Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What would you suggest as a beginning/first snake for an 11 year old? He has had reptiles and other pets. He takes great care of them. He has been asking for snake for about a year but we are unsure what the best beginners would be. We always research before getting any animal. Then of course set up the tank at least a month before bring home a new pet.

Thanks for any help.
Venus

Corn snakes seem to be a popular favorite amongst beginning snake owners. they don't grow very large and are fairly docile. if you want to go with a more uncommon snake, may i reccomend a bairds ratsnake. I just ordered two from the breeder whose link i'll place at the bottom of the page, for only $25. These snakes grow to be approximately 4-6 feet long (6 being a very unusually large one). They are very docile from what everyone has told me. As babies they aren't usually that pretty, however when they are fully grown they are BEAUTIFUL!!!! I'll post a picture of a full grown one at the bottom.

This is a VERY good price for this snake, i've been wanting one for some time now, however I was short on cash...saw this ad and bought 'em without thinking twice. I can't wait to get them!

The guy I bought mine from...his ad on the classifieds has expired but I just asked he has 2 females left. They are $25/ea plus shipping, check the classifieds for Hawkeye Herps listing.

they are kinda dullish greay with darker gray/black stripes down the length as babies, but grow into these beauties, starting to get coloring around 6 months of age.

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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

>>What would you suggest as a beginning/first snake for an 11 year old? He has had reptiles and other pets. He takes great care of them. He has been asking for snake for about a year but we are unsure what the best beginners would be. We always research before getting any animal. Then of course set up the tank at least a month before bring home a new pet.
>>
>>Thanks for any help.
>>Venus

My 11 yos first snake was a baby Children's Python that I hatched out last year. He likes her assertive nature, her curiousity and personality. Cornsnakes were boring to him. Though often a corn is a good recommendation. Not too big, variety of colors and generally good eaters. The Childrens are 'boring' looking to some people. Mine are small (mom and dad are just over 2 feet each) have feeding responses that often require waiting for them to let go of your shirt but they are out and about and curious about everything. You will want to find something that is tolerant of mistakes. Otherwise it sort of depends on what you want in a snake.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

I got my first snake coincidentally as an 11 yr. old. It was a cornsnake, and that experience led to what is now 25 years of snakekeeping. Cornsnakes are without question the best snake for a new snake keeper because: 1) The cost is relatively low, 2) they are easy to keep and tend to thrive well in captivity, 3) since they are so widely kept, the amount of information available on them is proportionately wide, and 4) they come in so many colors and patterns that anyone can find one that is attractive to them. The only other snake I would recommend for a beginner (just for the sake of variety) is a California Kingsnake for pretty much all the same reasons. They tend to be a little nippier at first, however. Good Luck!

Before people go and recommend you ANY type of snake I would have to ask you a few questions.

1st question: What size snake are you comfortable having an 11 y.o handle? 1-3 feet? 3-5 feet or 6 feet?

2nd question: Are you comfortable feeding a live animal to another animal,in this case a snake?
1. If you are cofortable feeding live animals are you comfortable feeding the snake mice or rats?

3rd question: Are you willing to pay for expensive vet bills if the snake becomes sick in any way?

You know a lot of people suggest corn snakes for good starter snakes without thinking about some general questions first. A lot of people are very uncomfortable around rodents. Most people think they are nasty dirty animals and cute and fuzzy at the same time and really don't want to see a cute fuzzy little white mouse eatten by a snake. Corn snakes are rodent eatters and will need to be fed once every 3-5 days for the first 2 years or so of its life then once every 7-10 days as an adult. Now baby snakes,or hatchlings,start out eatting pinkie mice which are newborn mice without hair. As the snake grows so does it's prey. Pinky mice are changed to fuzzy mice,mice with hair but closed eyes,then it's hopper mice,young mice then it's on to full grown adults. Can you handle that? Can your son handle that?

If not I would recommend a garter snake or a ribbon snake. They are small slender snakes that are non constrictors and will feed on gold fish/guppies,frogs,salamanders and earth worms.They generally only get at max 2 1/2 - 3 feet in length so they are a considered a small snake.They have basic requirements and can be housed in a small space such as a 10 gallon or 20 gallon tfish tank.They can be a little nervous and will musk or spread feces around on the person handling it but a lot of snakes do this.They will also give a good bite. They hang on and chew and will cause minor scrapes but larger ones will give a nice little bite.They will usually tame down after handling.

If your son and rest of the family are comfortable feeding a snake a rodent then I would suggest a corn snake.The are generally small constricting snakes that average a length of 3-5 feet. They are usually very docile but can be a little nippy when young just like any other snaake. They come in a assortment of colors and patterns,more then any other snake on the pet trade. They will require a larger enclosure then a 10 - 20 gallon tank.Adults can stay in a 29 gallon and up. They require basic care and are forgiving in mistakes.

Besides the corn snake you also have the king snake which requires the same general care as a corn snake but can be a bit more on the nippy side.Most king snakes are only about 5 feet in length and smaller but some species can get 6feet .

Also remember that vet bill! Reptile's cost a little more to take to the vet and some vets do not even deal with reptiles so make sure there is a vet in your area who will handle reptiles.

Thank you for your concern. I think we are leaning toward a corn snake or two. Can we have more then one in a cage?

We already have a 40gal reptile cage (the glass tanks with the locking screen top) that we plan to use. We also have a Habi-Scape Rock backgrounds for the back wall, unused draft wood, unused ghost wood, an unused wooded half log hiding area, reptile lighting/heating unit and the temp and humity gauges. (all the wood has been gotten from pet stores and is treated) The ideal plans are to add some plants, rocks, the wood pieces, a water area, etc. For bedding I was thinking of using the same as we use for the frogs.. a mixture of the Bed-a-beast, peat moss and wood chips.. does this sounds ok? All plants I would use will be from reptile approved. Also would it be ok to have some moss growing on the ground?

We have talked about the need to feed a snake mice/rats or even larger aminals. Everyone in our family is ok with this. We have had many differnet types of pets currently and in the past. My youngest son Dante' has 3 pet mice and we have had pet rats years ago. We have also had Geckos that ate pinky and fuzzy mice, when laying eggs. Our White Tree Frogs get pinky's as a treat once in a while. One of our friends has a couple ball pythons that my oldest son Sebastian (he wants the snake) has cared for when they leave town. And today he came home with a common baby ground snake that he caught. (after showing us, he took it back to were he found it and let it go) So he is very comfortable handling any size of snake. As is my youngest son, my husband and myself. And yes we know the cautions of handling the mice and snake. Key rule.. ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE AND AFTER HANDLING ANY ANIMAL. In the past, both my husband and I have been involved in reptile rescue, mostly Iguanas.

And last but not least... the vet bills. We are not worried about that. Our pets are part of our family, no matter what. We do have a vet here in the area that specialist is reptiles. Trust me I think I am one of the few people who would pay a $350 vet bill to care for a pet feeder mice...lol. But the animals well being and my childrens happyness was worth the money in the end.

Please keep in mind our rules are that before any new pet is allowed in the home, we most do research and learn the needs of the animal, make sure we can give it the best home possable. There is also a waiting period of at least 6 months to a year to in sure it isn't just an at the moment phase. Once the research and waiting time is over we set up the environment and keep it stable for at least 30 days before we get the animal. This is to in sure the temp levels, plant growth, etc are stable. So far Sebastian has been asking for a snake for almost a year, has gotten himself a few books on snakes and their care and has been saving his money.

I hope that helps at least a little.

Venus

Our Pets:
1 Chihuahua
3 Mice (tons of SAM cages)
2 White Tree Frog (29gal all natural tank with waterfall)
3 Goldfish and an algae eater (75gal tank)

I think a corn is a great idea. I'd forgoe any live plants - the snake will just damage destroy them climbing all over them. Plastic plants are great. Besides, corns need a lower humdity. Bed-a-Beast is great. I'd skip the wood chips,moss, soil. etc. Again, don't want it humid and if you just use the Bed-a-Beast you can feed the snake in the cage. If using chips, etc you have to feed outside the cage to prevent possible injestion of the chips (and other loose substrate) and impaction. Corns defecate often (more so than boas, pythons) so you don't want too much in the cage as the cleaning will be a pain. That size tank is fine. I would personally never keep more than one snake in a tank unless breeding. They're not social animals, will compete for food, heat, hides, etc. It may very well stress them out and unfortunately by the time you figure out they are stressed it may be too late. Stress = illness = high vet bills and/or death. Not worth it to me. Besides, you would not be able to monitor feces because you won't know whose it it. If one gets sick the other gets sick = 2 vet bills vs one and/or the lose of 2 snakes vs 1.

Bed-a-Beast substrate, water bowl on the cool side, at least one hide on each side (low, snug and the right size), plastic plants, branches and other deco, a reptile or human heating pad underneath one side (covering 25-50% of that side), 2 thermometers (skip the stick on analog type-they're crap. Get a good digital with probes), hygrometer, feeding tongs and food....and you're all set.

Cool side about 75, Warm side 85

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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"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

African housesnakes?
I've had mine for about a year now with no problems at all.
Not very colorful like a corn, but I love her irredescence. She's very calm, fine with being handled, and eats like a real champ. I've read they are even better feeders than corns.
They are also smaller than corns...a REAL big female can get up to 5 feet long in the wild. Mostly they stay below 4 feet (with males around 2 feet).

Only real problems I've read about are feeding in groups (they are so voracious they'll attack food in other snakes mouths and end up eating them), and excessive breeding (if you have a pair they simply MUST be separated or they just never stop...plus young females who lay too early tend to die).

im thinking a baby ball python. my 11yr old bro has 1, it was his frist and he loved it. but make sure its a CB.

After reading your comments above I think a corn snake is the best first choice snake for your family. I recommend using shredded or chipped aspen as a subtrate for corns.It's safe,inexpensive and corns love to burrow under the subtrate. Beast-a-bed tends to hold in moisture more then a lot of other subtrates. It's great for humidity loving arboreal lizards.Don't get me wrong a lot of people use it and have good results but as a preference I really don't like the stuff for snakes.

Keep your subtrate DRY as a damp or moist subtrate can result in all sorts of problems for the snake. To raise humidity levels just place the water dish on the warm side of the enclosure. You'll need atleast two tight hides for the snake,generally one on the warm side and one on the cool side but you can add more if you like. You can throw some plastic plants in the enclosure but you'll find yourself fixing the plants as the snake will be knocking them down all the time.During the time when the snake is shedding you can use a humidity box. This is as simple as a deli dish and a lid with a hold cut in the side that is filled with damp moss or damp paper towel.This helps the snake have a proper shed.

The people on the corn snake forum will answer a lot of questions you have. Good luck in picking your snake!

I agree that aspen is a good choice (I prefer the aspen chips), but prefer the Bed-a-Beast because I feel better about feeding on it. The Bed-a-Beast will be as dry or as 'wet' as you want it. I use it for my kings and am about to switch my corn to it. You just have to dry it out longer or bake it to get it really dry. Easy to spot clean (as is aspen), can feed on it and looks natural. No odor either.
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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"

0.0.1 Crested Gecko
0.0.1 Irian Jaya BlueTongued Skink

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

My first snake was a corn snake... they have very bright colors and are very docile. It was a wonderful snake, but eventually I wanted a snake that was more active than she was.

Corn snakes, kingsnakes, childrens pythons, ball pythons, and most rat snakes make good first snakes. Fox Snakes I've had great success with, and mine has never even attempted to bite me. Personally I would reccomend fox snakes...

With a little research you can get just about anything and keep it succesfully, such as Jungle Carpet Pythons, Brazilian Rainbow Boas, and other species. Some are a little nippy when small, but with handling they turn out to be docile snakes.

Depending on what you want to feed them, in the last couple weeks I've had good luck getting some garter snakes to eat guppies and goldfish. They are kinda skiddish though...

Good Luck,

Sean M
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Current Collection:
0.1 Antherystic Elaphe Guttata Guttata - Corn Snake
1.0 Elaphe Vulpina Gloydi - Eastern Fox Snake
0.1 Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta - Black Rat Snake
0.1 Leucistic Elaphe Obsoleta Linheimeri - Texas Ratsnake
1.1 Morelia Spilota Cheyni - Jungle Carpet Python
0.0.2 Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis - Eastern Garter Snake