Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm getting a snake after the holidays. It will be my first snake. I have limited experience with herps. I currently only have a tiger salamander, but I've watched bearded dragons and kept anoles for people over short periods of time (2-5weeks). The problem is, I live in georgia, and a lot of the snakes recommended for people who are just getting started are illegal in Georgia. My question is, what would be a good choice of snake that's legal in GA? There are a lot of illegal species in , but i'll just list the ones that I've seen for sale as pets.

Snakes Illegal in Georgia

Corn Snake
Garter Snake
Indigo Snake
Black, Eastern, Mole, and Scarlet kingsnakes
Milk Snake
Florida and Northern Pine Snake
Black, Grey, and Yellow Ratsnakes
Almost all Water Snakes

This is by far not the full list, but these are all the ones I've seen for sale. I know people who keep these snakes and have had no problems with the laws. We don't have people going door to door seeing if you have a corn snake, but if my snake gets sick, I can't take it to the vet seeing as it's illegal, and this isn't really fair to the snake.

My question is what are some other snakes I should consider as starters. My only limitations are that I don
t want anything that exceeds 7-8 feet and preferably something I could get for under 250 dollars.

Note: Any king snakes not indiginous to Georgia are legal.

Are you sure that possession of the snakes on that list is illegal or do they simply require a permit of some kind? In Louisiana, we must have a fishing license to keep any snake that is native to Louisiana. The license costs about $10, and we only need to buy it at Wal-Mart with no questions asked. I'd be surprised if Georgia really has a law banning corn snakes as pets, but I guess I should never be too surprised at the stupidity of some laws.

In any case, I'd suggest that you look at ball pythons, California Kingsnakes, and the Thayeri Mexican Kingsnakes. The Thayeri don't get very big, and they can be very pretty. You need to check out the Mexicana sub-forum on the kingsnake forum page to see more of these animals. There are plenty of places to look at pictures of California Kingsnakes, and they are very popular as pets. I have one that I bought when he was an adult. I've had him for two months, and I like him very much. Ball pythons require a little more nuanced care, but they are nice snakes as well. Any of these animals would fit your "beginner snake" criteria.

Good luck,

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

All non-venomous herps are protected in Georgia.

In GA it is illegal for someone to catch a gartersnake and take it home as a pet but you can get a permit to round up the remaining Eastern Diamondbacks and chop their heads off to make paperweights. Go figure.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I'm saddened to hear that Georgia has such a restrictive and quite frankly stupid law. What's sadder is that the law was probably promoted by people who consider themselves herpers. I understand the desire to protect animals, but preventing people from being able to catch a snake occasionally and see it for themselves will only lead to more people being ignorant of and afraid of snakes.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

Yes, I'm positive. Almost all reptiles indiginous to Southeastern U.S. are illegal here. The only real exceptions being timber rattlers and copperheads which can be kept with a permit. Most herpists in Georgia seem to just blatantly ignore the laws. I see corn snakes for sale by Georgia Breeders, at Flea Markets, and even at pet stores. The two herps that really get me are garter snakes and green anoles, both are illegal in GA. It's ridiculous, I used to catch anoles by the dozen when I was younger, and there's definitely no shortage of them now.

now thats a stupid law.
ive heard in massachussetes (probably spelled wrong) you cant buy alcohol on sundays
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (mazy)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

Here's a somewhat objectively ranked table of snakes that make good beginner snakes. They are ranked in order based on the criteria listed in the columns to the right (key below).

You might want to consider a couple of things -

What temperature regime will it need? Keeping a kingsnake or north american ratsnake is simpler than keeping a ball python, for example, since BPs require higher temperatures all the time.

What will it eat? Snakes that eat rats are more expensive to feed than snakes that eat mice.

Does it require specialized caging/husbandry? Some snake require high humidity (Rainbow Boas, Treeboas) that make their care a little more specialized. Some snakes require climbing branches. Some snakes will use any form of hide box, others prefer to burrow in the substrate.

Some of the inexpensive snakes on the list you should consider would be
- baird's ratsnake
- california kingsnake
- mexican black kingsnake
- rosyboa
- brown housesnake
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

I have to say that personal favorites on the list are the western hognose (I have 4) and rainbow boa. I also live in GA and there is no problem with the western hognose here, just don't try to keep easterns. I also find it hard to believe that some of the larger Boids made it on this list(burmese and reticulated pythons) as they definitely get too big too fast for a beginner.

I also find it hard to believe that some of the larger Boids made it on this list(burmese and reticulated pythons) as they definitely get too big too fast for a beginner.

I agree completely. I only put them on there as they are so common in the hobby that it would be less informative to ignore them. You will notice they ended up near the bottom of the list. There are quite a few snakes on that list that I think are inappropriate for beginners (rough greensnakes, green tree pythons
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Chris's list is a good one. I'd frankly lean towards Thayeri, an AZ mountain king, Trans Pecos rat snake, Bairds, or some of the smaller pythons or boas types may work though they have humidity requirements.

Just make sure the snake in question is docile, healthy, willing to eat f/t unscented mice, comes from a reputable place and all of that stuff you've probably already read umpteen times.

I'm hesitant to recommend a Cal King, since even though they're beautiful, a good size and hardy, some of them can be little maniacs when it comes to food. Or anything they think is food...
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

for your first snake i highly recemmoend a black milksnake,if legal of coarse.easy to keep,great feeders, laid back and watching them change from tri colors to jet black is really kool.not quite as big as your looking for but great all around snake.