Looking to get my first snake in the near future...need some opinions please!

[Lucas339]

I've always felt humans need adrenaline for a fast learning curve. I'd suggest your basic cobra. If you survive the first 30 days, you can consider yourself an accomplished snake owner. It will also offer several benefits. Your cats will not survive of course, and you won't have any serious concerns about rodents infesting your house or siblings infesting your rooms. Loose in the house they are far more entertaining than your average boring constrictor and they will aid you tremendously if you are practicing various meditation techniques that require you remain immobile for extended periods of time.

Excuse me. I'd like to have a word with you regarding my breakfast.

this made my day!!

 

[R McP]

+1 to Ball Pythons. Great snake, very docile, easy care, pretty cheap, great markings, stay small. My BP is my favorite pet by far.

 

[jebbewocky]

I'd suggest corn snake--they're hardy, not picky eaters, and one of the most commonly bred snakes.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

So right now I'm still leaning towards a corn snake simply because of their simplicity and cheap price. Having just gone to the LPS I now have an idea of what they have. The normal corns went for 15$, with rarer morphs being 30$-50$. Young balls were 55$. They had sinaloan milk snakes for sale as long as the usual fare of kingsnakes and other milks which I don't remember. They had Rosy boas for sale, cheap for 40$, and I thought they looked nice. They had a very nice looking snake at 30$ which they called a greenish rat snake. Regular black rats for sale too. Also had some bairds rat snakes for cheap. They had a western hognose, at about a foot long, for 100$. Seemed a bit steep, but I liked it. As always they had lovely little green tree python hatchlings. Not sure on the price but I think they were 150-200.

 

[Deftones90]

You can't go wrong with a corn! Baird's rats are cool, I'd stray away from the green tree python and the green rat though.

Rosys are neat snakes too.

 

[pnshmntMMA]

Sorry about your duck. They are AWESOME pets. My cousins had then a while back. It would come when you called it like a dog

 

[pavel]

Green pythons have a rep for being a look but don't touch animal -- even those that are CB.

 

[BQC123]

Any of the snakes you are looking at sound like good choices, except the green tree pythons. Wait a bit until you have some experience. I really think the corn snake is an awesome choice. You can never go wrong with a corn.

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

Sorry about your duck. They are AWESOME pets. My cousins had then a while back. It would come when you called it like a dog

I know, not a lot of people realize that. It tore me up when she passed, I had her for a good few years and raised her from a 5 day old egg from the park. I even took her for a 1/2 a mile walk around a large park every week. She didn't need a leash, she would follow me everywhere. I even bought duck shoes for her to keep her feet from getting torn up on the rough concrete. Aspergillois is an extremely deadly disease for birds, unfortunately.

As far as snakes go, I'll stray form the green pythons. They look like a handfull anyways.

 

[red fury]

personally, i would go with either the BP of course find a reputable breeder and get a CB one, or find a kenya sand boa.... from my experience, owining corns, BP, Columbians, Kenyans, rats, and white lips, BPs and Kenyans are really easy to care for, and neither get too large to handle

 

[1Lord Of Ants1]

How much are frozen rats? Ball pythons are also really cool, I'm just a little put off from their tendency to go off feeding. I also like active animals.

 

[The Snark]

On a serious note

My first 'pet' snake was a Western rattler. She had one eye missing and a bend in her spine indicating some accident. I took her in instead of killing her (I've slaughtered hundreds of rattlers) simply out of compassion.

My first education from keeping her was keeping animals in general. They are not toys. They are living beings that deserve to coexist in this amazing world with other animals. That she packed a potentially lethal punch served as a constant reminder; if I want a toy, something to handle and play with, I should go to a toy store.

The second thing she taught me is animals deserve respect. Just because I possess a certain brain configuration doesn't automatically grant me absolute authority. She had as much right to life as I do and in her world, in the terrarium, she had a definite advantage over my frontal lobes and opposable thumbs.

My third revelation was purely mechanical. To a budding engineer she was a marvel to behold. Just watching her move gave me a mind bending glimpse into millions of years of evolution, perfecting various mechanisms that enabled it to survive against utterly impossible odds. Just imagine the several hundred machines in your body reduced to a rudimentary lever and fulcrum (ribs for movement) and a semi sophisticated rope and pulley (the ability to strike).

Then there was a profound revelation to be learned: Life sucks. Get over it and keep on keeping on. When I fed her baby rats she would miss her strike over half the time. It's hard enough hitting something accurately without stereoscopic vision let alone having severe spinal sclerosis. She would calmly and methodically take another shot until she got it right. No frustration, no sense of pride when she got it right.

So my suggestion in deciding for your first pet snake, or any other animal for that matter, is take a good hard objective look at yourself before making any decision.