Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking to purchase a snake for my boyfriend for Christmas.
I have a 30 gal. Breeder tank with all the trimmings, I am just missing the snake.
I have been looking at Ball pythons and they are nice. Being a somtimes girly-girl, I would like a snake with nice coloring. It seems like everytime I find one I like, it costs much more than I would like to spend. (no more than $75 - $100) I live in South Central Wisconsin and would like to find a breeder rather than a pet store. I am not looking to breed, just a nice snake to look at and play with.
Any snake or breeder suggestions would be great. I would really like a snake that likes to be held, and is decently active.

Thanks!
Mandy

good luck with your snake purchase, my suggestion would be a king snake (there are lots to chose from as far as colouring).. ive got a south florida and a mex-mex king snake and both love to be held and are active night and day even though they both have plenty of hides . check out the kingsnake forum for pics etc.
one question i did have.. how big a snake can you deal with ? most kings will get between 4-6ft ndepending on type

Edd

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If you cant beat them, Shoot Them..LOL

I was hoping to stick in the 3-6 range. Will King snakes be ok in a 30 gal or will they need an upgrade?

Thanks!

my mex-mex will only get to about 4ft but as its only a baby (approx 1ft long) its in a 20 gal tank for now but may need an upgrade in a year or so . my south florida is 1 1/2 yrs old and 3'6" and i have it in a 100gal tank so u may need an upgrade eventually

i tend to give lots of room for my snakes so they can have 2 or even 3 hides and a large water dish which the larger can get completely into, plus plants and branchs because although theyre not really arborial, they do tend to climb

hope this helps

EDD

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If you cant beat them, Shoot Them..LOL

Kingsnakes are great. I love mine she is a cal king. And a 30 gallon would fit her for her whole life.

Are King snakes pretty friendly and lower maintainance? I would like to go f/t for food.
Thanks for your help!

Mandy

King snakes can be very friendly. Mine is a wonderful pet.
I always recommend to buy a baby if its going to be a pet. If the snake is going to be a breeder then it really doesn't matter. A great place to pick out a new pet is at a reptile expo. You can meet the breeder alot of the times and you can handle the snake to check if the snake is docile. Most captive breed babies are docile and easy to handle.
Good luck finding your new snake.

yes kings are really easy to keep, they will eat frozen no problems... in fact if you look at the forum they will eat just about anything including hotdogs, catfood.
the only problem you might have is keeping up with the food supply my mex eats 3-4 pinkie mice a week and my florida eats 3 rat pups a week and would eat more if i let it

they are very friendly and love to be held

the suggestion of a toysnake and an iou is a good one as it is a long term commitment more so than most dogs or cats

EDD
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If you cant beat them, Shoot Them..LOL

Well, many snakes would be appropriate, kingsnakes, cornsnakes (docile with many different color morphs, Oketees are pretty), ball pythons and more obscure varieties. Jungle Carpet Pythons are nice but the babies are a wee bit homicidal.
However your boyfriend may have different preferences.
What I would highly recommend is on Christmas, you give him the tank, with all the trimmings.
Inside the tank you can put a toy snake with an IOU or raincheck for a real snake around it's neck. (or something like that) Then after Christmas you two can pick out the snake together.
This holds a few advantages. It spares you and your boyfriend the chaos of caring for a critter through the hectic holiday season. It'll be a sweet decision to make together. Also since snakes live 15 years, (I've heard of a ball python hitting 47) he'll be able to have a say on a choice that will affect him for many years to come.
Either way, good luck!
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0.2 chickens
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave)
0.1 Halflinger horse
0.0 reptiles due to living with
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

there is lots o snakes that would fit what you are looking for.
I highly recomend spotted pythons...the are awsome snakes and stay small 4ft or so..and they are as common as ball pythons..everyone has one of those.
Rat snakes, kingsnakes,cornsnakes, are all good suggestions also.
Leucistic rat snakes are very pretty and cheap..
corns and kings come in lots of different colors and are all pretty cheap.

Jason