Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which would you consider beginner, Expert, and Moderate care levels and why? Also, I noticed that soem species, such as Coachwhips and Racers have the same forum, does this mean they have similar/same care? Anaconda and Burmese Python are already tacked down as Expert because of their large size. Similar;y I ahve been told Cornsnakes are a good beginner's snake. Did I miss any in this list?

Anaconda (E)
Ball Python
Blood Python
Bull Snake
Burmese Python (E)
Candoia Boa
Coachwhip
Cornsnake (B)
Diamond/Carpet Python
Garter Snake
Gopher Snake
Green Tree Python
Hognose
Indigo Boa
King Snake
Milk Snake
Pine Snake
Rainbow Boa
Racer Snake
Rat Snake
Reticulated Pythons
Ribbon Snake
Rosy Boa
Rubber Boa
Sand Boa
Tree Boa

Corn snakes, rat snakes, jungle carpet pythons, milksnakes and kingsnakes have all been recommended as good beginner snakes, because they are hardy and easy to look after.

2 corns, a honduran milk and a Jungle carpet python. My corns and milk take the same basic care..under tank heating pad. Temps in the 82 degree range for warm side. I have incandecent lights on my corns but my milk just has the UTH. He is doing fine. Doesn't need extra light since he hides 24/7.
My JCP likes warmer temps. She has the UTH with 100wt basking light for day and 75 wt red light for night. She likes temps in the high 80's during day on warm side. Cool side near 78-80.
Other then the warmer temps for my JCP, (and the fact that she is lots bigger) all my snakes get the same basic care...hiding places, water bowls, appropiate food item, appropiate size enclosure.
If you want a great beginner snake you can't go wrong with the corns. That's why I started with a corn. I decided to get a bigger snake after a while but didn't want a BIG snake. JCP's are slender and like to 'display' them selves on branches. She is great. Hope this helps.

Every answer helps.
My real dream here is to create a database of caresheets on all commonly kept species of snakes. Of course this could take me a really long time and lack of experience makes it harder. My motehr won't let me own any snakes, heck, she's still considering the grow-a-frog kit... *rolls eyes*
So I'm doing all the research possible. My otehr problem could be finding webspace for this once I actually finish it...

You did leave out a lot of contenders, and you have some curious groupings (e.g. you have separated pine/bull/gopher snakes but you have the several dozen "ratsnakes" grouped as one). Here is a quick evaluation using your system.
(B=beginner, I=intermediate, E=experienced)

>>Anaconda (E)
>>Ball Python (I)
>>Blood Python (I)
>>Bull Snake (B)
>>Burmese Python (E)
>>Candoia Boa (I)
>>Coachwhip (E)
>>Cornsnake (B)
>>Diamond/Carpet Python (I)
>>Garter Snake (B)
>>Gopher Snake (B)
>>Green Tree Python (E)
>>Hognose - Mexican and Western Hognose (I), Eastern and Southern Hognose (E)
>>Indigo Boa (no such animal - do you mean indigo snake (I))
>>King Snake (several species have different needs ranging from B to I
>>Milk Snake (several subspecies are B, some are I, some are E)
>>Pine Snake (B)
>>Rainbow Boa (I)
>>Racer Snake (E)
>>Rat Snake (some species are B, some are I)
>>Reticulated Pythons (E)
>>Ribbon Snake (I)
>>Rosy Boa (B)
>>Rubber Boa (I)
>>Sand Boa (again there are 10 species, some B, some I, some E)
>>Tree Boa (some species are I, some are E)

I have attached a chart I put together showing some snakes and their appropriateness for beginners. Lower total score = better for beginners.

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Chris Harrison

That is a great chart! I copied it to keep it on hand.

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Check Out My Albums

1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
1.0 Saharan Sand Boa "Frodo"
0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Oy... knew I did it wrong. I didn't quite understand what was up with the Gopher, Bull, and Pine Snakes. I was trying to get a list of snakes commonly kept as pets... I'm sure once I got into my research I would have understood, but can anyone explain all of this? *is at a bit of a loss* The more snake research i do the better, best to have some info on hand for when i finally can get one. *scribbles notes down on paper fast as possible*

The gopher/bull/pine snakes are members of the genus Pituophis and at one time were considered different subspecies of one species that spanned the USA from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Fairly recently they were broken into three species: P. melanoleucus (4 subspecies, pine snakes), P. ruthveni (Louisiana pine snake, rare), and P. catenifer (? subspecies, bullsnake and gopher snakes).

Despite the difference in common names, there are a lot of similarities among these snakes. All members of the group are among the largest snakes in the USA and eat rodents. All members can hiss loudly, and many put up a spectacular bluff when encountered in the wild. All have similar requirements in captivity (treat like an oversized corn snake) and generally are reasonably easy to tame and handle. Captive bred individuals are most popular because they quickly tame and thus give up hissing and striking before getting big enough to be intimidating. They are great snakes!

Paul Hollander

Crish, I think you are going with some myths in your ratings. Chondros I think are I and western hognoses B. Just an opinion from someone who keeps both.