Tell me about...Snakes!

[Shantara]

I've always wanted a pet snake, ever since I was a small child.
I went to the pet shop today to get the dog some food and I noticed they have snakes!

Although I won't be able to afford one for a while, I want to cram as much knowledge as I can, so when I do get some extra cash, I can get one

So, tell me all you know and include pictures of you legless friends!

 

[_GG_]

The best snake to start out with is probably a Corn snake. I have had two of them. Both came as foster snakes and both got permanently rehomed. Carlos was rehomed at 1yr, Carla was rehomed at 3yrs.

I have lots of pictures, they were both tiny when they came to me, neither would feed well to start with but they soon got used to life and Carla especially, who I had after Carlos went was a real character. Not that a snake can be a character in human terms, but she made us laugh falling off the roof of the vivarium, making a thud and being generally far clumsier than a snake should be.

They were both well handled from the day I got them home and I never had an issue or a strike attempt off either of them.

If you want to PM me an address that you can receive stuff, I think I still have a book about them here which is great for beginners.

It really doesn't have to be expensive to keep them either

Only still have pictures of Carla, but here she is.

I have some of her feeding somewhere too, so will try and find them for you. These were all when she was still pretty small

 

[TrasaM]

Not this type
http://spenceshelton.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/the-snake-story/

 

[Shantara]

Oh bless her!!! She's tiny so so so cute! Beautiful markings too I think the one I saw today was a corn snake, it had similar colours and markings. I've already decided a name - Smaug!

Anyway, thank you! That's really helpful, I'll PM you after lunch

 

[Shantara]

Not this type
http://spenceshelton.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/the-snake-story/

Haha oh crikey!!! I love snakes and I'm not afraid...but I don't think I would feel safe with one THAT big and hefty in the house or anywhere near me!

 

[redheadkelj]

Try the reptile forums. They have sections for all reptiles but really useful and knowledgeable people on there. My corn snake was inherited - left in my classroom when I started teaching, so I had to learn quickly! They are easy to keep but if you want to handle it, make sure you do lots with it when it is small. I would also find a specialist reptile shop for buying the snake and food/viv/heat mat etc as they are more knowledgeable than a normal pet shop.

 

[rara007]

Here's a link to my 2: https://www.facebook.com/harriet.bradford/media_set?set=a.10151514058170648.845168.529720647&type=3

They're really funny- quite a bit bigger than that now one year on too. It's not advisable to keep them together btw. They're also much cheaper to buy from breeders that normal pet shops

They're the ultimate in low maintenance- only eating (and therefore pooing!) about once a week. Not sure how much running a heat mat dents the electricity bill but compared to how much we use that's negligable. Mine are both really tame now. Opal Fruits has always been but Galaxy Caramel was quite nervy and hated being picked up, maybe as as a baby I had her in a small tank so she couldn't get away. She's perfect now though however. I really like them but have to admit they're totally instinctive- even if you think they're tame and have charcters they're still really on autopilot IMO. I used to breed them whilst I was in primary school much to my parents disgust. Have had one ball python but the rest have been corns

 

[_GG_]

Try the reptile forums. They have sections for all reptiles but really useful and knowledgeable people on there. My corn snake was inherited - left in my classroom when I started teaching, so I had to learn quickly! They are easy to keep but if you want to handle it, make sure you do lots with it when it is small. I would also find a specialist reptile shop for buying the snake and food/viv/heat mat etc as they are more knowledgeable than a normal pet shop.

+1 re the forums.

I always used a heatmat under the viv, but only under one half of it. I had two water bowls in there, one on the warm side, one on the cold side. Two hides, again, one on the warm side and one on the cold side. The reason being that, especially during digestion, heat control is very important to a snake. They need to be able to regulate it for themselves so I used to give the options on both the warm and cold ends of the viv to let them sort themselves out. You can get heat rocks and heat lamps, but many stay away from these for snakes as they can cause burns as there is no buffer. I used to have a 1 inch thick piece of polystyrene under the whole viv and the heatmat sat between the poly and the viv to stop the heat being lost through the unit below.

Feeding can be really great fun and I'll let you into a little trick I used to do. I am by no means an expert, I muddled my way through, but some things stuck.
The best was feeding. When really little and on pinkies (newborn mice with no hair) the very young snakes don't always eat very well. I would ask before you buy how the snake is taking food. It'll help you prepare and not worry if the snake doesn't just strike at the pinkie and take it. Carlos was useless, I'd have to tickle his nose with it and leave it on a plate (not substrate as it sticks to the pinkies and not good for the snakes to eat that) so keep an eye and I would remove after an hour if he hadn't taken in. Carla straight off would know food was coming and strike as soon as she caught whiff of it. So...I used to use a pair of chopsticks to hold the mice when feeding her. With Carlos I used to use my fingers, but he began to have a good sniff even when I was taking poo out or changing water. I knew the signs and he was associating my hand with food, so I started with the chopsticks or sometimes tongs.

It meant that when my hand went in, they knew it wasn't food, so I never got a bite. Not that a bite would exactly hurt off a baby corn, or an adult one for that matter, but it never happened. Hands were for handling, chopsticks/tongs were for feeding.

I used to have a little plastic tub that I would fill with moss and soaked substrate, with a hole in both ends and pop it over the warm end when I saw the eyes milk up (go opaque) as this is a sign that they will be shedding in the next few days. Don't bother trying to feed at this time, in fact, leave them well alone. Just pop your shedding tub and leave them be. When they have shed, you need to check that it has all come away cleanly as sometimes the eye caps can stick or patches can stick and you may need to take them off gently and carefully. PM me if you ever need help with this. They'll need feeding very soon after shedding, but they feel very vulnerable when shedding or recently shed, so be careful not to overdo anything unless you have to. Just give them a few days to chill out.

I totally agree regarding a decent reptile shop. I actually used a large fish tank for Carla when she outgrew her viv, but we doctored it to make it suitable as normally a fully glass tank is not suitable for snakes in terms of hygiene and air circulation.

I do miss Carla sometimes, but my mum is glad she's gone, lol

 

[Shantara]

AWWWW! So cute!!!

How big do they grow, roughly? I read just over a meter?

 

[_GG_]

AWWWW! So cute!!!

How big do they grow, roughly? I read just over a meter?

Carla was 3ft 2inches when she went to her permanent home at 3yrs old. She was about an inch and a bit diameter in the middle, head about the size of the tip section of my thumb. She was on Adult small mice by that point and I preferred to give her 2-3 each meal time than one larger one or fuzzy rat. They were too big and she would struggle, so I just used to line them up on one of her rocks or hide them in her climbing twigs

 

[hnmisty]

Not this type
http://spenceshelton.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/the-snake-story/

My sister's friend's brother had a python who did that, he started stretching full out along his tank...

My only other comment was going to be: why did I decide to read this thread?

 

[TrasaM]

My sister's friend's brother had a python who did that, he started stretching full out along his tank...

My only other comment was going to be: why did I decide to read this thread?

I'd agree. When I first heard that story it made me shiver. Don't mind snakes but cuddling up to one in bed! No no no!

 

[Shantara]

My parents are NOT keen on the idea of a snake in the house I guess I'll have to accidentally buy one and let them discover it!

I'd love one now, but can't afford it yet. Gives me a little more time to work on the parents and learn about snakes!

 

[Cobber]

I started off with a corn snake. Really good starter snake, very forgiving of mistakes (to a point). Absolutely check out reptile forums there are excellent care sheets on there, I've learnt a hell of a lot from the place. Unfortunately also found out about a lot of other reptiles and now have a few extra pets don't assume what the pet shop tells you is correct. Quite a lot dish out very bad advice that even leads to the death of the animal. I love snakes, I think they great! I've only got the one at the mo, an 11 month old boa. He's my pride and joy post pics when you get one!

 

[michelleice]

If you want any advice etc I'm happy to answer any questions have "few" snakes and others

 

[Antw23uk]

Not this type
http://spenceshelton.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/the-snake-story/

Oh god you mean someone actually did put fingers to keyboard to type that crap story out? I cant believe it ... heard the story yes but that's stupid. Trust me that story is the BIGGEST load of BS going and totally not true
Snakes are kewl, I know lots and lots and lots about them so depends which one you want (personally cannot stand corn snakes *Yawn*) will depend on the set up, temps etc

Here are a couple of pics of my previously owned snakes ... Bit too big for what your after, lol

Carpet Python

Royal

I used to keep lizards as well

 

[twiggy2]

http://spenceshelton.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/the-snake-story/

a large python will only eat every few weeks at most and often not for a couple of months and of course prey animals always allow a python to lay next to them so they can measure up their next meal.what a load of rubbish.

I have owned many snakes over the years (and skinks, lizards, preying mantis and tarantulas) when we were learning the thing we found most often was if we kept the snakes to the temperatures that most books suggested the snakes were aggressive and we got many strikes, lower the temp by 3-4 degree and the snakes were less aggressive. The best source of knowledge was the local reptile association-they were friendly, helpful and a great source of cheap reptiles and euipment

 

[Floxie]

Corn snakes are lovely and easy to keep, generally have very sweet natures, and come in practically hundreds of captive-bred flavours, though as a bonus the 'wild-type' carolina (or 'normal', as said in a sneering tone by many a breeder and self-proclaimed genetics experts) is pretty drop-dead gorgeous as it is - red, orange, brown and black and lovely patterning

But of course because they are easy to keep and can be inexpensive, you'll get no end of snobbery from those who consider themselves beyond mere 'gateway' snakes

personally cannot stand corn snakes *Yawn*

(King snakes are much along the same lines, though tend towards being a little shorter and a little feistier!)

 

[Antw23uk]

Hahaa snobery?