Baroni are a great option! just keep in mind they are rear fanged, incredibly active and fast, and females get pretty massive in the 6’ range. But they are an absolutely fantastic species, my favorite snake species by far. ive had the absolute pleasure of getting to work with a friends trio for the past 6 months. And I’ll be getting a pair in the spring.
Rhino rats and Baroni are nice options but they do require cooler ambient temperatures. In a lot of cases that’s just going to make them easier to keep but they don’t tend to like ambient temps in the 80s.
Amazon tree boas are awesome and I’m quite attached to mine, but to be fair, they don’t move around a lot during the day, especially if they have a hide. Might not be the most interesting to observe.
If you’re not afraid of the social distaste of mixed locale/species morelia, a lot of mutt carpets can be really outstanding color wise.
Harder to get CB…but Solomon Island tree boas are a great option. & Haitian &/or Dominican Mountain Boas are in fact hard to get established on mice as babies & are Messy!! Their urate is like cement. Other than that mine reminds of the boa version of a carpet python. Indonesian tree boas are cool too…smaller species thO & again hard to get CB. Something like a Children’s python would be a good option.
Depending on the subspecies of carpet I think eventually… you may need a larger cage. I have a jungle carpet male that is 7ft & bigger than my forarm…granted he is going on 12yrs old…took a long time to get that size…
Boas are the obvious choice - especially the smaller sub/ species like Boa Sigma. My male climbs all the time. Even my pure Colombian does. Hog Island are smaller and good for arboreal ness. Pearl Island too but they are much larger.
Otherwise, 4x2x2 is good for tons of stuff, like Carpets or Amazon Tree Boas, or House Snakes which kinda do it all. Captive Bred ATBs are much chiller tho than the WC and very beautiful and show off. Barons Racer and the old world Rat Snakes def fall into the category.
I have a Gold phase Madagascar Cat eye…great species to keep…& will delfinitely cruise all around @ night… but not as semi aborieal as people give them credit for…least mine isnt.
I believe Tom Crutchfield was the first to produce Dominican reds back in the day. If I remember correctly they are very “tame” and personable straight from the wild. So being they are cbb makes it even better. Obviously you can have a jerk every once in awhile.
Your criteria is making it hard to pick a good suggestion.
Do you want to be able to handle it, or is it going to be a display piece?
I agree with all the comments about either carpets or boas. Maybe look into dwarf island locality boas. They stay small, and because of their natural history and prey of birds in the wild, their bodies are lanky and good climbers. My Caulkers cay climbs all over. He changes color throughout the day also from gray/black to a super light silver/black anery looking color. They are jumping in popularity, so they won’t stay under $1000 for long.
And if you want to try lizards, give emerald tree skinks, green keel bellied lizards, or an Australian frilled lizard. Good luck!
I would personally prefer something handleable. I like the suggestions I’ve heard and will take them into consideration. Locality boas sound interesting as well, I’ll have to look around for them at the next expo I visit.
Even though my first suggestion on here was a carpet, I have to say locality Boas are IMO the greatest pet snakes you can get. Even though I have a pretty good variety of Imperator morphs to look at and enjoy, which I do, the snakes in my collection that I stop and admire the most are my het Leopard Boa Sigma adults. They’re dark, colorful and their patterning is trimmed with white almost like lace trim. They’re truly beautiful animals. Plus they’re 8+ years old and not big by any stretch.
Ill 2nd a dwarf local of Boa…my Tarahumara is always climbing in his branches & hanging out in them…& is full grown @ 4.5 ft. Cant go wrong with a Boa!!
Someone else also mentioned garters…it would be a awesome cage for a group!! If you into that kinda thing. & they come out & bask…& actually like to climb.
My Haitian boa was an unestablished baby born from a WC import… he has been the biggest pain in my butt!!! Refused to eat anything but lizards…I tryed everything!! Finally after a year I have him eating rat tails. Just got to take a pink…& he is soooo hard to clean up after!! Its like cement. But I will say he is super nice…never bit…will chill with you & hangout. He does hang out it his branches & Is a nice display animal as well. Like a boa…that a carpet python… but unless you shell out the money to a breeder for an established breeder…I dont recommend.
I got it…figured it out… Something that will utlize the space…isnt brown or there of…isnt a morph…& you can handle. & is under a G. & could handle a humidity drop.( althO it would still need humidity) A red tail rat snake. Winning…lol
A smaller locality like yunnan would be best. Some of them get huge, like too huge for a 4 ft enclosure. But they’re gorgeous and easy to care for. And I would get a female, as males are more difficult to handle.
glad I read comments first.