New snake owner needs help...

[da_shroom]

I'm interested in acquiring a snake. However, I don't know jack about them :) I want either a harmless constricting snake or just a plain harmless snake, as there are little children and pets around here. However, I also would like a snake at least several feet long, but nothing overly large. What snakes do you guys recommend for novice snake owners? I would also like to know what I need for a good setup for the snake...thanks in advance :)

[asphyxia]

Hi Shroom,

Trippy name, and welcome

I figure most ppl her will tell you either some kind of corn snake or Ball python, I have both, (and others) they are great
so do some research on them and let us know any further questions you may have


Regards
Brian

[ReptiZone]

You are one of the smart ones doing your reserch befor buying well lets see a good starter constrictor depends what you call least several feet long there is ball python 4-5 feet give or take verry nice snake. A common boa constrictor BCI 9-10 feet also verry nice snake.if you hear that a burmese is a good starter snake RUN as fast as you can LOL there are nice snakes but but get way big like any where from 12-23 feet. if you want that in the future get a boa to start you will se just how strong a 8 foot snake can be.

As for housing I say a 20-25 gallon could give you a good start but later you might go on a adventure ade build your own cage
and a heat lamp over top I dont belive in heat mats but there are alot of ppl hear have good stories about them.a hide box and some rocks and branches also a water bowl that is big enuf for the snake to soak in

I am shour that there will be other posts with a lot of good advice so yous your judgement and and ask if you dont understand

chondro python :cool:

[Lisa]

By harmless I'm guessing you mean mellow. You don't want something known for being bitey. By several feet what range do you want? 4-6 feet? over 7? if 4-6 feet is fine you could be happy with a ball python aka a royal python. they get the name ball python from the tendancy to hide their head in a ball of coils when threatened.

If you want something a bit longer you may want to consider a common boa or perhaps a rainbow boa. Common boas get to be 7-9 feet

How ever one thing to consider, when the common boa is full adult size it will be big enough to eat a small cat. All of them could probably hurt a cat.

You might also consider a colulbrid such as a corn snake or a king snake. These tend to stay smaller then the boas and pythons how ever i've found they are a bit more nervous and tend to be less handlable.

What ever snake you decide on, buy a book for that species and read it.
All the snakes i've mentioned are fairly common due to ease of feeding, disposition and colours.

For a good set up there's a couple ways you can go. Display cages, racks and rubbermaids. Personally I like Display cages, as I like to see my snakes and they look nicer when incorperated with other furnature.. Display cages can be made from wood, acrylic, or glass. Don't be surprised if you spend more on the set up then the snake. A good set up would be a cage big enough to house the snake as an adult. A general rule of thumb is that you want 1 square foot for each foot of snake. A good set up for a ball python would be a front opening 50G terrarium, an undertank heating pad connected to a rheostat (you can buy one or make one), two hide boxes just big enough for the snake to fit in and a water bowl big enough for the snake to soak in. You can use a substrate such as newspaper or paper towel but those don't look as nice or provide the humidity benifits of something like cypress mulch. A regular light on a timer for day/night cycle is a nice touch but not required. You can also provide things such as logs and branches to climb on and backgrounds.

[Tim_Cranwill]

If you are one who prefers a little more in the length category and are looking at colubrids, here is a link to a Lampropeltis (kingsnakes and milksnakes) information page with pics and some general info. I'd recommend a South Florida Kingsnake or a Honduran milksnake. Both max out at roughly 5' and are very attractive. :)

http://www.pitt.edu/~mcs2/herp/Lampropeltis.html

[da_shroom]

thanks for all of the replies and help -

I think the ball python would be a good choice for me. Would anyone happen to know how much they run approximately? Any links would also be a big help. Thanks in advance.

[Snake Lady]

check out of ssnakess classifields...they normally have a bumch of ball pythons for sale or trade. I would reccomend JKReptiles if you should happen to see their thread.

Lucie :)

[BILLP]

If you decide to get a ball python you will be very happy. but do lots of research and post any question you have here it is a very good site. Also as far as price it can be a very large range from $20 for a normal ball to morphs that cost several hundered dollars. Lisa also has very good advise and I agree with her that you need to buy a book for that type of snake.

[J_Riley]

If you decide on a Royal (Ball) Python PLEASE be sure to get a captive bred one. Wild caught imports can be tough to get and keep eating on occassion.

I personally would recommend a colubrid, a kingsnake or a ratsnake, but that's me...colubrids are less husbandry intensive for a novice, they don't need temps in the 90's and high humidity. For a ball python, a drop to 70 would probably cause them to go off feed, but that temperature usually won't faze a north american colubrid.

Just my 2 cents

[Alicewave]

A Rosy Boa is a great Choice for beginners. They are fairly small but the females get up to around 3 feet I think. They come in lots of great colors. Don't have high humidity requirements. Most of them are very tame from the beginning of tame down in a couple days. The nice thing about Rosies is that they are slow moving so novice handlers don't have to worry so much about it getting away.

Whatever you choose, please read up a lot on the internet and in any books you can find. Research research research. You can never know too much about an animal before you bring it home. :) Good luck with your choice and Welcome to sSnakeSs

[Pixie]

A ball python would be a good choice to start with but you must do a lot of research first. Check the internet for care sheets and look at as many sites you can find. Care sheets by Melissa Kaplan are excellent. Getting a book would also be a good idea.

As for the price, I haven't personally seen them as low as 20$ but you never know? Usually, they are in the 75$-150$ price range. Be sure to get a captive born (CB) or even better captive breed and born (CBB). These snakes make better pets, acclimate better to artificial environments and have less medical problems such as internal parasites, etc.

The big thing is to expect to spend more on the snake set up than the actual snake. A 30 or 33gal tank is supposedly sufficient for an adult ball and that will run you at least 100$ new with screen top if not more around 120-140$. Even if you luck out getting one second hand or building your own terrarium you have to factor in heating, UTH's are usually most commonly used, hides, lighting, water dish, substrate, thermometer, hygrometer, starter stock of food... Some of these things don't cost much but when you add it all together setting up a snake usually costs twice as much as the snake if not more.

So, just be prepared for a big expense at first but once set up the costs become minimal. Feeding a ball python rarely costs more than 10$ a month and unless there is a problem, vet visits are pretty rare. Also, take the time to set up your snake's home before you purchase it. I've seen so many people go out and get a snake, come home and then start figuring out where to put it and how to care for it.

Obviously you don't seem to be one of those types as you're researching first which is the best thing you could do to start :)

So do some searches on ball pythons and don't be shy to ask us questions to help you along :)

Pixie

[Aaron_S]

I would suggest a house snake.THey tend to constrict their food and are harmless. They size ranges from 3-4 feet.They are quite easy to care for and don't need a lot of space.I would say a 20gal long could house 1 adult or if you wanted something with more room a 30gal or 33gal would do. They are real cheap too.The most i've seen them go for is $35 for a baby.

[BoidKeeper]

My picks are Corn, Rosy Boa, Ball Python. In no particular order. Like others have said if you do go with a ball make sure it is Captive Bred. That should hold true for any animal.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Lisa]

I would suggest getting one from a private breeder. I'm not sure where you're located so it is a little difficult to suggest one. Also you might want to check into local laws first.

[BurmBaroness]

I am not trying to discourage you from a ball python, just be sure you understand that even Captive breed/born ones will go off feed for periods of time. If this is gonna be a major stress thing for you, you would do better with a gopher snake or a corn. Also , the BP's are more picky about temps and humidity. They are very sweet snakes, tho, so long as you won't be stressed by periods of nonfeeding, they are great. Also, you know to feed prekilled or Frozen/Thawed, right?

[andrea88]

I have to agree with BurmBaroness,
my cb ball python (I got him a year ago as a hatchling) has given me more frustration and head-banging-against-the-wall moments than my corn, king and waterdragon combined.
He goes off of feed for weeks at a time, he ONLY will accept fuzzies or pinkys (hes big and can easily take 1-2 adults, but NOoooooooo) I have to trick him every single feeding by giving him a live pink or fuzzy and as he is swallowing it, place the head of an adult in his mouth. Sometimes he falls for it, sometimes he doesn't. I'va had to do this from day one. If I don't-he doesnt eat.
Not only that but I prefer (like a lot of people) to turn down the heat at night in my home (to save on bills), my bp, on the other hand does NOT enjoy this (will go off feed) and we have had to make special heating arangements for him at night.
Plus, we live in the mountains of Alberta and it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep the humidity up enough for him to shed properly.

I still love him to death, and he is my husbands baby (thats cause I have to deal with all of this LOL) but if I had to do it over again, I would have gotten another king.


*edited to add*
One more thing... he doesn't enjoy handling near as much as the corn and king do. As a result, we only get to handle him before a feeding or he will get stressed out and won't eat at all..... sigh.....

[da_shroom]

Thanks again for all of the VERY helpful responses...everyone's input is greatly appreciated :)

IMO albino burmese pythons are simply beautiful creatures...and I have read that the males are much smaller than females. Is that correct? How would a male burmese be for a beginner like me? Thanks in advance for the help.

[BurmBaroness]

A burmese python is one of the worst beginner snakes you can own. Even the males can reach 15 ft or so, and they are expensive to feed, house, etc. They take alot of time and work, and also have higher requirements husbandry wise than alot of snakes. They are more prone to respiratory infections, which can cost lots of $$. They are defninitely NOT a beginner snake.

[BILLP]

I agree with burmbaroness a bermese python is a terrible starter snake. In my opinion any snake over about 10 feet is bad for a starter. Also a larger snake is harder to get rid of later is you decide that you do not like it. I would stick to one of the many small snakes that people have suggested earlier and move up to the bigger snakes in a few years.

[Lizzy001]

CORN SNAKE s are great for beginners

[J_Riley]

Originally posted by BILLP
Also a larger snake is harder to get rid of later is you decide that you do not like it.

That is a big problem in the herp world. You need to be absolutely sure what you're getting into with a particular species, so it doesn't end up thrown away. Consider where you are in life (i.e. finishing high school or whatever) and how your life is going to change in the future and compare that to the fact that most snakes will live AT LEAST 10 years in captivity, most likely many, many more than that. Getting a Burmese python as a freshman in high school is most likely going to turn out bad for the burm. Not because a young man or woman cannot care for it properly, but because their life is going to go through so much upheaval in th next 5-10 years.

If you cannot care properly for the snake for it's (un?)natural life, then you have no business buying it in the first place, in my opinion. Animals are not something to be "rented" until you tire of them and then disposed of.

[katev17]

Agreed!

This doesn't really have anything to do with... well anything... but I think it's funny how some people seem to forget that humans are animals too...

Kate

[eyespy]

Lots of great suggestions here, and I'll add just one more: garter snakes! They are much more active than most snakes, eat a wide variety of foods from live fish and earthworms to frozen/thawed fish fillets to canned cat food. It is fun to watch them fish for their dinner and they are active during the day so you get to see them moving around without sneaking a peak in the dark.

People think of them as junk or starter snakes but 30 years later they are still my favorites, and I don't even currently own any of the designer morphs that add so many pretty colors.

[Tara Garratt]

Hi. I am a novice with herps too. I currently own a corn snake. She is pretty, very tolerant of handling and not a threat to my other pets or children. She eats frozen prethawed food which is no hassle to get. Her housing reqirements are minimal. I am pleased with "Samantha" as our first choice for a snake. Good luck in whatever you decide to get.

Tara Garratt