Admittedly, I am not versed on whether or not Brazilian Rainbow Boas can be bred selectively for traits or colors but I figured I throw that out there
6 Likes
If you want iridescence in the size category of âcorns or smallerâ, how about black African House Snakes? They have a lot of possibility and are pretty up-and-coming little guys. The black ones are wildly iridescent (and recently someone discovered a potential blue-eyed lucy gene for them, so the morph situation is just getting off the ground).
There are also a number of different AHS localities and subspecies with very different looks, if she wants more than just the black ones to work with. Boaedon Capensis, or Capes, have the widest variety of morphs and looks so far. They can be line bred for different sorts of patterns (look up Oreo!), and some people crossbreed localities for different morphs (look up Butters, although in some circles, crossbreeding localities is frowned upon so thatâll be up to your discretion). Theyâre great little guys, too.
5 Likes
@guppyguy Check out the loxocemus bi color pythons. I have one thatâs about a year old and imho I think he is gorgeous!
He has a beautiful iridescence on the order of the sunbeam snake. These guys donât get very large, are a tad on the intermediate keeper side and very easy to handle. I bought mine here on MM CBBâŚâŚâŚ
You donât see them that oftenâŚ.and there is not that much information out there on themâŚâŚ 
5 Likes
Rainbow boas do have several morphs, though Iâm not that familiar with the genetics. I know they have albino and anery, and maybe a few others.
Sun beam snakes are gorgeous, but itâs my understanding that they often donât do well in captivity. As far as I know, theyâve not yet been bred successfully in captivity, so all in the pet trade are wild-caught, and they donât tend to handle stress very well, so getting them established and healthy in captivity can be difficult, and many donât survive the transition.
@guppyguy, I feel like it would probably be best for your daughter to get a handle on husbandry and the basics of breeding with a more common species, and then from there could possibly jump into the more rare/uncommon/pioneering stuff once she has a good foundation of the basics. As others have said, if thereâs a beautiful species that hasnât been worked with much, thereâs usually a reason for that. Often those types of species are much more difficult to keep alive in captivity, let alone breed. But I think thatâs awesome that she wants to get into newer, rarer species! Maybe she could start out with something like corn or milk snakes, and then get into rarer colubrids (or whatever else interests her) from there. Maybe 10 years from now, sheâll be the foremost expert in the captive breeding of dragon snakes, or paradise flying snakes, or elephant trunk snakes, or rainbow snakes, or sunbeam snakes, or whatever else she finds that speaks to her. I wouldnât recommend starting with any of the species I just listed, but if she continues to be serious about snake breeding in the future, the sky is the limit once sheâs built a good solid foundation of knowledge.
6 Likes
Amazon tree boas might be a species to look into. They come in all different colours and can be extremely variable in pattern. Theyâre really, really beautiful snakes. They do have a reputation for being pretty bitey and defensive, though not all individuals live up to that reputation (though some most definitely DO live up to that reputation). Theyâre generally considered something of an âintermediateâ species to keep, as theyâre less forgiving of bad husbandry than some more hardy species. But theyâre a very manageable size, theyâre arboreal and are often out on display, and theyâre not insanely expensive (to buy or to house). I wouldnât recommend them as a first snake (especially for a child), but it might be something for her to explore a few years down the road if she likes them. They definitely check the âcolourfulâ and âvariableâ boxes!
5 Likes
Yep Jennifer I agree totally with you about starting small and working upwards.
Actually I have seen seen Sunbeam Snakes listed on one site either CB or CBB. However they truly are rather delicate in keeping. A friend of mine bought one at an expo a few months ago, WC, I am sure, for 80.00 and it only lived a few months afterwards. So yeah,Sunbeams are a little precarious for a brand new breeder of any age.
@guppyguy That above being said. I am so glad your young daughter has ambition. Iâm sure with your guidance she will become quite successful! 
5 Likes
There have been plenty of CBB sunbeam snakes sold on MM in the past. I know NERD used to work with them a lot from what I remember were able to produce them pretty consistently
6 Likes
I stand corrected about sunbeam snakes being CBB, @logar and @caron! Thatâs great that some people are producing them. Hopefully the CBB sunbeams do better in captivity, and hopefully with time theyâll be more readily available, so nobody will be tempted to purchase the over-stressed WC specimens that donât live very long.
6 Likes
From what I understand, CBB arenât really that bad to care for. However, WC ones are notoriously hard to acclimate to captivity, almost as hard as dragon snakes
6 Likes
I have no idea since Iâm not sure what state youâre in, but many states have restrictions on keeping/breeding native species, especially if they are at risk from the pet trade, so things like garters, hogs, etc are often the ones effected by laws
5 Likes
She sounds sweet. I bet she was treated well with you!
4 Likes
I love suggestions! Thank you!
4 Likes
Definitely on our list! 
5 Likes
Will do! Thanks!
3 Likes
I did some research on those earlier today. They are certainly beautiful, but extremely problematic in breeding.
Some people at the zoo feel they breed once every two years.
4 Likes
Good to keep in mind for the future!
4 Likes
They are definitely in our interest. Thank you!
4 Likes
Blood pythons, gray banded kingsnakes, yellow rat snake, bull snakes, green tree python, there are some really cool Boiga species, red-tailed green rat snake, hog island boa, green anaconda, false water cobra (they are a decent bigger than corns but should still be considered!), eastern hognose, variable kingsnake, Mexican black kingsnake
All of these could work well but some are a bit bigger than a corn but only by a little bit
5 Likes
Wonderful suggestions for me to check out! Thank you!
4 Likes
Even the green anaconda 
5 Likes