Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've always liked snakes, but never wanted to get one, because I wasn't sure I could handle feeding it. That, and I've never done any research into specific species. It wouldn't be for a while yet, but can anyone give suggestions?

What I'm looking for would be something small (easily handled by one person), something for a beginner (would be my first reptile), and something that doesn't need a diet consisting of rodents. I *might* (and thats a big might) be able to handle prekilled f/t mice, but I doubt it. Is there a species suitable that can live on birds, frogs, etc?

Didn't see a way to edit the message, but after a bit of re-thinking, if it's a species that doesn't eat anything larger than mice, I could probably handle that.

Also, I think it's probably a given, since it would be my first snake, but I'd prefer something relatively laid back, etc.

Look into rosy boas or sand boas. They stay relatively small, are easy to handle, and most will take f/t rodents with ease. However, if you want something that doesn't eat rodents, the easiest would be a garter snake.

I've always thought that a corn snake was one of the best beginer snakes there is. It will only get to be 4-5' long and doesn't have the girth to eat anything much larger than an adult mouse. Very big adult mice are pushing the limits of my adult female corn I have. Most of them take frozen/thawed mice just fine.

They are very calm and become calmer with more handling. They also do not seem to stress out as much as some other snakes with a lot of handling.

The only reason to not get a corn is if you would want a snake to sit on your lap and watch TV with you, they are active and when handling them they want to crawl all over you for the most part.

Kings are another nice starter snake. Cal Kings can be tempermental but an Eastern King is usually calm.

I wish you luck in your venture for a snake. Whatever snake you get just do your research first and know how to take care of it. There are many caresheets available online and a lot of people on the forums that really know what they are doing.

Good Luck,
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Gregory S. Hake

Well, what I'm looking for is something a bit smaller. Probably no more than 3' long or so. Right now, from what I've read it sounds like either a Sand Boa or a Rosy Boa would be my best bet. I've still got plenty of time to learn more though, so who knows.

I do not recommend garters as they are extremely high strung. My brother had one and I couldn't stand it.

Ball pythons are another good choice for a beginner. They are EXTREMELY docile (lol..you can sit and watch tv with them!) and they rarely get to be more than 3-4 feet. As far as feeding goes, you may have to confront whatever it is that is holding you back on feeding rodents to a snake. I would rather watch a snake eat a mouse than a bird or frog, but that's just me. Also, nothing says you have to watch it. Either way, be sure that it's dead as a live mouse can and will hurt a snake if it isn't eaten right away (I used to work in a couple of pet stores and I had no problems killing mice for customers).

Also: be sure that they are captive bred and that your local government doesn't have any special requirements for owning a snake. They are a great expense to go through only to have them siezed if your government doesn't allow exotic pet ownership!

Good luck in your decision and let us know how it turns out!