Recently I’ve been developing sort of a roster of future reptiles as a way to limit the amount of reptiles I get. As part of this roster, I know I want a species of snake that’s on the larger side, but not a giant snake. I’ve been looking into Dumeril’s boas, bredlis, macklots pythons and Argentine boas, so if anyone has any experience with any of those snakes I’d love a testimonial of sorts as a way to make my decision for what to include on the roster. By the way if anyone’s interested, the roster included my current ball python, my current blue tongue skink, 4-5 hognoses(two of which I already have), a Brazilian Rainbow boa and whatever large-ish snake I get.
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We used to breed Dumeril’s in the late 90s.
They’re SUPER mellow-a great largish snake to handle.
Easy to care for once you get them going.
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I took care of my sister’s Dumeril for years, as Voodoo notes, they are stupidly mellow. Except when they smell food, then they turn into toothed missiles. If you have the space to give tham a really nicely done naturalistic viv, they disappear in leaf litter almost as well as a gaboon
I would not consider bredli to be “large-ish”, my female is maybe 1.6m and only about as big around as dollar coin.It is possible to make them huge, but in the same way you make things like retics and burms huge - overfeeding
I have never kept macks, but rumours from friends are that they can be snippy
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I think a Dumeril’s boa or some sort of BC (an Argentine would be a beautiful choice) would be great options for a large-but-not-giant snake. I haven’t kept either of those yet, but I have plans to get a BC within the next few months, and I’d love to have a Dumeril’s some day.
Short tailed pythons might be another option to consider. They don’t get super long, but they’re THICC, so you get the girth of a giant snake with only a fraction of the length. Granted, I’m a little biased, because I absolutely adore my blood python. Easy to keep, great eater, and easy to handle. Only real downside is that they’re not great display snakes. Mine spends most of her time buried in her substrate, though she does rest out in the open sometimes.
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I just got a hatchling Dumeril about a month ago. She’s fantastic. Extremely easy to handle and loves her food. It’s a completely different experience holding her vs some of my ball pythons. My ball pythons will take a moment to warm up to you and start exploring. My Dumeril will instantly start exploring everything you let her access lol.
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Interesting. The bredli I held at my local expo must have been over fed then. He was around 8ft and about as big around as as a dollar coin and a half. And yes, it was a male.
Highly recommend dumerils boas! I work with a few and they are super chill.
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I work with Argentine Boas, and I would not consider them “large-ish’” but rather straight up “large.” My oldest female (10 years) is about 8ft and 35lbs, and her mate (same birth year) is over 7 feet. Temperament-wise, they are harmlessly grumpy as babies, but grow out of this by the time they are a year old. My adults are super calm out of the enclosure, but you have to watch out for their feeding response in the enclosure. In general, I feel that they are a fantastic snake to work with, both for their unique beauty, size and confident docility.
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I’ll add that this is the same for the dumerils. the ones I work with are really quite large, the biggest being a female that’s about 15 years old over 8 ft and over 50 lbs. they are a really heavy bodied snake that are made of pure muscle. they are ridiculously strong but very docile.
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I dont have bredls, but they are cousins to the carpet python. If you want a larger version, you could co sider a coastal carpet which can get up to 10 feet but still remain skinny enough to not cause significant harm (though they do get big enough where the bite can cause harm in rare cases as their teeth are like saw blades) my girl isnt an adult yet, but her temperment is pretty good, you just need a snake hook to overcome food response and tank defensiveness. Once out they are usually a dream to handle. (She is hypo, the color of a normal is a bit different, and if you want a cheap but similar color, consider caramel)
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