Yeah you'll want to stay away from the Tree boas if you want to be able to handle them. I'm not sure what you're looking to do. You want a herp to keep on the basis that it's more challenging and thus it has a higher chance of failure? Or is it that you want a reptile with a more challenging setup? Chameleons are a more involved species.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Hi Wittychick88,

Welcome to Herp Center! Well if you look at the Ball Pythons ... They are great handlers, give great neck massages, but can be finicky eaters ... will go months refusing food. Then there are Iguanas ... need special lighting and diet .. a little harder to handle as they can be moody and can have attitudes. Hope you enjoy the site and good luck on your quest!

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Smile and the world will think that you are up to something!

Steve

I may be in the minority here, but I'd say if you have REALLY fallen in love with something (like ETBs) start doing TONS AND TONS of research. And if it's still something you really want (after seeing pics of their fangs) you'll probably be willing to put in the extra work and take into account that they're not really a species for handling.
We keep chondro pythons (Green Tree Pythons) which I personally think have prettier heads than ETBs --- we only handle them rarely: usually to weigh them after they defecate.
They are definitely more like tropical fish: looks only.
.
I have my sweet Ball Python, "Monty" for daily handling and neck massages.
Also I'm not sure you could get a quality Emerald Tree Boa for the price range you're looking at. You might want to do some longer research and save up more money.

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Andrea