Reptile & Amphibian Forums

are they good snake to start off with like a king ?

>>are they good snake to start off with like a king ?

IMO the best starter snake every

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1.0.0 Taiwan Beauty Snake
2.1.0 Black Rat Snake
1.1.0 Corn Snake
1.0.0 Common Garter Snake
0.1.0 Northern Water Snake
0.1.0 Black Racer
0.1.0 Black Widow
0.1.0 Wolf Spider

I wouldn't start off with a rat or king. Corn snakes are less likely to bite than rat snakes and common king snakes (in my experience). Corn snakes also get to a smaller average adult size than the other two choices.

I keep rat snakes and common king snakes and like them very much - but I wouldn't consider them the best starter snake.

Tim

Third Eye

rat snakes, kings, garters- they are all fine to start with. If it is non-venomous and doesn't get large enough to eat you, then go for it. granted, some species require more complex husbandry than others, but the above-mentioned snakes are fine.
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2 tham radix
1 Chicago Tham s. semifasciatus
2 elaphe vulpina
1 gray tiger salamander
4 Aphonopelma hentzi
1 G rosea
1 Haplo minax
1 Brachy angustum
1 Brachy sabulosum
1 Brachy vagans
1 Cent. hentzi scorp

Aside from the aforementioned tendendy to be nippy, yes they are pretty easy to keep -- very durable, essentially. They tend to feed regularly and easily on live or F/T, and are somewhat more active than many common snakes. One tip: put something to climb on in the enclosure, as they are renowned nest raiders in the wild and among the most capable climbers of all North American snakes. Finally, they do get to a fairly impressive size and bulk compared to corns and kings and make very good display critters.

They are almost as good as Corns, but tend to get larger & can have a pretty good attitude. If you know what I mean.
First snake I ever caught by hand in the field, btw. He was near six feet. I was about 3 feet tall. Must've been quite a spectacle. Especially to my friend who was along! LOL Good times..

Matthew

I have a number of rat snakes domestic and asian. In that collection is a big male black rat that was wild caught at about 12" and is now six years old, heavy and 6 1/2'.
Now I'm sure the fact that he was raised from a juvinile has something to do with it but dispite his length and heft he's as gentle as a kitten.
He's absolutely excellent to handle,friendly and is my first choice to bring out when a child wants to see and hold a snake.
Mike.

I agree that they are good starters, yet try and get a captive bred one. I have had may WC that I collected and seen many WC in captivity with very rubbed noses that even though they have healed, they look unsightly. Wild ones love to climb and will rub and rub till they find a way out or learn that they cant, and by that time they dont look very good. Captive breds seem to figure this out more from the get go. A few of my babies are nippy, but then again, I dont always handle them as much as I should to break them of this habbit. But honestly, the Black Rat was the first large colubrid I ever caught, and I still end up comming back to them and still find them to be my favorite obsoleta form of all. They are just cool, and seeing a nice one in the wild never ceases to be a thrill.
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1.1 Newton County, IN Bulls
1.0 Texas Redish Bull
0.1 Kansas Yellow Bull
2.1 Red X Yellow Bulls
1.0 Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada Bull
1.1 Carolina Northern Pines (M from NC, F from SC)
1.2 Henderson County, NC Black Rats
1.1 Gray Banded 'Blair's' Kings
2.2 Coastal Cal Kings
1.1 Speckled Kings, Harris County, TX
1.1 Eastern Chain Kings (M from GA & F from NC)
1.0 Hogg Island Boa
1.2 Ball Pythons