What's new
TerraForums Venus Flytrap, Nepenthes, Drosera and more talk

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Potential New Snake Owner

  • Thread starter obregon562
  • Start date

obregon562

Two flies one pitcher. Minus the crap eating.
Supporter
Hi!

I am very much into reptiles, and have had many lizards before...i have had as many as three generations of bearded dragons, but had to give them away when i moved...

anyway, now im very interested in getting a snake or two...i was wondering, well basically everything, most importantly what species to get.

And if there are any convincing arguments out there for winning over the squemish in my family...

Thanks so much!
Frankie
 
Wow, what an open question! So many choices that so many people could give.
With that much experience with lizards, you can probably bypass the garter snake, if you like. It's a great beginner's snake. You could catch a local one, try it for a while and let it go when you are ready for something else.
I think a great choice would either be a corn snake or some kind of king snake. I would stay away from the milksnakes, as they tend to be a little more nervous.
As for the squemish, aren't they from Pennsylvania and make great furniture?
:-))
Seriously, that's a tough one. I've had some here for years and my wife and youngest can't get thru the colors, ect, and only see another snake. Good luck with that part.

Cheers,

Joe
 
Ball python. Duh.
 
My favorite is a the western hognose. It's a very cool snake, it's friendly and easy to care for.
 
Ball python. Duh.

thats a piss poor answer to give a newbie. most ball pythons found for sale are wild caught. a wild caught ball python is prolly THE WORST snake for a newbie. captive bred ball pythons are probably one of the best species fo beginners. if you are going to recommend ball pythons you MUST inform a newbie of the difference.

corn snakes arent bad but due to lots of inbreeding ive run into more than a few psychotic individuals. if yah want a corn dont buy a youngin buy one thats getting close to a year old. youngins are about the diameter of a pencil and easily hurt. year old ones are much more robust and easier to tame down as your less apt to hurt them.

hognosed snakes are an EXCELLENT suggestion.

main thing to keep in mind is if you have snakes your prolly going to get bit. if the thought of getting bit scares you there are very few snakes your going to be able to deal with. if you keep pythons and boas you WILL get bit at some point. if you deal with colubrids on a long term basis you WILL get bit as hatchlings defense is biting. also with ANY species you sometime run into a psychotic individual. unless your willing to get bit do not order one via the internet....go to a local breeder, handle a number of animals and find one with a good temperament.

not trying to steer you away ive just helped to many newbies get started only to have them freak out at me cause they got some lil pin pricks in their hand and saw a lil blood....its part of the game. ive had 7 foot pythons latch on to my arm, ive had smaller snakes hit my hand thinking its food, had a hatchling spotted python hanging off my eye lid cause it though my blinking ment it was prey. had hatchling corn snakes attatch themselves to my fingers(the last two didnt even draw blood.....teeth werent long enough to get through the skin and break a blood vessel :grin: )

snakes bite and if yah keep reptiles long enough you get to see a good deal of your own blood via claws or teeth....just a fact of life.
 
Damn dude, don't get bent out of shape about it.

Please excuse my piss poor answer, Obregon. Apparently "Captive bred Ball python. Duh." is the right answer.
 
Oh yeah one more thing about hognose. They don't bite. The only time they will bite is if they mistake you for food, which is rare if you take the precautions that you should take with any snake. When you startle them they will make you think they are the meanest snake on earth and will act like they are trying to bite, but it's all a bluff.

Even though you have to be prepared to be bite, that doesn't mean you will be. I have had 4 snakes going on in the last 5 years and I have not been bit yet. Even though I have one of the psycho snakes that Rattler was telling you about. She was pure evil for the first 3 years I had her. I named her Lucy, it was short for Lucifer. She tried her best to see what my hand tasted like. Somehow I was always just a little bit quicker than she was. I know I'll get bit one day.
 
JLAP.......sorry....been a rough weekend and im a lil gumpy. just seen to many newbies be told a ball is the prefect beginner snake, they run out find a cheap WC individual and wonder why it refuses to eat for 9-18 months.

as for snakes unlikely to bite: CB ball python, cb western hognosed, rubber boa(specialist snake so dont bother though im told you can dress your finger up in a mouse suit and they are still unlikely to bite) and rosy boa's are unlikely to bite. there are a few others but they are hard to get. most anything else you cant go by species you have to go by individuals.

also if you happen to be afraid of being bit stay away from any arboreal snake, its not necessarily that they are more likely to bite(though some species are) it that they have long freaking teeth to grab ahold of birds. the 7 foot python that latched on to my arm was a carpet python....dont really have any scars from the experiance but it was a bloody and painful ordeal. even though the snakes head wasnt very big(they are a loooong skinny snake) its teeth were pretty long for its size. but pythons are one of the snakes i enjoy most so i just resigned myself to the fact i was going to take a hit on occasion. and the 3 or so years i had that carpet python that was the only time she took offense to me and struck. several hundred times out of the cage and she only struck at me that once. still not sure why it happened, guess she had a bad day.
 
so just make sure whatever i get is captive bred (that's what CB stands for, right?)...im thinking a ball python, rosy boa, or hog nosed...but im not runling out a corn snake either...thanks for all the help!
 
  • #10
Rattler, good point on the corn.
I am kind of an oddball with snakes. I go to the local Reptile Expo, and there are so many designer snakes. Last time with tangerine phase Honduran milksnakes, I saw so many hypo this, het that, anerythristic, ect. I asked if they had any normal tangerine phase, and they looked at me like I was a moron.
Corns? I like Okeetee best, but so many designer snakes.
If you are looking for a pet, it's a great place to go. I have seen a few mature snakes cheap($40 for a 3.5 ft , thick ball python) that did not work for the vendor's breeding project, so they sell them for very reasonable prices.
Also, you are going to get CB ball pythons there, not WC(wild caught).
Here is another example of designer matery. They have crossbred a milksnake enough to produce...a ringneck snake, lol.

http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=59&de=521287

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #11
I am going to agree with both JLAP and Rattler.

I have had a "normal" albino corn for 16 years (and he was only a couple months old when I first got him and I never had issues with him, FWIW.) BUt they can be mental. My corn is probably the most aggressive one I have seen but I attribute that more to the fact that I have always feed him in cage and so now he thinks that whenever the tank is opened it is food time. Once he is in hand he is very mellow.

And for years I was always interested in getting a ball but just never got around to it till a couple weeks ago. As Griffin said, get one at an expo and it'll be CB. I got mine at one here for only $10!! They are super mellow and easy to handle.

My major advice would be to shoot for something that takes frozen/thawed (f/t) mice. It is always for the better to be able to feed prekilled as live animals have serious potential to hurt your snake.
 
  • #12
To add to that, the ones at the Expos are more apt to be feeding on thawed rodents, and many of the vendors can tell you if certain snakes have been.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #13
All my snakes are feed frozen food. I wouldn't think of feeding them anything else.
 
  • #14
I would have to go with a corn snake. I have had several different kinds of snakes and so far they have been my favorite( dont tell my ball python right now haha) My corn right now is 5 years old, I have had him since he was a young one, and he was about 8 inches long. He is now pushing 2 foot and he has never bitten me ever. Ive even let little kids touch him at the pet store with now concerns. The same goes with all of my other corn snakes Ive had. In my opinon they are the best beginer and all around snake.

PS. where can you get a western hognose? Ive been looking for one and cant find anyone in the US that sells them. Any Ideas?
 
  • #15
PS. where can you get a western hognose? Ive been looking for one and cant find anyone in the US that sells them. Any Ideas?
Plugged in hognose over at Kingsnake.com & found a few.

It wouldn't let me link to the search results - enter hognose in classified search box - I got 81 when I tried.
 
  • #16
they all look so cool!

thanks for all the advice guys-i still haven't convinced everyone yet...

Thank you, really!
 
  • #17
PS. where can you get a western hognose? Ive been looking for one and cant find anyone in the US that sells them. Any Ideas?
Come on down to San Diego. There is a place called "Pet Kingdom" that specializes in reptiles. I just got a ball python from there. They do have western hognose snakes there, baby ones too.
 
Back
Top