Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all!

Great news. After much agonizing over the constrictor ban in Upper Arlington, Ohio, I came to a totally shocking and wonderful realization the other day, as my fiance and I were driving to our new apartment:

We are about 500 feet outside the jurisdiction of Upper Arlington, and legally live in snake-friendly Columbus! ^__^

So now there is cause for much rejoicing in my household, but along with that comes more research before I get my first snake. I'm either going to start with a ball python or a Brazilian rainbow boa - still unsure of which. Eventually, I'd like to also keep a GTP and a leucistic ratsnake, two of my other favorites that I simply don't have the room or experience for yet.

So I've come here to ask a few general questions... I've made up the following list of items I need to purchase to make a safe habitat for my snake. Please let me know if anyone has any recommendations of items to add, brands that are better than others, or cheap places to buy the supplies.

-Cage, lid, and hold clamps, if necessary
-Handling hook (more for the comfort of my anti-snake relatives)
-Frozen mice, preferably to last for awhile
-Cage substrate
-Hide rock
-Water dish
-Climbing branches, fake plants, decorations, etc.
-Slate (for distributing heat of UTH)
-Under-tank heater
-Lamp and bulbs
-Heat lamp
-Thermostat
-Thermometer
-Humidity gauge
-Misting bottle

I'll also locate a reliable reptile vet before I purchase the snake - according to ARAV's website, there's three on my street alone.

As for the hide rock and water dish, how do I know I'm buying one that's big enough for my snake? How often should I buy a larger one as it grows?

So, anything I'm forgetting? Thanks much in advance for any suggestions!!

I would honestly go with a leucistic rat before i ent to bp or a boa. all rats and corns are some of the easiest snakes to keep, and they are always the ones i recommend and see everyone recommend for beginners. BP's and boas tend to go off feed at times...and that would freak out a lot of first time keepers.

Now for your list

-Cage, lid, and hold clamps, if necessary - You WILL need the clamps.
-Handling hook (more for the comfort of my anti-snake relatives) - never heard of anyone using one of these on a baby..they're usually used when they get larger when their bite hurts if they get agressive when you put your hand in the tank, like a beauty or such.
-Frozen mice, preferably to last for awhile - bigcheeserodents.com - they are wonderful, seen pictures of their business its extremly clean and i've never had any problems.
-Cage substrate - reccomend aspen
-Hide rock - 2 are needed...one for the cool one for the hot side... as far as size goes the snake will want something that will touch its back for the most security. start small grow with your snake. when it cant fit in there any more, get a bigger hide.
-Water dish - clean out at least 2x a week, add water daily
-Climbing branches, fake plants, decorations, etc. - i use 1/2" wooden dowels from home depot, held together with zip ties. If you want a snake that's going to climb a lot, get a rat or corn. bps and boas dont climb all that much from what ive heard...but again i dont know much about them. I have silk leaves from Micheals hanging from the screen top and wrapped around the dowels, they seem to enjoy that. I'm putting a pic on the bottom.
-Slate (for distributing heat of UTH) - never heard of this being done before?
-Under-tank heater - good but not required, you can go with all light heating
-Lamp and bulbs - dont go too high on wattage.
-Heat lamp - are you planning on having a heat lamp as well as a strip light? the strip light really is going to be too bright and could scare your tank into the hiding spot all day (where it will stay usually while it is a baby)
-Thermostat - lamp dimmer from home depot for $10 works great.
-Thermometer - I get mine from walmart for $14 indoor/outdoor/humidity all on one screen
-Humidity gauge - built into my thermometers
-Misting bottle - not needed on a corn/rat, unsure on others.

Other things i'd reccomend:
*If you plan on taking it out of its cage a lot, esp for an extended period of time, id get a heat gun (i'd get one anyway actually) to periodically monitor the temperature that the snake is exposed to at all times. (www.tempgun.com)

Another note: if you are getting a hatchling (which I reccomend...that way you can watch 'em grow and I think it's pretty cool) you don't want to put it in a large bare tank. You want to either start it out in a smaller tank (my reccomendation), or make sure there is a lot of cover in the tank. the more cover ther eis the more secure they will feel... less stress and will probably eat better.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)

I'd go with the rat snake if you have limited experience...
Save your money on the snake hook..(buy another snake instead) you wouldnt need it with any of those snakes.
You can use either red or black lights for heat..snakes dont recognize them as daylight so they can stay on 24 hrs....i have a few snakes i use red lights on..works great..you can pick them up pretty cheap at wal-mart or somwhere similar
Make sure the lid is secure or your new snake will not be yours anymore...
Jason

My girlfriend uses slate to disperse and hold heat, but for lizards. You won't need that for the snakes you're looking at. UTH's work for me, just keep in mind if your substrate is too deep you'd be defeating the purpose.

I agree with the posts suggesting that the ratsnake would be a great place to start. And, no, you won't need a hook. If anyone wants to hold the snake, but is a bit timid...YOU pick it up to be sure it is calm and settled down (the initial grab is when the infrequent bite may occur) and then hand the snake off. Even a leucistic texas rat will most likely calm down nicely for you in a short period of time...Mine is great! See you at the All Ohio Reptile Show! Duffy

Thanks to everyone for their replies! Maybe I'll start with the rat after all.. but I'm not sure, my heart is certainly set on a BP. Thanks again, and I'll consider everyone's advice.