I have looked up some hognose and found a few other species, why would they not be a good choice? And that's a good way to describe house snakes, and you would be the secOnd person to compare them to pythons. Maybe that's why I haven't really gotten into colubrids much, cause I love my boids, it's just not the same when I handle certain colubrids ya know?
 
All hognose snakes are naturally amphibian eaters. The other species are notoriously difficult to convert to a rodent diet. Its not impossible, but it takes a lot of patience, perseverance...and there's no guarantee every specimen will convert. And few hobbyists have access to feeder toads year-round.

A good example is the eastern hognose snake. Fairly common throughout its range; most of us have probably seen one in the wild once or twice. But it takes a dedicated keeper to maintain them longterm in captivity. Lots of people catch them, feed them toads as they find them, but they're SOL come winter. The southern hognose is about the same.

Other species aren't quite as difficult, but still not easy compared to western hognoses and other more popular colubrids. These would include the tri-color hognoses of South America, and the Madagascar hognose species. If you think trying to get a finicky python or boa to eat F/T from live prey, try converting a hognose from eating amphibians!
 
Lol ok yea that does sound excruciating! Point taken, avoid other hognose species, thanks! See this is the kind of info that I couldnt find on my own, glad I posted on here!
 
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