Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My daughter wants here first Snake...some people hv said corn snakes but every one we handled bit us. The Common Boas all seemed real cool and for only $80 seems like a good deal for a baby.

Whats your experience with the most mellow snake that is a good one for a young tomboy who wants a snake REAL bad?

My first snake when I was a 9 year old kid was a Praire King. It was an adult and it was a great first snake. My second was a Cal King that I caught myself, surprisingly tame never musking me or biting me. I didn't get a Boa until I was 15 but when I did that was my favorite, unfortunately I gave up on reptiles soon after at age 20 or so. I know have 15 of them and most of them would be suitable for a well supervised 8 year old.

I am not a child and snake pairing expert but with a little adult supervision and intervention I would definitely recommend a baby BCI. There are plenty floating around. They usually are very mellow, slower moving and not as nervous as colubrids. Their care requirements are more involving than a colubrid but are definitely worth it.

I would stress supervision because Boas can grow to be a large snake and could possibly hurt a young child.

Be careful and ask alot of questions, learning as much as possible before purchasing a Boa.

Good luck.

Thanks! We like the Columbian or "Common" that we saw for about $80 today but they have some Albino ones that are gorgeous for about $175..

Any difference in the temperment of the 2?

Not sure what species the albinos were but I don't think they were Colombian Boas. If they were then they wouldn't be selling for only $175, they usually run near 1K or more. They might have been albino Burmese? And you want to stay away from those.

Another option you may want to consider is a Ball Python. Captive bred Balls make good pets as well, staying relatively small but big enough to handle and not so squirmy.

We handled about 5 Balls and none of them really did much of anything for us. They seem really too mellow for us. The boas we handled were real sociable and climbed all over us and were not very jumpy at all. these were only 2 months old.

The Albino im not sure what kind of Boa it was but I know it was not a Python. Ill have to go back and ask.

He said it was the "cheapest Albino Boa you will ever find"

If it's the cheapest albino boa you'll ever find, then consider a different pet store; somthing's up with this guy.

When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Anyone (especially a pet shop) selling an albino for $175 either doesn't know what he has (unlikely) or knows exactly what he has and is dumping a problem on you.

my 2 cents.
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2.1.0 Kidletts
0.0.1 Ball Pyhton (Rex)
0.0.1 Okeetee Corn (Maizey)
0.1.0 BCI (Ruby)
0.1.0 Cat (Ginger)
1.0.0 Pughuahua (Ranger)

I have an eight year old daughter and a five year old son. My son has done really well with a ball python. After a few months I felt comfortable letting him handle the animal unsupervised at night on his bed as he watches a video. Any other handling is supervised as it leads to "bad" judgment that could injure the animal. I have some pics I can post later. I also noticed that you mentioned the balls didn't do anything for you. Give them a chance, they are very shy and afraid, but will blossom into wonderfully docile animals. They are the perfect size for children in my opinion. But I understand what you mean about boas, I am hooked....

My daughter, eight, does not have her own snake because she just got a puppy and has her hands full. But it is basically the same sutuation when she handles some of the larger boas that I have. She lacks the judgement to keep the animal safe. While walking around with one around her neck she may come to close to the stove etc. The smaller the animal the easier it is to control. If a five foot boa decides its going behind the couch, an eight year old will let it. No fear for my daughter; fear for my boa.

I have been raising children a lot longer than boas though. I have four children in all and eleven boas/pythons. In the end I don't think you can go wrong with either. Just remember that the boa will end up alot larger than the ball. I would give the ball some more consideration.

I've got that same question on my mind to a degree.

I'd say a Ball python...

My nephew is about that age and he wants a snake as well. I was
going to give him a baby Hog, but I want to be sure HE really
wants it, and he's not just picking up on my interests.

Do you know what I mean?

they get about 3 feet on a good day , all the ones i have kept were really tame and if they want to take it a step further i found them real easy to breed. They stay small enough to feed on mice there whole life so you don't have the burden of rat prices and small rabbit prices. if your not wooried about the size a columbian can atain in a realitive short time they are a great snake , infact they were the very first one i ever bought. But theres a different avenue to check out and for better variety and healthy animals goto a reptile show and look at the various types out there you won't find in a pet store. That 175 dollor boa might be a rosy of some sort or a sic animal. look in the classifieds and check out there prices and there usually breeder direct so a petstore will double that price. Paul

you will be able to provide it a larger enclosure when it gets 5 feet, you won't mind feeding killed or frozen thawed large rats IF your child looses interest, you will be able to provide a reliable heat source and a way to control it. While some people here raised many snakes as children, there are ten times more children that kept them for a short period of time and then lost interest. Who has not been at the local reptile shop when a reptile gets returned to the store in real bad condition? Now, I'm not saying you will fall into this category. If you are willing to take ownership if your child fails to do so, then invest in a healthy boa.

P.S. If you did see an albino boa for $200, then that would be the cheapest albino EVER sold. I really doubt it.

Thanks for all the replies gang. After doing more research I think we might end up with a Snow Corn snake to start her off. Even though the babies we got to play with were a bit skiddish ive heard that it goes away with handling.

Any feeedback on this?

corns are nice, small, pretty but they are colubrids.
They like to move. Yes, the biting will go away with handeling,
even baby boas bite more often, a little baby snake doesn't
have much in the way of defense except to bite and when a big
hand is picking it up, it's not sure if it will be eatten or not.
So, yes the biting will stop but the corns are active movers,
my b/f was holding my adult corn on the couch, watching tv,
he looked down and half the snake was into the couch cushions,
so needless to say I got the snake out and destroyed a couch.
For a child, deff supervise any interaction with any snake,
both for the child's safety and more so for the snake's.
I think a rosy or sand boa would also be a good choice, they
stay small and are pretty, and ball pythons are good choice
too, as already stated they are shy at first, I usualy held
my ball for about 10 min, then he would eventually start to
come out of the 'ball shape' and start to explore.
Now, I like corns, so that is a good choice too, I just
wanted to warn you about how active and fast they can be.

(oh and the albino boa for less than $200... did it look
like this:

or like this:
(follow link, not my pic)
http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?photo=220850

Good luck with whatever you decide!

-April

BEFORE you buy! Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll do just fine. I also agree with April about the supervision thing with any snake. Especially if you are particularly fond of your furniture!

A "Snow" (genetic morph) bull snake. They don't get too big (I'm guessing around 5 feet for a male)and you (your child)really don't have to worry so much about humidity and temp erature levels. At least not as much as boas. They are diurnal so they are more active when your child is most likely wanting to watch or handle it, and it was 100 dollars. As an adult it will be mostly pure white all around, pink tongue, and red eyes. They (pituophus) have a reputation for being nasty, but this one is a pussycat. Maybe those corn snakes had been picked up 15 times that day before you got there? Rare to hear of a corn snake with an attitude, but I guess we all have our limit! My son turned 9 June 28, and that snake is about double that size now, and he LOVES that snake! Of course, Boas rule, but IMHO, not for 8 year olds.