Future snake owner here!

[Bamagecko]

Hey guys, I'm new here. Been lurking as a guest for some time now, have a few questions so I thought I'd go ahead and join. I'm a member on a ball python board, a rhac board and a corn snake board. I can't decide what snake I want, I have it narrowed down to afew snakes: rosy/rubber boa, Ball python, corn snake, and king snake.

Just thought I'd say hi!

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[percey39]

Hello and welcome to the site.

[Nafun]

I have all of those except the boa.

Let me throw down the pros/cons I've seen in my time owning them.

Ball Pythons:
Pros: Non aggressive. Stays relatively small (4-6 feet). Very reluctant to bite. Easy to clean up after.
Cons: Lazy. Most have eating issues. Require tropical heat and humidity. Because they get bigger than anything else on your list, their bites, while rare, hurt a heck of a lot more.

Cornsnakes:
Pros: Most tame down a lot. Relatively small (4-6 feet). Require only moderate heat and humidity. Dozens of color morphs available, many very cheap. More active than Balls.
Cons: If they haven't been handled, they can be downright vicious. Their high activity makes them more likely to escape and harder to find if they do. Corns, in my experience, are a lot messier than balls.

Kingsnake
Pros: - Very active. Tame down easily. Require only moderate heat and humidity. Prefer to musk rather than strike.
Cons: - Very active means very escape driven. They can be quick to musk. Not a ton of morphs available.

Also, it's kind of a cliche for this board, but I'd also like to throw out another snake option for you.

Garter Snake
Pros - Ridiculously active. Voracious eaters. Dozens of colors available, many of them natural. Reluctant to bite. Very curious. Small (only 3-5 feet). Can live comfortably at room temperature with only minimal heating.
Cons - It can be difficult to wean them onto a rodent diet. Short lived compared to other snake species (7-10 years compared to 20-35 for the others listed). Some species require permits, depending on state.

[Freebody]

welcome to the forum :) cant wait to see what you pick out so you can show us pictures....we love pics here lol

[Bamagecko]

Thanks so much for that post, Nafun. Thats exactly what I was looking for!:)

what do you mean by " it's kind of a cliche for this board"?

Thanks for the warm welcomes!

[Nafun]

Lots of garter keepers here. We try to push garters on everyone.

Garters got pushed on me too, I just got mine last week and I'm in love. They're absolutely amazing.


Oh, and as for the ease of cleaning up. Kings/corns/garters crap a lot. They require a lot of spot cleaning. My bp craps once a month, like clockwork. It's a massive dook the size of a small dog's, but it's very easy to spot clean.

[Bamagecko]

Lots of garter keepers here. We try to push garters on everyone.

Garters got pushed on me too, I just got mine last week and I'm in love. They're absolutely amazing.


I see. may have to add them to the list lol.

[marvelfreak]

:)Hello and welcome! Let me just throw this two out there Carpet python or Rainbow boas. IMO capet python make the best first time snake if you're going with a python. They are more actived than a balls. You don't have all the feeding problems. They can be a little nippy as babies, but tame down fast with regular handling. Not as many morphs as with ball but Jungle, Jaguar, Bredli, and Diamond carpets are some of the most beautiful snakes in the world. IMO They're worth checking out. Rainbow to me are just as beautiful as carpets. Mine is as active if not more than my carpets. They just require more humidity.:)

[Bamagecko]

I don't think my mom would like the size of a carpet, but I may have to look into a rainbow...

[infernalis]

My garters never gave me any problems getting them on mice...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/thamnophis/82907-more-thamnophis-pictures-added.html

[bladeblaster]

My garters never gave me any problems getting them on mice...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/thamnophis/82907-more-thamnophis-pictures-added.html

My female San Fran will eat anything, the male is a bit more fussy, he will take rodents but not always. Not that is a problem, he loves his Salmon :)

[infernalis]

Every once in a while, my big female blackneck will turn down the rodents, but if I put 2 fuzzies in the water bowl with a live minnow or two, she will eat it all.

most of the time I can just lock her in a tote with some thawed out fuzzy mice and she will eat them without any fish.

[Nafun]

Carpets are longer than balls, but they're a very thin bodied snake. However, as much as I love my carpet, I don't think they make a very good beginner snake because as babies they are vicious little bastards.

As for rainbow boas. I have a Columbian Rainbow boa, she's the most gentle snake I own. I can handle her all day and never get struck at. However, I wouldn't recommend them either as a beginner snake, because they have very specific heat and humidity requirements. They are tropical riparian snakes. They live in the rain forest, on the banks of rivers and streams. As such they need very specific heat and humidity. 80% humidity and a temperature range of 80-88 degrees (this varies slightly with subspecies). While it is not hard to maintain those temperatures and humidity in a properly designed viv, it is still much harder than maintaining "room temperature" or "normal household humidity". I believe the easier a snake is to care for, the more likely it will be properly cared for, and the less likely it will end up on craigslist.

[shaunyboy]

hello and welcome

nafuns pretty much covered it.re carpets they can also be a tad unstable as adults too.most are ok but you do get the odd exception.like my jungle who's the devil in person
cheers shaun

[bladeblaster]

hello and welcome

nafuns pretty much covered it.re carpets they can also be a tad unstable as adults too.most are ok but you do get the odd exception.like my jungle who's the devil in person
cheers shaun

All jungles are evil :rolleyes:

[kayleegrace]

i got my carpet and he is a year old. he is my 5th snake.....however if i did it over i would get a carpet. he is very nippy. he has calmed down but he still strikes quite often. i personally would not recommend them. however i have two ball python a pastel and a regular. i absolutely love them. they are super super docile.... i can put them around my neck or waist and go about my daily activities...=)

[C.Phillips]

I had a red tail for five years as a family pet something happend and it died. Now that I am on my own and able to get snakes a again I got 2 balls a male and female the male has had to eating issues he is absolutly awsome the female on the other hand has had proboloms eating but this is usual in balls after rehomeing takes place. Compared to my former red tail these balls have been less agressive and more active with me (more so at night) I wouldent trade my balls for nothing. However I look forward to getting a breeding pair of red tails and maybe a pair of Garters, and Corns all species are intriging to me I just have a UNDIEING LOVE for snakes

[Will0W783]

Not all carpets are nippy as babies. And for a first-time snake owner, I would NOT recommend getting a baby anything. I would not be even considering anything younger than a yearling. Baby snakes are just too delicate and have a higher incidence of eating/shedding issues.

I would like to throw out Irian Jaya carpet python. They do not get larger than a female ball python for the most part. Some may get a bit longer, but they top out at 5-6 feet, same as a ball python and they are much more slender-bodied. They do not require as much humidity and tolerate a wider range of temps than do balls. Jungle carpets also tend to stay small. If you get a male carpet it will not get all that large, unless you go with a coastal, which can reach 8 feet.
I would NOT recommend a rainbow boa as a first snake. They are much too delicate and require very high humidity. They cannot tolerate high temperatures and they regurgitate readily if the temperatures are not just right. They are beautiful but not a beginner species.

Another python I think you would really enjoy is one from the genus Antaresia- Children's pythons, Stimson's pythons, Spotted pythons and Anthill pythons. The Children's and Spotteds only get about 3 feet, Stimson's can reach 3-4 and Anthill pythons do not get larger than 2 feet. They are all known for being docile and curious snakes, and require higher temperatures than a lot of tropical pythons but are dry climate species so have no strict humidity requirements.

I have a trio of Stimson's pythons and they have become some of my favorites. They are very friendly, plump and curious little buggers....very much a python, but very small as well. They are a creamy tan background with brown splotches and very iridescent. They also have some of the coolest python eyes- goldish-silver.

[shaunyboy]

All jungles are evil :rolleyes:


ive came to the same conclusion mate.keeping carpets into double figures and its all my jungles that are the nasty ones.i had 5 and everyone of them was nuts...!! im down to one shes a good looking snake but a complete psyco.....!!!

got to love em though :yes:

cheers shaun

[Nafun]

I own 11 snakes. My Jungle is the only one I won't pick up with a bare hand.

[Will0W783]

Huh, my jungle girl and my jungle/jag male and my diamond/jungle girl are all fine. My diamond/jungle will strike if you corner her, but the others are perfectly tame. I had a few coastal hatchlings for a while that were nasty buggers and would start bouncing off the glass the moment you walked into the room.

[percey39]

I own 11 snakes. My Jungle is the only one I won't pick up with a bare hand.

Ah come on jungle bites dont hurt, they just catch you off gaurd. Bites are the fun part of owning young angry jungles. If you dont like a bite off a little jungle have fun with scrubbies mate. They are 10 times worse than jungles and love drawing blood from hatchling size right through to adults for some haha you will be in for some fun if you get your scrubby!!!

[Nafun]

I wear a glove (a thin black leather driving glove) because she bites, not because it hurts. If I don't, I'll involuntarily flinch when she strikes, and that will just reinforce the striking behavior.

[percey39]

Ah fair enough i have been bitten far too many times to even count now, mostly by scrubs. I dont have the flinch reaction for most snakes except adult scrubs ( good luck doing damage to them by flinching )
I have found if you continue to handle or clean when they bite you whilst they are young, they soon learn that biting doesnt hurt you and is a waste of time. I have done this with all the pythons i have owned and it works well except for the odd couple who just love biting.

[BrandyMom2aFew]

Welcome! We got our first snake three months ago and he was a 3 month old BP, the only problem I have had with feeding is he will only eat live rats he acts like he is scared of the dead ones.

[infernalis]

Welcome! We got our first snake three months ago and he was a 3 month old BP, the only problem I have had with feeding is he will only eat live rats he acts like he is scared of the dead ones.


Try this, works with ours.....

When you thaw out the rat, put it in a heavy plastic bag (like a ziplock storage bag) and set it in hot water.

the idea is to heat the rat up a little, it should feel warm to you in your hands.

Then grasp it in a set of tongs and ease it on up to the snakes face.

keep your hands way back out of the way, even though BP are slow snakes, that feeding strike is so fast you cannot react quick enough to get out of the way.

[BrandyMom2aFew]

Try this, works with ours.....

When you thaw out the rat, put it in a heavy plastic bag (like a ziplock storage bag) and set it in hot water.

the idea is to heat the rat up a little, it should feel warm to you in your hands.

Then grasp it in a set of tongs and ease it on up to the snakes face.

keep your hands way back out of the way, even though BP are slow snakes, that feeding strike is so fast you cannot react quick enough to get out of the way.

I will have to try that, we got it thawed and warm to the touch but he was coiled in the corner for two hours and didn't move until we took the mouse out of the tub....

[percey39]

Try leaving it with him over night. Also when you are trying to feed chuck a towel or a cover his cage so he will safe and hidden. I have had a few fussy feeders that this has worked on. Some times they are just shy eaters.

[BrandyMom2aFew]

Try leaving it with him over night. Also when you are trying to feed chuck a towel or a cover his cage so he will safe and hidden. I have had a few fussy feeders that this has worked on. Some times they are just shy eaters.

Not that I doubt that but Benny isn't shy at all, when we put him the tub where the rat is he 9/10 has it in his grasps and has it down in 10 minutes. I will try the over night thing though maybe being secluded may help thanks though!

[percey39]

Not that I doubt that but Benny isn't shy at all, when we put him the tub where the rat is he 9/10 has it in his grasps and has it down in 10 minutes. I will try the over night thing though maybe being secluded may help thanks though!

Another thing you could try if he keeps refusing is scenting a rat with a quail or chick as nearly every snake i know of loves birds. This might help him adjust to f/t food. Even give him a few chicks as he will love you for it lol