What is a definitive list of reptiles you not just want to keep in the future, but have hard plans to keep? I’ve been working on my list for about a month, I’ve been trying to keep it relatively small. The list may downsize in the future.
For a possibility for the next five years it’s:
Ackie Monitors
Dwarf Monitors
Red-eyed Crocodile Skinks
Day Gecko Species
Tokay Geckos
Egyptian Tortoise (or other species that stays small)
Dart Frog Species
Kenyan Sand Boa
Cape African House Snake
Western Hognose
Tri-Color Hognose
Other Colubrids
Angolan pythons, Kenyan sand boas ( already have one but plan to get more), magrove snakes, GTPs, ETBs, bamboo ratsnakes, but all these would be in a few years
I have the green tree python on my list here, but would you say a captive bred etb would be better? I’m talking purely care wise. Space and price are not factors here.
Reptiles in no particular order
1.Woma python
2.blackheads
3. Either local blue tounge
4.crested geckos
5.Argentine black and white tegu
6.green tree python
7. Emerald tree boa
8.retic (cow in particular)
Amphibians
Dart frog
2.milk frog
I’m sure I’ll add to this later but for now this is all I can think off
Kenyan Sand Boa*
Blood Python*
Some sort of BC
Sumatran Short-tail
Woma python
There are quite a few other species I’d like to have at some point down the road, but those are my main priorities that I’d like to get within the next couple years or so. Space is limited, so I’ll have to see what I have space for once I get those.
Yeah, olive pythons are one of those species I’d love to keep but will probably never have the space for.
After I get the species I listed, I might have to limit myself to smaller species…which sucks, because with the exception of hognoses, most of the species that really interest me are in the medium to large size range. Although I dunno, I’m ready good at Tetris, so maybe I can find a way to accommodate some larger enclosures. I’m thinking racks and stackable enclosures will become my best friends, haha. I also find myself wondering if I really need a sofa and a dining table.
I had the exact same dilemma and I ended up becoming a dedicated hognose snake breeder, and I’m pretty happy with the path I took, so I maybe you could do the same thing that I did. Really depends on how you feel though and if that sounds like something you would want to do. I’m just sharing my experience.
Honestly, I’m not all that interested in breeding. I might change my mind about that at some point, but what really appeals to me right now is just to be able to keep a variety of different species that I find especially beautiful and/or fascinating, rather than collecting and breeding a single species. I could see myself eventually producing the odd clutch here and there if I find a species I’m especially passionate about, but I don’t really see breeding ever being a primary focus for me. But who knows, maybe my feelings on that will change in the future.
In the mean time, I do have most of a living room I can fill with snakes.
Someday…
I kind of want a Blue Eyed Lucy Ball Python.
Now isn’t the right time, but someday. Such a friendly beautiful snake. Nothing wild, I know, but they’re so lovely.
So…I’m thinking that I need to add a super dwarf retic to my must-have list. The more I read and learn about them, the more I feel like my life will be incomplete without at least one.
The existence of super dwarfs was a dangerous discovery for me. I’ve always loved retics, but as long as they were these 20-foot (or at least 15±foot) giants, they were pretty much off-limits to me as something I could realistically keep myself. Now that I know you can get the same awesome, gorgeous snake in a smaller package…I NEEDS IT!
They are amazing animals. Great temperaments in the ones I got to handle, and incredible color and patterns.
(just watch out for that bulge around the tail-vent-- the amount of, ahem, liquid they tend to unload all at once is also amazing! …Ask me how I know.)