Need advice on what snake to buy!!!?

Question

I'm wanting to buy a snake! I'm a first time person and I'm really interested! Need to therefore also know food, bedding and cage size! I already have a 55 gallon tank will that work?

Answer 1

theres a type of snake called a "green snake" but it doesnt coil around your arm like regualr snakes, it kind of slithers forward out of your hands. theres also the "milk snake" thats my favorite kind. milksnakes are very friendly and they coil around your arm but not very tight. i would suggest one of those =]

Answer 2

I would go with a cornsnake, they are very tame, very pretty, adn a great starter snake. Here is some care information about them.

Ok, basics....fun. He should have a cage, suitible for his size
The absolute minimum for an adult corn is a 20 gal long. Thats bare minimum. for a hatchling you can start them off in a 10 gal. The top of the cage needs to be ventelated (like screen or something). If that isnt you should have screened in hole on the sides of the cage for ventilation.

A good substrate to use is paper towels, for hatchlings, or aspen bedding for older snakes. The aspen bedding you can find at most any pet store in the hamster/rodent section. Make sure it is aspen and not pine as pine gives them resperitory problems.

A great hide/humidifyer is a plastic dog/cat water bowl that has space underneath it. You can also provide an extra hide. Just make sure it is small enough for your snake as they looove to squeeze themselves into places.

The temperature should be 70-88 F. The most common and popular way of heating the ccage is to put a heat mat under one side of the cage. This allows for a range of tempurature and the snake can move and choose which. You will need a digital thermometer to measure the temps. Not one of those crappy stcik ones. Those can be off as much as 20 degrees.

A good feeder is small frozen pinkie mice for hatchlings and younger snakes. Make sure the prey is no bigger than 1/2 tmies the thickest part of their body. And if you are going to go with frozen thawed, make sure is completely thawed out befor you feed it. Cornsnakes are great about eating almsot anyhting you give them. And rarely will you have a hatchling that wont eat. But just in case make sure to ask the breeder that you get it from what and how often it is eating. They usually eat 1 mouse every week or every other week. Then you must wait 2-4 days for him to digest to handle him again.


They will get about 4-6ft and long and skinny. But besides that, I think I'm done. Good luck with your little guy and contact me if you need any help.

Answer 3

I really don't agree with everyone saying you BETTER feed frozen. We have a lot of snakes we received from the breeder who are eating live mice. Do you know why??? Because, the ball python would not eat dead food when they were hatched. They refuse it and, if you wait too long they will die. No matter what anyone says you must feed these snakes what they were eating at the time of purchase. I would get proof that it is eating dead food because, (live demonstration) a lot of pet stores say they are eating dead food and guess what they aren't. So you take this snake home try try try try try too feed it dead food and it dies.

A lot of pet stores don't agree with feeding live food so the snakes isn't eating while in the pet store either. I sold boas to a pet store only too find out that the girls in the store did not agree with feeding it live..or they were to scared to handle it. Guess what it died. That's a horrible death.

Now the reason why they say not too feed live is the snake can get bit. Well people you have to sit there and watch the snake being fed. If the rat mouse gerbil whatever is biting your snake maybe you should take it out and try again in a few days.

You think these snakes have the perfect exsistance in the wild. Where food just hops into their mouths. No they have to hunt for it and fight for it. So feeding live is perfectly normal and perfectly ok in my world. Get over yourselves why do you own carnivores then!?!?

Answer 4

A 55 gallon is a big tank so if you were to buy a snake, make sure it isn't very small, as small snakes tend to have difficulty finding food in large enclosures. I would probably recommend a King snake, milk snake, or a corn snake as these little guys do make excellent beginner pets. Also it is very important that you do tons of research before acquiring your pet. Trust me..I've made that mistake plenty of times and have learned from it. Hope this helped.

-Jake

Answer 5

Great beginner snakes include : Milk Snakes, Ball Pythons, and Corns. There are a few more, but they escape my mind. You'll probably want to put a full grown snake in a cage that size. Even that seems a bit too large for a full grown (depending on the breed.) Snakes don't like a lot of space, just enough. Too much space and it'll stress them out. A full grown ball python does well in a 40qt tub. As for food, it all depends on the snake. Corns eat mice, balls eat rats, ect.

As for bedding, don't use any kind of sands, as they tend to get ingested and can cause impaction, which can be deadly for snakes. Most snakes are fine on newspaper. I have my corn on Bed-A-Beast which is a soil that they can burrow in and it holds humidity well.

Temps should be kept at the prime levels for each snake. I've heard that balls need anywhere from 75-80 on the cool side and 80-90 on the warm side. Humidity varies for certain snakes. I keep my corn at around 30-40% and raise it during shedding.

Provide hides for your snake as they like thier privacy. Also, feed once a week but its ok to skip a feeding here and there. Prey items should be slightly larger than the maximum girth of your snake so that it creates a slight bulge in thier body. I have heard that you shouldn't handle your snake for at least 24 hours after feeding. This gives them time to digest. Also I have heard not to handle them much during thier shedding process as they develop poor eyesight during this time and become a bit more nervous around people.

Its best to get a UTH and a thermostat to moniter its temperature. I don't have that yet, but its highly recommended.

Answer 6

I would recommend the corn snakes as they make great pets for beginners. they grow to about 5 foot and are very docile and hardy. a baby corn snake can be kept in a 10-20 gallon tank and adults can be kept in a 20 gallon tank or bigger. there are also different colour morphs of corn snakes here is a few of them: albino,black albino,anerythristic type a and b, motley,blizzard,butter and lots more.the best substrate for a corn snake is aspen bedding you can use different but i wouldn't recommend the pine or ceder shavings as they are dangerous to most snakes.they also eat baby mice called pinky's which can be frozen or alive. also you will need to take it for a checkup as soon as possible.i hope my info has helped and if you want some more info then i recommend going on google or reading some books about snakes.

Answer 7

You could put a fully grown snake in there, otherwise it is to big for any babies, as the size would stress the snake out.

Yes I know in the wild, there is no cage. But in a home you have kids, nosy people poking at the cage etc...etc...
You would need a TON of hides to house a baby snake in there...

other wise, full grown snakes that are easy to care for are

corn snakes
king snakes
ball pythons (can stop eating at random times, but if you buy from a reputable breeder should not be a problem)

those are great beginer snakes.....

you will need

heat pad from petstore
lamp dimmer (wal-mart)
temp gauge w/probe (wal-mart)
newspaper (best substrate for these snakes, easy to clean! lol)
water bowl they can't tip over
2 hides (one for hot side one for cool side)

take heat pad, put it under one side of cage (do NOT stick it to the cage)
take lamp dimmer and attach it to the heat pad, plug in dimmer and take it to about half way.

take temp gauge, put probe on inside, under substrate, over heat pad, and monitor the heat until it stays where it is appropriate for the species of snake you have.

make sure the snake can not get out of cage.

goodluck

Answer 8

I have a cornsnake, kingsnake, and a ball python... my ball python has been the most work with his bad sheds (and it is very common that ball pythons have bad sheds) but he is my baby boy! The first snake i ever got was a cornsnake, which i highly recommend as a first snake! They stay relatively small (3-5 ft, but slender) and their temp/humidity is easy to control. They shed well and usually eat well. However, when purchasing one try to pick the largest in the batch.. petstores get them when they are far too small and many arent eating and arent social at that age. So try to get one that isnt too tiny! They come in albino or regular colors, both are beautiful! Have fun!

Answer 9

Do research like all good snake owners, search around online for beginner snakes like Ball pythons, corn snakes, etc.

Answer 10

Why not just catch a snake? I see green snakes all the time.