Beginner snake

[ILoveAnimals]

Hi!
I'm new to this forum. I am considering getting a snake in the near future.

I have taken care of many snakes for years (I used to work at a high end pet store and breeding program) and I have had a leopard gecko in the past. However, I have never owned a snake.

So, here's the question (yes, I know this is the most common question a prospective snake owner could ever ask): What's the best beginner snake?

I have always been around corns, but now I am reading that they are nippy? I never thought they were...How about Bps? Rosy boas? I have read that hognose are great but I would really rather have a constrictor.

Personality is the most important to me. I want whatever is the most handleable. I don't particularly enjoy snake bites:) However, I am also concerned about housing.

I read that corns are ok in a 20g and are fine without me increasing the humidity. But Bps need bigger tanks and higher humidity, right? I don't really know anything about rosy boas. I also read that cal kings and milks can be a little nippier so I don't want to go with those. What do you recommend? Thanks!

[jjhill001]

Any corn snake, rat snake, king snake, rosy boa is gonna be a great snake to own. They all have lots of personality and are easy to take care of. 20g is the minimum try and shoot for 30-40. It's not that much larger of a footprint in your house but the snake will like the extra space.

All baby snakes are nippy and even a tame snake will bite if it thinks you're food or if you scare it on accident. Getting bit by snakes of this size is no big deal. It might sting and draw a few drops of blood but that is typically a worst case scenario. Just pick the thing up for a few minutes a day, deal with any potential bites and it will learn to calm down. If you are gentle but firm you can usually deal with even a baby without getting bitten though.

I would suggest doing a bit more reading because you have the gist of everything but you're knowledge base isn't as large as it needs to be unless you want to be on here asking questions about every single little thing lookin like a ding dong. Not that we won't help out but it is annoying to wait for answers for days at a time.

One book I will recommend is the Corn Snake Manual by Kathy Love. It's probably at your library or you can order it online used for a few dollars. I recommend this book because it has tons of pictures that show exactly what is being explained (something that caresheets really suck at). That care is applicable to any of the corns, ratsnakes, kingsnakes. The rosy's have LITTLE different care so research that separate if it becomes your decision.

Even if you end up with a ball python or some other random species, many of the theories and pictures in that book are still applicable in forming a base knowledge of snake care. Another book to consider is called the Art of Keeping Snakes and that is also pretty good although it's sort of made for advanced levels of care.

Anyways, good luck in your search and I hope you find what you are looking for.

[akane]

The young corn and king snakes can be a little harder to handle and may nip. They often can't break skin that small. You may not even feel it. Now that's not a reason to just grab the snake. I got an "aggressive" young corn snake from someone that I believe was doing just that. Baby snakes, regardless of the relative size they start out as, see themselves as serious prey and get scared. Scaring them more does not help. When he would pull his head back to threaten I moved my hand to a position that he felt safer about and he'd calm right back down to continue crawling on me. I never have gotten bit by him and he rapidly went to just waiting to see if I was going to try to touch him and run away instead of threatening when in his cage. Once picked up he goes from hand to hand but without full on attempts to bolt away anymore. It only took a few weeks to improve his behavior that much but he is still a lot more than my baby rosy boas and my king snake started just as flighty but without the "aggression" from poor handling. As they grow they will steadily calm down, get used to you, and be easy to handle. They don't start out as bad as they may sometimes sound but just more reactive babies. Like I said you won't even really notice if you do get bit and if you do then you scared it so find a better way to approach or move the snake and it won't happen again while they learn to trust you won't harm them. Mainly it's just containing the wiggly behavior as they want to go hide until they are bigger.

Rosy and sand boa are very slow snakes that don't rely on bolting away as much as other small snakes will. Mostly they have no defensive behavior at all. They are fairly confined to more extreme or limited habitats without much to attack them. It takes a lot to make them try to bite and I would not include them in "all baby snakes are nippy". If you touch them wrong they can recoil very fast and so you have to be careful they don't pop backward off your hand or even as adults off your arm but otherwise they settle pretty fast to sitting on you in a stable spot without that wiggly bolt attempt or constant wandering of other smaller range species. They mature to be very calm snakes that could generally be called lazy. Some do have a strong feeding response and pretty much the only bites are mistakes when feeding or when trying to work around one that hasn't been fed frequently enough.

I think the rosy boas do make an easier starter as babies by a considerable amount but not a required amount for a beginner of any level and in the end with handling it will even out fairly well between the 2 groups. You can also always find a handled adult or older juvenile instead to avoid the most nervous stage. A corn and king snake is probably going to be more stable on your arm or similar and will be some to a lot more slender and longer. Rosy and sand boas don't wrap very securely at all and are often at risk of wobblying right off so you more cradle them when moving and leave them on stable surfaces. They overall aren't very athletic for snakes.

Care is pretty equal. Rosy are not that unique or picky at all. They just prefer it drier than most and do better with heat lamps versus heat mats than most because the drying effect is harmless to helpful and it mimics a desert sun heating down on surfaces. I just give a rock to sit on under the heat. They usually cram in some weird position around instead of in shelters except when digesting or spooked young ones. If you have good ventilation and don't purposefully try to keep the tank damper it's generally not a problem if ambient humidity does get higher than preferred due to your local climate. Corn and king snakes are usually kept a little more humid and less often with heat lamps but that doesn't mean there isn't overlap and mine all have heat lamps. It may require using methods to increase humidity a little in some climates or times of year.

[Scubadiver59]

Welcome to sSNAKESs!! :)

[Tiny Boidae]

Hello and welcome. If you're concerned about a defensive animal, my recommendation is always to get an adult of that species and avoid the babies for the reasons listed above. That way you know the temperament and they're bigger, and thus easier to handle.

For a sand boa and, I presume, rosy boas, they're both great animals to have but you're committing yourself to a "box of dirt" aesthetically. They're fossorial so they burrow into the substrate and you might see their heads as they wait to ambush something, or you might catch them out and about occasionally, but otherwise you'll have to explain to guests that there is, in fact, a snake in there.

Sand boas are pretty easy to keep, impossible to kill in terms of husbandry. I keep a ceramic heater on the back half of the cage set up to a thermostat, but I've successfully kept them on heating pads before. That being said, heating pads don't do squat for the ambient temperature so I don't use them at all, and my animals have been more active since. Just remember that thermostats are a mandatory part of husbandry. They might be expensive, but so is a vet visit for burns.

Sand boas are pretty laid back in terms of handling. They do move around a bit, although if you get them comfortable they'll sit with you for a few minutes. On occasion, they do throw fits and by that I mean they throw their bodies around in a sideway strike. They don't typically bite you doing this, but I suppose it could freak someone out because they go from zero to 100 like that. This usually only happens when they're around other people or, God forbid, I try to take them outside. So just be careful and they won't explode ;)

Something I'd like to add is that if you have any reptile expos near you, that'd be something to attend. There's no single best beginner snake out there because everyone wants something a little different from their animals. A good way to know what you want is to be around them and you can ask around and see what you're comfortable with.

[regi375]

Other posters basically covered everything, so welcome to the forum!

[akane]

Maybe sand boas are worse, I've heard they particularly love deep substrate, but I do not find rosy do that. In fact they are my most visible snakes. They dig but they rarely stay burrowed and they don't even go in the hides most of the time after they settle in. Even the babies are soon seen laying out in the open under heat, on structures, etc.... They are really not shy except when new and after eating. That king snake would come out maybe once a week in deep sand/soil with bright daytime light. A redesigned tank with shallower sand/soil, majority of the tank sheltered with rock tile running the length of the back, and dimmer light system has made him come out in the evening. Also, the desert snakes in particular love light misting. A light fog or a couple targeted sprays on rocks or such so it doesn't make things too wet, especially if you aren't using sand or other natural substrate that is ok to moisten some. It often triggers them to become visible and ready to hunt. The instinct would make sense because the drop in temp and increase in available moisture would bring out prey. Although I do not mist my rosy boa tanks regularly but we have rain days and I mist many of my other tanks every evening to then watch the snakes be active before lights out even in not as dry of setups.

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome and best wishes. I think the best beginner snake is the one you like the most and can house and care for properly AFTER doing some extensive research. I would probably suggest starting with a hatchling or juvenile and growing with it.

[ILoveAnimals]

Thank you everyone! First of all, I would just like to say that I am well aware that I do not know enough right now to be ready to get the snake. I have had many animals before and I always research for months and months, so don't worry! Thanks for the concern though! Always good to see owners caring about the care of even other peoples' animals. Your responses about the snake were very helpful. I am aware that a hatchling will be more nippy, but I feel I will be prepared to take that on and I am ok with that if it means that I get to see him/her grow. I think I will not go with the boa simply because it seems to not be great at clinging on to you. This seems petty, I know, but I have always loved the feeling of a corn or python or large boa gripping on to you...Anyway, thank you all so much for the warm and helpful welcome to this forum. I will gladly take all advice you have to offer!