new arrival

[Loteer]

Got a new pet tonight, the owner gave her up she had gotten to busy to give her the attention she needed. She is a Hogg Island Boa just over 5 feet long beautiful markings and color. I will post pics tomarrow when i get off work. :)

[blue_skys_lisa]

just wondering if a snake is hard to keep care of. I have an iguana but my bf is the one to hold him he is to scettish for me. So i think i would like to get a snake. what snake would u suggest? i want one that gets big but not really big, like 4-6 feet?

[Timekeep69]

Ball pythons are good.

[Loteer]

I'll go with timekeep, I'm not a big python fan "except for retics" and still new to the boas. Hogg Islands are about that size but i hear they can be a little finicky. Thankfully the one i got isn't finicky at all. :Cool:

[Donna]

I dunno, I have several balls and a corn snake. I don't think I would have been very comfortable with a ball as my first snake. The balls tend to go off feed very easily and no matter how often someone tells you it's normal, it's difficult to be comfortable with the idea of them not eating for weeks on end. The corn would eat everyday if I let him, he's never missed a meal and is known to take 2 meals a week when a ball doesn't eat.

Taking care of a snake is very easy if you compare it to your iguana. I keep a large dish of water in with them and a heat pad under the tanks on one side, feed them once a week or every 10 days. Daily care is just making sure they have water. I pick out their waist once a week (that's all they go) and clean out their cages totally on a monthly basis.

Donna

[python poop]

Spotted or children's pythons are pretty tame and small. My black blood pythons are "head tame", while my green tree python is tamer than my friend's ball python. Different experiences for different people. I suggest looking for someone that is selling an already tame animal that you desire. Some animals never tame down, just like some humans. :D A suggestion:Irian jaya carpets stay pretty small and have nice colors. They are a little nippy when they are hatchlings, but they calm down eventually. Yearlings are usually tamed down and aren't too much more than hatchlings. Below is a photo of a irian jaya carpet from vpi.com. Do a little research. Good luck on whatever you decide!

[blue_skys_lisa]

thanks everyone for their opinions. I do want a snake but i want a snake that will be pretty tame because this will be my first snake. And what about izzy are they going to fight or am i going to have problems with them becuase izzy will soon be a free roamer.

thanks
-lisa

[Donna]

You don't really want to let them be together for several reason. First is that you don't want to spread diseases to each other. Animals from different regions of the world can be carriers ( and be resistant to) diseases that other animals are highly suseptable to. Secondly they would see each other as preditors.

Donna

[blue_skys_lisa]

so it would be a problem if they seen each other, i could just take them out at different times. That would work wouldn't it? They will be in the same room untill izzy becomes a free roamer but other then that they will be.

[JJFeldner]

It is a bad idea to allow an Iguana or a large Boid to "roam free." Where did you get the idea that such action is cool? You may have to build a large enclosure as the Ig grows but it is not smart to allow free roaming. I have seen too many problems with free roaming reptiles, not the least of which is possible escape. If your Ig escapes in winter, I'm afraid it will be a death sentence. :(

[blue_skys_lisa]

i never got he idea from anyone i thought about it. Izzy will be a free roaming animal just like a dog becuase we have to entrences. so we will just have to close one door before we go out the other door. anyways my snake would not be a free roamer just izzy. anyways thanks for your opinions ppl's.
chow
-lisa

[Timekeep69]

You probably wouldn't want to keep the snake cage in the same room with a free roaming iguana simply because the iguana might knock the cage over.

As far as transmitting diseases between the two, just be sure to wash your hands in between handlings.

[Cmpyrrhus]

..allow free roaming, is that it is nearly impossible to replicate the needs of the animal. By caging, you are essentially creating a small habitat that is controlled by yourself. When free roaming, an animal is not under the control of the temperatures created within a cage. Unless you plan to create a whole room dedicated to temperature, light and humidity requirements, you are basically depriving the animal of those needs. Thus, the need to strive for the perfect caging. Caging is actually quite simple to do, although for iguanas much room is needed. Even a small iguana needs a lot of room.

I would personally ensure that the iguana was to be caged 100% of the time, except for small periodic supervised explorations in a safe place if you desire. Otherwise, free roaming will bring some trouble to the lil’ one. Honestly, it is not a good thing to do. Your asking for problems in the future to rise up.

[Donna]

Free roaming seems to be a popular choice for people on some of the Iguana lists. It's one that I do not approve of. Iguanas are notorious for consuming foreign objects like coins, screws, etc that are nearly impossible to keep them from havng access too. One of the free roamers on one of the lists reciently was electrocuted by a cord and another drown in a toilet (it was a small Ig.)

[blue_skys_lisa]

omg thats horrible to here. Well i guess its not a good idea. I will get some pics and post some of his cage i have him in now. I have him in the living room were we spend most of our time so he can somewhat get used to us in that way as well. Its one of those screened cages so its very hard to keep humidity up so i put a blanket around it and i mist him. I am going to pick up a humidifier on pay day as well. Its a pretty neet cage very accesible for me so i can take him outside with me when i sun bathe. I also have another large cage for him in his own room but this cage is very very large and almost immpossible for us to get him out to hold...lol. I will also post pics of that. Its pretty *CENSORED**CENSORED**CENSORED**CENSORED*ty but still kinda neat. Its home made and me and my bf have very bad skills. But its got a whole bunch of climbing stuff for him. In a few more monthes we will put him in that one and we were just thinking about leaving his cage door open so he can roam around that room with no problem. Izzy roams around downstairs we just open the cage and he comes out when he wants and goes back in when he wants. Somedays he won;t come out becuase he is to buissy basking. Well i mummbled on enough . I will post some pics of izzy and his 2 cages soon.