Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok....its down to these three snakes (Snow Corn, Albino California King or Albino Checkered Garter)....I was looking for a snake that has these qualities:

Fun to handle
-not too shy (doesnt get stressed too easy by moderate handleing)
under $100
-Doesnt bite
-not nocturnal
-3 to 6 er 7 feet total length
Albino in color with nice red or reddish eyes
Juvenile preferably or baby

Please give me your opinion....thank you....
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Eric

>>Fun to handle

I guess that depends on what you call fun? All of these snakes are easy to handle. The corn is probably the most docile from the start.

>>-not too shy (doesnt get stressed too easy by moderate handleing)

Again, the corn is the best of the three you listed.

>>under $100

The corn would be the cheapest of the three but the cal kings are pretty cheap as well.

>>-Doesnt bite

All snakes bite. You want a snake that is less likely to bite you. The gartersnake would be the least likely to bite followed by the cornsnake. Neither is likely to ever bite you. Some kingsnakes are unpredictable and will occasionally bite (mostly feeding errors).

>>-not nocturnal

All these species are nocturnal to some extent.

>>-3 to 6 er 7 feet total length

The gartersnakes won't exceed 3 feet, the king and corn might reach 5-6 feet.

>>Albino in color with nice red or reddish eyes

All of the above.

>>Juvenile preferably or baby

baby corns and calkings are a dime a dozen right now. You should have NO problem choosing from among dozens of each at any herp expo. The albino checkered gartersnakes are less commonly bred and babies are kind of a pain to get eating.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX

First of all, thanks Chris for the rsponse....I was wondering out of the three which one is less likely to be nocturnal or the least nocturnal....I wanted to have a snake that I could hold and handle during the day without upsetting the snake too much...I have heard and read that corns are for the most part nocturnal and spend most of the day sleeping....is this a myth or is this true?...thanks for your time....
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Eric

I have two corns a albino and a snow, they have never biten me once besides a feeding mistake, they never get upset when being held by anyone.They are always moving aroung during the day when im in that room with them, besides a few times. They are great snakes and id say ur best bet, but its ur choice.

My first snake was a normal checkered gartersnake that was born in captivity from my friends wild caught snake in San Antonio, Tx. I saw an albino checkered at a expo a couple weeks ago, it looked pretty cool. I have 3 kingsnakes now and two corns too. The kings musk/crap on me everytime I pick them up and are more nervous about me being around than the corns. I've had several differnt corns and they are all cool. Corns are without a doubt the best first pet snake and you really can't go wrong with them. The are active, hardy, easy to feed and handle, and get to be an impressive size without being intimidating. So, while all are really cool, I'd have to say go for the corn, you'll enjoy it the best.
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1.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.1 Ball Python
1.1 Corn Snake
0.1 Gray band Kingsnake
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
0.1 Pueblan Milksnake
1.0 Bullsnake
1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback
0.1 Spouse
8 ball python eggs due any day now!