Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi i a beginner to snakes i wanna know wot snake to get i know abut temp humity and all that i keep lots of tarantulas and scorpions my mate has a couple of rat and corn snakes but his are about 6 ft long i want one around 4-5 ft if possible

thsanks alot jake

One of the ratsnakes you should definately check out is Russian ratsnakes. They may grow a little larger than 5ft, but are supposed to make very good pets. I have not seen any local to me, or I would have a pair myself.

Some other ratsnakes you may want to check out: dione's ratsnakes, twin-spotted ratsnakes, bairds ratsnakes, gulf hammock ratsnakes, japanese ratsnakes, mexican night snakes. Also consider the trans-pecos ratsnakes. They are awesome! There are probably a lot more in that size range, but are you looking for the best pet, or the brightest colors, asian or north/central american, or what in a snake?

Pakistani jeweled ratsnakes are also a very beautiful snake, which changes color until it reaches maturity, into an orange snake with usually a black head and black speckling on its body. They, however, don't usually make the best pets in the world.

A really cool, small snake, that isn't considered a ratsnake, is a lyre snake. I haven't seen any available as CB, but have seen some long-term captives that were eating mice and seemed to be doing well in petshops and collection. They stay pretty small and are just neat to watch.

African house snakes are really cool. Western hognose snakes are nice.

cheers for all that mate im still cheakin them out itll take a while but i let u know by the way which ones r sort ov handleable
rhanks alot jake

In my opinion, a Bairds rat snake is going to be your best bet. They have nice coloration(which definitly has to be seen in person to be appreciated fully), they typically stay in the 4-5 ft range, and they are very handlable. By the way, I've seen several Gulf Hammock rat snakes that were over 6 ft.

thanks for the info but i was thinkin 3 ft to 4 ft thanks alot jake

p.s thanks your all really helpfull