Talk:Reticulated python: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:46, 14 March 2006

Revision as of 20:22, 31 July 2006

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The relative merits of keeping a retic outside of a zoo are hotly debated as with any number of giant snakes.

A blanket statement that the 'best' pet for a first snake is specifically and always a [[Ball Python]] is a gross oversimplification. Individual snakes have individual temperaments. Ball pythons may well not be suitable for some people. Personally, I'd recommend a [[Columbian Red-Tailed Boa]] over a Ball Python due to a more 'cuddly' and affectionate temperament, though they get much larger and cost more to feed. [[Burmese pythons]] are very popular, though this is partly due to a misconception that they are the mildest-mannered of pythons -- something that ifis often true but untrue often enough to lead to the occassional disaster. [[Blood pythons]] are also sometimes kept for their temperament, though this widly fluctuates from blood python to blood python, and the most common reason for keeping a blood is the pretty ankh on the forehead.

However, there are also plenty of non-python, non-boids that would also make suitable pets. Western Hog-nosed snakes in particular often have mild dispositions when socialised, and as to the 'brag' factor, a hog-nosed owner can honestly state that they own a venomous snake (though the venom only has a mild anaesthetic effect and is injected by back-facing fangs inside the throat, which means one would have to shove a finger down its throat in order to get a numb finger). King snakes and black racers (both colubrids) have also been often found as good starter ophidians.