Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have never had a snake and was looking into getting one. I have had and iguana for a year and he recently escaped and was never found, we think he got outside. I have a huge cage! I just started looking at snakes and i'm not sure what I want to get. My mom hates snakes and is very against me getting on and having it in her house. But i'm working on that, and I think she might give into it sense I told her it takes a long time for them to get big. What would be a good snake thats not aggressive and easy to care for??? I really want to get one but I can't decide if I want a snake or another iguana.

seymorspal,
Check the oven!! Kidding, (see my post just before this one).

How old are you by the way?
I am new to snakes, I just got my first one in September. I wasn't allowed to have snakes in my parent's house either. I did a lot of research before getting my first snake. I looked on the net to see what people recommended as good first snakes and then read about each of those. I finally decided on a corn snake. I chose the cornsnake because A) They come in a wide varieties of color variations. B) They have a rather short lifespan, about 10 years. Opposed to something like a ball python at 50 years. For a first snake I felt it was important to me to know that I liked them before getting more, 50 years is a very long time to have to take care of an animal you don't really like. C) Their care was relatively easy and caging requirements rather small.

Some things to concider whenever getting a new animal is that housing cost is usually more than the animal itself. Also, vet bills can sometimes far exceed the cost of the animal. And also you don't want to scare or deceive your loved ones, so if ultimately Mom says, "No" then "No means No". And you will always have a chance once you are out of Mom's house to own whatever you like.

Try educating Mom, maybe taking her to a store or reptile swap where she can see and handle them. Or maybe join a reptile club to show her you are sincere about wanting to learn about these wonderful animals.

I'm 17 to answer your first question.

I've been doing alot of reasearch. I have been looking into ball pythons, carpet pythons and milksnakes. I have a big cage about 6ft tall that my iguana was in so I can't put a milksnake hatchling in it. He could get through the screen. I want an animal that i'm going to have for a while. Thats why I had the iguana. They live for a long time and become part of your family. Seymor was part of ours. I live with my dad now so I have time to convince my mom. She is at a "maybe, i'll think about it now" I gave her the just be open minded speech. lol. I'm going to take her to the store next time I see her and let her see the snake. She should come around plus i'm only living there for two years so he won't be full grown in that time. I havn't seen where i can get a corn snake around here. No stores sell them and I havn't heard of anyone with one. I'll have to look into that.
thanx for your help!:c)

Glad you're getting a snake as part of the family. They're cool animals and a corn snake is one of the best for novices. Worst comes to worst, you can order him/her online. Live shipping isn't cheap, but it's worth it for the snake you want.

A concern about your cage, screen may not be the best for a snake. It sounds roomy and screen is marvelous for chameleons and a few others (who knows, maybe an aviary), but with snakes there's the danger of nose rubbing, escape, (or botched escape where the snake gets stuck) and of course, the more practical matters of heat loss and humidity loss. You may need to find another cage for your new pet. Make sure it's incredibly secure since snakes are astounding escape artists.

If you want some research resources, scroll down Snakes General Forum and I have a new post titled something like "Dan, I don't know if you're still reading but..." and that has some good references.

Anyway, good luck!
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

The cage has a screen door mesh on it right now. We built the cage so i can upgrade it if i need to but i can't afford to buy a new cage. I used to spray the cage three times a day very well. Igaunas need alot of humidity when shedding. I can remodle the cage, i thought of putting wire that has very small holes on it, or plexy glass. Plexy glass cost though and i'm 17, in school and working every night with car payments and insurance and trying to save for college so i'm pushing it. I have money to care for my pets though so don't look at it that way but i can't afford to spend more than i have to.

What do you think about ball pythons? Are they good starter snakes? I have had lots of animals ranging from dogs to tarantulas to iguanas so i keep animals alot and always research before getting a new pet.

Thanx for your help
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Keana Lynch

Car payments, insurance and college. Ouch! (I realize this is a herp forum and not financial planning, but have you considered spending the first two years at a local junior college and then transferring? May save a little money and you'll probably have priority transferring to whatever college you want.)
That aside, you'll probably need plexiglass but you can go to the caging forum with a picture or exact description and get a second opinion. I don't know all too much about caging.
And with a little snake in a 6 ft cage, you'll need to get him/her some really nice hiding places and maybe some fake plants.
Corns are slightly easier, but ball pythons still make pretty nice starter snakes. Especially if you get a captive bred baby from a good breeder. They're attractive, relatively hardy, gentle tempered and max out at 6 feet tops for a big old female.
The three main catches are that they don't move much, they are known to fast for long periods (doesn't hurt the snake any but it could drive the owner batty), and they have been known to live nearly fifty years (long term committment, which can be a good thing). Ball pythons will demand more humidity than corn snakes.
Anyway, glad you're doing your research now.
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Yeah i'm going to a two year college first unless i get into UNC but i'm paying for college myself so yeah lots of stress lol.

I went yesturday night and looked at some snakes and i think that i'm just going to get a glass aquarium to put them in. alot of yard sales around here have aquariums and i might get one there or maybe from walmart. I know i need to get a lid with locks on it and find some way where he/she can't get out. How can I prevent escape?? Thats a big issue in my house with my parents. They are scared of him escaping like my iguana.

Where/how can I find a ball python hatchling?

How big do corn snakes get?Can they stay in a glass aquarium?
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Keana Lynch

Corns can be kept in a glass aquarium. You can get an aquarium and a screen lid that just rests on top but I'd bet once the snake gets older he'd get loose. There are commercial reptile terrariums with slidding screen lid that lock, they are real secure but they are also pricier. I'd imagine that the 6 foot aquarium doesn't have much floor space, corns are terrestrial so it's best to have long and low. Maybe you could redesign yours, but that also seems like a HUGE space if you get a hatchling. I have mine in a 29 gallon aquarium and I've had trouble finding him a couple times because he's been balled up tight in the bedding. A 5 to 10 gallon tank would be alright for a hatchling but you would have to plan on spending money for an upgrade in a couple years. I've heard of a couple people keeping corns in plastic shoe boxes with holes drilled for ventilation. That could be a very inexpensive temporary solution. Then maybe you could ask for a nice tank as a Christmas or birthday present?
A corn will reach full size (5-6 feet) in the matter of a couple years. Growth and maturity are a function of how much they eat, so theoretically you could slow down that process by feeding him less often.
I'm surprised that you can't find corns in your area. They are rather popular. It took some research but I found a couple shops that specialize in reptiles in my area, they all carry corns.
Find out if there is a reptile swap in your area, they are sure to have just about anything you'd be looking for. We have one here in Chicago area that happens twice a month. It's also a great place to pick up frozen food.

One more thing, I had a lot of trouble finding live food for my snake to eat before I got him onto frozen. Getting a slightly older snake who is already eating frozen is a good solution, otherwise make sure you have access to live food before purchasing. A hatchling needs several live meals to acquire an appetite.

Ball python would have been my second choice. Cool behaviors and neat to look at.

In my house "maybe" usually turned into "yes" in my household, so keep trying!!!

Molly

Well something very suprising happend last night, my iguana after almost a month came out of hiding. I have no clue how he is still alive, everyone told me he had to be dead by now and he hasn't had food or heat. I'm so excited that he's home. But i'm still getting a snake. so i'm getting an aquarium for the snake. I have a ten gallon now that my anole is in but we are moving her to a smaller cage and i might put the snake in there. I'm waiting to talk to a lady in Charolette who has a bunch of snakes that she adopts out and sells. I'm going to try and go there to see if there is any corn snakes or pythons. I live in north carolina and all the pet stores sell live food and i live out in the country so we have all the mice my snake could possibly eat just around my house. I think the "maybe" is going to turn into a "yes" because i have been telling them about it everyday.

This is seymor when i first got him!

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Keana Lynch

Hey, I'm glad that Seymor is back! Congrads! Compared to us mammals, reptiles can be astoundingly resilient. Still, for an iguana, a month MIA and a safe return is pretty impressive.
Ten gallon will probably be perfect for a baby snake.
Um, in my opinion, it's probably best to order frozen mice online. Shipping's a bit pricey, but vaccum packed rodents last a year or two before any freezerburn worries, and just taking them out of your freezer and thawing is pretty convenient. Basically with live mice, there's the danger of them turning on the snake. (can't really blame the little things) And with wild mice, you don't know where they've been, so there's the danger of some mouse borne parasite, disease or ingested toxin being passed on to your snake. And I've no idea of how to reliably catch the little beggars...
Cool pic! Parents can be very hard to convince to allow new pets. (I don't wanna talk about my epic struggle ) But with Seymor and your anole already in the house, there's one foot in the door...
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0.2 chickens (Falcon & Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.0 Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (coming soon)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Awesome! I'm glad you found him. I lost an iguana once, I found him after three weeks on the top shelf of the closet, I heard him scratching around. BTW where was he?

I agree about the frozen mice, they aren't too expensive and they are the best thing for the health of your animal. My uncle's 6 foot boa died of a guinea pig bite, it just festered and the snake was never able to get over it. It can really happen.
If you do choose to use live many experts advise that you never leave the live food item with the snake for more than 20 minutes to help prevent this from happening.

He was in my closet. We heard him moving aroung and there he was crawling out of a box of old clouths. I probably will use frozen mice. The guy I go to for all my iguana stuff was telling me about some stuff the other day and told me they were the best too. I can deal with frozen that works for me. Then i don't have to catch the mice in my house (we do anyway but then i don't have to touch them and feed them to my snake)
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Keana Lynch

Hey, I looked under events listed on this site and it looks like there is going to be a reptile show in Raleigh, NC April 30th to May 1st.
Unfortunately the website wasn't working when I tried it but here is a link anyway, maybe it will be working later.
http://www.reptileandexoticanimalshow.com/nc/

Now i'm excited, thats about 2 hours from here so i'm going. I can't wait! I'm going to a Spider/bug thing this weekend with my BF for our anniversry but he doesn't know yet. He has a torantulla and 2 scorpians and loves spiders. And some time in may we are going to a snake thing at the natural science center here. I'm so excited now because i really wanna go to that in raleigh! Never been to a reptile show before.
Thanx
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Keana Lynch