Help with Next Snake! - Page 2

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-15-14, 02:41 PM

I'm done here!

Concept9 · 08-15-14, 02:57 PM

Red Tail Green Ratsnake.

Toronto Zoo | Red-tailed green ratsnake

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**Aaron_S** · 08-15-14, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewSAHSnakeMom

I'm done here!

Why? Is it because you asked for advice from those that you yourself said have more experience than you and it didn't agree with you so now you're mad?

If you want to remain set in your ways that's fine. I can't help those people so I will excuse myself from this thread.

Hyokenseisou · 08-15-14, 04:50 PM

Yeah wait what? I never said you're a bad parent...or accused anything??? If anything I think it's awesome that your kids want to be involved with reptiles. My friend's daughter is the cutest, fearless little thing. She just goes and grabs my biggest boa (7ft) with no fear. Thankfully I trust Bear with kids because he's so docile (and Kohana, the child, is also very gentle with him) so I have no worries with him.
Now on the other hand, I have some very aggressive snakes that I don't bring to shows or let people handle, but I'm sure if given the chance, Kohana would 'say hi'. And while I love her enthusiasm, I don't want to traumatized her with a (different) 7ft boa striking her and ruin her love for reptiles. Even adults. I always hear of stories of so and so, loves snakes, bought a corn/ball/whatever/something cool, it strikes, now they're terrified for them. So now they're selling it as an "overly aggressive snake". I had a surrender like that. A columbian, girl claimed it had it's venom removed... Face palm... Ok... But she was scared of it because it was aggressive. It's not aggressive AT ALL. She (I keep calling she it haha) just has a REALLY great feeding response, and if anything, that's a good thing!!

You asked for suggestions of species, and I threw out my two cents on a few options, WITH personal experience of each (with the exception of ETB, though it's "pretty much" the same as a GTP) and other things to consider when getting a new pet.
They're not disposable, so picking something only because it's green or climbs is a little unfair (to the animal). Pick an animal suitable for your family and requirements/budget, not what will match your decor (so to speak). < and this is speaking on general terms for anyone.

franks · 08-15-14, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Slow down! No one is accusing you of being a bad mom or suggesting something your kids can't do. So let's drop that topic.

I mean slow down in the snake world as well.

It's great that Lily has such enthusiasm for a new snake to go along with Blaze and her little sister. You and her dad need to tap the breaks a bit here.

You're both just getting the grasp and handle of milksnake care down. We know this as we've seen a lot of threads and questions about feeding and shedding. It's great to ask questions and learn, I'm by no means telling you to stop. I am suggesting that you take a real look at your experience level and despite what your daughter can and will do, ensure the right species is chosen for your family. It's not like you can't get another one down the road!

On to some species mentioned.

Green Tree Pythons (other arboreal species included) should be cautioned greatly jumping into this species. Your daughter may not wish to handle the animal and that's great but who's reaching in to change water? Clean? Feed?

Lori (Lady_bug87 on the forum) has a very handable GTP...during the day. As soon as lights go out she's a monster for food. She sits at the back of her enclosure waiting for something to come within strike distance. (Which she can comfortably strike from the very back of the enclosure) You also don't feed them outside of their enclosure as they can be a delicate species, especially when young.
Be prepared to use hooks if need be with this species as they can be very defensive.

I would suggest something that others have already stated. Carpets are a good choice due to their semi arboreal nature. Captive bred Amazon Tree Boas MAY be an option as they tend to settle down more than the wild caught counterparts.

For red and "evil" that's a tough call. Red is very difficult to find outside of the colubrid world of milks, kings, corns and ratsnakes.

Do some research on a few different kingsnakes. Plenty of them get sizable and are easy to handle. Ball pythons come in multiple colours and so do some of the smaller boas.

Cornsnakes come in so many colours that it can look much different than Blaze. African house snakes make wonderful pets too! Often over looked. Garter snakes come in a wide variety of awesome colouration as well.

For true arboreal you're looking at venomous species, GTP's and ETB's and a few others who are commonly wild caught and not for beginners.

What's key to remember here is to look out for the best interest of the animal's well being and health.

Well said sir.

franks · 08-15-14, 07:42 PM

Hi newsahnake. I do not think hynok was trying to be disrectful. For many of us familiar with some of the species you mentioned "9 year old girl" and "gtp" in the same sentence makes us cringe. Hynok was not commenting on your parenting or children, but raising some good points of caution. Carpet pythons are pretty docile and fit the description to some extent that you are looking for. My girl is extremely docile even for a carpet- but there are days I cannot touch her and there are days where it is difficult to give her a rat without her launching out of her cage. I think people just wanted to clearly point out that some of the snakes you were inquiring about are considered "advanced" and are pretty much the opposite of a corn snake as far as snakes go. I think you should get whatever your family wants and can handle. You should not hold it against people who's first reaction is to caution you regarding something that (to be frank) you know little about.

We like you here. And if you cannot tell by how people react to your posts and questions- we like your enthusiasm.

Mikoh4792 · 08-15-14, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franks

Hi newsahnake. I do not think hynok was trying to be disrectful. For many of us familiar with some of the species you mentioned "9 year old girl" and "gtp" in the same sentence makes us cringe. Hynok was not commenting on your parenting or children, but raising some good points of caution. Carpet pythons are pretty docile and fit the description to some extent that you are looking for. My girl is extremely docile even for a carpet- but there are days I cannot touch her and there are days where it is difficult to give her a rat without her launching out of her cage. I think people just wanted to clearly point out that some of the snakes you were inquiring about are considered "advanced" and are pretty much the opposite of a corn snake as far as snakes go. I think you should get whatever your family wants and can handle. You should not hold it against people who's first reaction is to caution you regarding something that (to be frank) you know little about.

We like you here. And if you cannot tell by how people react to your posts and questions- we like your enthusiasm.

+1 keeping both caretaker and animal in mind shouldn't be taken offensively.

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-16-14, 06:56 AM

I apologize for my bad attitude yesterday. What I haven't mentioned onhere is my suffering from major depression. I didn't find it necessary. However I chose yall to lash out at because in all honesty I was frustrasted. Whichever snake I do chose will be mainly taken care of by her father and I. She will be getting a snake its her birthday and its all she wants besides a rocket launcher. If the snake was aggressive or nippy I would never ask my 9 yr old to put her hand in the cage! My husband used to keep snakes as kid, I used this forum to keep from bothering him while he was sleeping or at work. I'm the newbie. I felt attacked and lashed out, then cried for three hours. Sometimes people need to realise you don't know how others are going to take what you're saying.

Mikoh4792 · 08-16-14, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewSAHSnakeMom

I apologize for my bad attitude yesterday. What I haven't mentioned onhere is my suffering from major depression. I didn't find it necessary. However I chose yall to lash out at because in all honesty I was frustrasted. Whichever snake I do chose will be mainly taken care of by her father and I. She will be getting a snake its her birthday and its all she wants besides a rocket launcher. If the snake was aggressive or nippy I would never ask my 9 yr old to put her hand in the cage! My husband used to keep snakes as kid, I used this forum to keep from bothering him while he was sleeping or at work. I'm the newbie. I felt attacked and lashed out, then cried for three hours. Sometimes people need to realise you don't know how others are going to take what you're saying.

I'm sorry you took things that way. As the others have mentioned before, disagreeing or criticism isn't necessarily attacking or bashing you, so you shouldn't take things personally. When dealing with live animals(especially sensitive animals like reptiles) you'll have lots of disagreement and debate. That's just how things are and have always been when it comes to experienced people teaching the newcomers about what they know and what they suggest(Because we've been there too).

I guess from here all I could say is to just research the different types of arboreal snakes and make sure the husbandry will not be too much for you guys. Always have the setup up and running(and sure that you can maintain the proper conditions) before buying the animal.

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-16-14, 08:27 AM

I research everything well before buying anything. I researched a full month before buying my milk. I just get overly worried sometimes. Hell who knows she was overly concerned will this ball pythons care at the pet last night when we got blazes mice and wants to get that one instead to save it from the horrible pet store ppl! (It was in a hide way too small and it made her so mad she asked is to find an associate and say something. Not that they did anything of course. I mainly used this site to double check myself. I didn't trust my own intelligence. When it came to feedings & shedding. I will do my research, on this I have no problems. Same with feeding in the enclosure for a species that requires it. 2 would be all the snakes we are getting, we don't have room for more than that. So no one needs to worry that we are going to turn into some weird hoarders or just drop them. We aren't those types either. We know our limits and our capabilities. Thank you all for the concerns, bless you hearts.

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-16-14, 08:36 AM

As for the attacking and bashing issue its a depression thing. We take everything personally. Whether its meant that way or not. You did nothing wrong, you did what you all thought was the right thing giving the information you had. I'm intelligent enough to see this now that I'm level headed again. Depression is a terrible disease I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Again I apologize for my behavior.

CosmicOwl · 08-16-14, 08:57 AM

I'd consider getting a a NA rat snake species. I post constantly about my grey rat snake, because he extremely active and enjoyable to watch.

It may not strictly be within the color range you want, but there is a fair amount of variety between the black, yellow, grey and everglades rat snakes.
They can also be extremely arboreal. And seriously, don't down play the corn snake morphs. There are thousands or combinations you can come up with, that don't look even remotely like a milk snake. Look at something like this butter stripe.

Butter Stripe Corn Snake - Ian's Vivarium Reptile Forum.

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-16-14, 10:15 AM

Thank you I'll show her.

infernalis · 08-16-14, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewSAHSnakeMom

I apologize for my bad attitude yesterday. What I haven't mentioned onhere is my suffering from major depression. I didn't find it necessary. However I chose yall to lash out at because in all honesty I was frustrasted. Whichever snake I do chose will be mainly taken care of by her father and I. She will be getting a snake its her birthday and its all she wants besides a rocket launcher. If the snake was aggressive or nippy I would never ask my 9 yr old to put her hand in the cage! My husband used to keep snakes as kid, I used this forum to keep from bothering him while he was sleeping or at work. I'm the newbie. I felt attacked and lashed out, then cried for three hours. Sometimes people need to realise you don't know how others are going to take what you're saying.

and with that in mind, I ask that people here be supportive. PLEASE.

NewSAHSnakeMom · 08-16-14, 03:16 PM

OK now that I calmed down and had a very long discussion with the husband, and my daughter we have decided to go with a smaller easier to care for animal. Mainly because my husband decided it wasn't fair that my oldest draught got to special order something but the younger had to get one at the local pet store. So she getting something at the pet store, she has time to look and research. They don't carry any of the exotic breeds anyway. I shouldn't try to make decisions in my dark moods and I will try to refrain from posting threads in them as well.