What's the best species of snake to buy as a first for a pet?

Question

I am planning on buying a snake but with so many species out there i'm not sure which would be the best as a pet. Also would i be best to get a heat lamp or mat? Lastly, how often would i need to feed a hatchling?

enigmagic what kind of pet wasnt once a wild animal, this is about being at one with nature and looking after Gods creations and caring for anothers life, would you rather it was released into the wild, which in this country would kill it, or grew up in a tank/cage in a pet shop where it wouldn't get out and prob cause it to die aswell. Get a grip, hope you've no wild animals, sorry pets.

Answer 1

A corn snake is the best first snake to get. There are a lot of colours to choose from and they are usually docile and great with kids, hardy and easy to maintain and they don't get that big, about 3'-5.5'!! My Son is 7 and he does great with his. He has an albino corn snake and it is beautiful, although I don't touch it!!! I have a heat mat on 1/3 of the viv and a black heat lamp(because diamond dosen't like the bright light) for times of the day it might be a little cold, but you can due with just the mat as long as it stays between 72-75 degress on the cool side and 75-82 on the warm. Put the temp. sticker towards the bottom back inside of the tank on the warm side and you will get an accurate reading!!! Ours is about 6 months old and he eats one pinky every Sunday, for a new born I would ask for the smallest pinkys available at the store on that particular day!! GOOD LUCK!

Answer 2

My first snake was a corn snake but I quickly progressed to a Royal/Ball Python and I now have a Boa Constrictor as well, I would say get a corn or rat snake as a first I have a heat mat on 24 hours a day and a heat lamp on a THERMOSTAT and timer on for 13 hours off for 11 hours,it is about a year old and i feed it 2 fuzzy mice every 7 days,feed it a prey item that is slighty fatter than the widest part of the snakes body,and always use frozen/ thawed mice,never use live prey,I've seen pictures where a mouse killed a 4 foot Royal Python.
My Royal is lovely but it takes more care to look after and they are notorious for being bad/picky eaters,I would not recommend a Royal as a first snake to anyone, the one thing I would say is do loads of research,you can never know enough,Ive had my corn snake for 8 months and i still search the web for new things that i didn't know,so to answer your question I would say get a corn snake first then progress to bigger snakes if you want to later. Oh and ignore the tw*t that said Anaconda.
Enter "snake care sheets" into your search engine and you will get loads of hits,good luck.

Answer 3

first to address Kerry H you may be a practicing vet but may I ask if it were not for people owning pets you would not have a job would you????? So in a way with your response you are biting the hand that feeds so to speak. Just my observation.
Now to the question at hand if you would go to www.kingsnake.com you can look up and ask questions on each indevidual species you might be intersted in. Corn snakes are good choices as are king snakes. If you do go with a ball python make sure it is captive born not wild caught as wild caught typically have a hard time adjusting to rats and mice instead of gerbills and hamsters which can get costly. When it comes to feeding your snake you will want to set a day and feed it on the same day every week. Once a week feedings are fine for the life of your snake. Just make sure the prey item you are feeding is not too big for your snake. I would rather feed two smaller items than one item that is too large. Do some research and you will find the one that is right for you. Good luck and welcome to the club of snake owners. Ignore all the idiots that are trying to tell you they belong in the wild. Most of the snakes in todays pet trade are captive born and bred by people like me so that we are not sucking the planet dry of its animals yet allowing others to enjoy Gods creatures. If others are so worried about you owning a snake please by all means I would challenge them to go to Madagascar now where mining and deforestation is killing off thousands of species of animals and chain themselves to a bulldozer rather than to pick on a person wanting a pet. And the fact you asked the questions before you did an impulse buy says you will more than likely take good care of it. Rock on and enjoy your snake whatever species you get.

Answer 4

Corn snakes and kingsnakes are great first snakes. Both are very docile and take to handling well. Kingsnakes come in endless colors and patterns so they are my favorites. Some people will also say ball pythons are good for a first timer and they can be if you get a good one. A lot of times they have feeding problems though that a beginner might not know how to deal with. Whatever you decide on make sure you do a lot of research and have everything set up before you bring it home. Go to the library and read some books and also check out some care sheets. Here are some great ones for corns and kings.

Corn snake: http://www.anapsid.org/corn.html

Kingsnake: http://www.anapsid.org/king.html

Good luck

Answer 5

I would say a Corn Snake would definitely be the best. They are very placid, friendly snakes and are not poisonous. They come in lots of funky colours too. I have a year old creamsilica corn (orange, yellow and white) that I have had my corn, Jet, from a hatchling and she is very easy to manage. I have a heat lamp in my tank, I think this is better as a heat mat can burn snakes and it is harder for them to find a cool spot in the tank. I fed my hatchling one pinky per week, and she moved up to eating slim fuzzys after seven months. If you type corn snake care into google then you will find lots of info on how to care for corns.

Answer 6

corn snakes are very easy to take care of and there are different kinds u can choose from and don't grow as large as other snakes or a ball python are good first timers too but they grow a bit large i use a heat lamp because the mat doesn't really work for me you feed a snake once a week make sure before you get the snake do research on the species you want and also get the tank ready before you get one and make sure you really want one before you get one and then decide there boring and just leave them there to die make sure a store buy you sells mice for it to eat also i don't recommend getting one from a pet store i would recommend one from a trade show or a breeder I've gotten reptiles from pet stores and have a lot of problems with them

Answer 7

I highly recommend a corn snake as a first snake. They are docile, not easily stressed, and dont get too big(6-7ft). They also are one of the more handlable snakes. You should ut a mat on one side of the cage and also use a heat lamp. They also need uv lights. A hatchling can eat pinkies well. Good luck.

Answer 8

Garter snakes, Milk snakes, Corn snakes/Red Rat snakes, or a small Python. Get the heat lamp but try to get a blue bulb for it so you don't stress it out with all day round with sunlight! It oughta pends if you want it to grow quickly or not. If you do feed the garter 3 feeder fish and some chopped worms a week, milksnakes feed one pinky mouse a week, and I'm not sure about the rat snake or the python. I hope this helps you to chose your snake and have a good time with it!

Answer 9

Corn snakes or Milk snakes are the number one pet for a child.My daughter has 2 and shes almost 3 years old now.So for a first Snake I'd say corn or Milk all depends on you.My frist snake was a Red Tail Boa Constictor.Little did I know at the time she was going to be as big as she is(13'4")

Answer 10

we have kept snakes for most of our lives, and we would recommend a garter snake. Dont get a mat, as snakes like a warm side and a cool side of a viv. A lamp would be best. Feed your hatchling once a fortnight and see how it goes.