Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there I am a newbie to all this. I have a beardie at the moment and the wife has kept corn snakes when younger. We are looking to getting a snake, my wife likes the ball (royal) pythons and I was looking at the grey banded king. We have been told conflicting things by different pet shops.
Some sites say the python would be a good starter snake and it is easy to keep, but 1 pet shop says they are finicky feeders and that we could run into trouble later on. The one we were looking at was 12 months old and had been power fed to fatten him up, but again the opposite pet shop to where we were going to buy from said that power feeding can create a hungry snake and when we open the viv he would always be looking for food. We also we have small children and he recommended the grey banded king snake.
Not too sure of this snake, I had never seen one before and had lovely colouration, my wife thought perhaps it could be smallish? but we don't know which to chose. We also got told that king snakes are choosy eaters when young and die because of this, please help as we really want to get a snake but are unsure of which for the best tar Rik and Sarah

HI

My name is Kareem.I have worked with kingsnakes for about 7 years now and i would recomend a grey banded kingsnake all the way.BUT!!!!if you have read anything on greybands you will inevatibly have found the part that says youngsters prefer lizards to mice.My 2 adults strike at mice every time and make tame cornsnakes look aggresive!my girlfriend recently baught a baby greyband and for 2 weeks it fed fine and then it just stopd?week to week i tried every differnt method i could think of but it just wouldnt eat.then on the 8th week i found out about a product called lizard maker by T Rex droped a bit of that on a pinky and boom he ate!we slowly weend him off and now he strike feeds every time!if the greyband you have seen is an establishd feeder then go for it they rarely exceed 3 and a half feet and become very tame.i have allso had royals and to give you a quick overview.captive bred royals that feed are brilliant pets and you will rarely encounter problems but wild caught or captive farmed royals can give you a magor headache!

I hope i have been of some help and best of luck whith whichever pet you choose.

Kareem

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1431389,1431615
(great pic of child w/ ball python)

tricky decision: my advice would be to do a lot more research. So much research that when you here conflicting remarks you know which one's correct. I exchanged my kingsnake for a ball because the kingsnake wasn't taming up to being handled (struggled out of my hands, vibrated tail and flicked poo). I went 'shopping' and handled a ball which was so relaxed and gently curious that I knew it was a good pet for me. It could of been the other way around though, a lot depends on the personality of an individual snake.. so handle before you buy would be my advice.

Kingsnakes move faster in your hands, they pick a direction and go for it....thus they are more inclined to zip off between the sofa cushions...this can be fun and exciting, or can make you anxious and frantic depending on the owner.

Ball Pythons are a lot slower and although they do 'sneak off' they are more inclined to just sitting in your hands - they will stay still for longer and seem to have more of an air of patience around them. This can be relaxing, or mabe too boring for some people.

Personally I way prefer handling a ball because I feel more at ease. I have a corn snake and I thought she was the most gentle snake in the world until the ball arrived and made her look 'jumpy'. Ball's just seem to have a slower pace of life which is a nice trait for your pet to behold!

Ball pythons are slightly harder to keep than kingsnakes in my opinion because if you're recreating the climate of, say, Ghana, there's a lot more room for error than if you're recreating the climate of North America. Kingsnakes are hardier, and are inherently more robust to cold winters....so where an error (heating broke or something) will barely effect a king, it might damage a python, or at least put it off food.

Personally I wouldn't buy a python that's been powerfed - I'd get a captive bred hatchling which has fed well several times on frozen/thawed food. It will start small and grow with your little children... and you can rest assured that mistakes haven't been made in it's keeping that necessitate power-feeding.

'We also got told that king snakes are choosy eaters when young and die because of this' I think you can ignore advice like this. No-one would have one for long if this was true.

I'm a bit biased towards balls because I prefer their nature, I also absolutely adore grey-banded kingsnakes - they look fantastic!

Look at these care sheets in the links below, they may factor into your decision.

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymountain/RMHPages/RMHkingsand.htm

Do the research!

Good luck and make sure the snake is right! No rush.

Rat snakes are the best with young children i have a yellow and great plains rat snakes my nepthew who is 8yrs old loves them.

Both of my snakes are calm and docile and never bitten in the years iv'e had them.

You couldn't pick a better snake with young children.

My Snakes and Tarantula and other pets can be seen here.
Link

I believe in "keep it simple". Which means make decisions on ease of care & feeding, along with traits & behavior.

Avoid specialty feeders! Snakes preferring frogs or reptiles should be fed exactly that. Keep them in the wild. Rodent feeders are the best suited for captivity.

I have had the following, for animal companions or study specimens:

Eastern Kingsnake
Desert Kingsnake
Mexican (Sonoran) Black Kingsnake
Baja Cape Kingsnake (nitida)
Baja Kingsnake (conjuncta, my favorite for patterns & color)
Great Basin Gopher
Red-spotted Garter
Northwestern Garter
Black Rat

Kingsnakes are not generally fussy, unless they are a special subspecies like Gray-banded, which prefer lizards. Most Kings take live or frozen mice readily. However, they are often nocturnal (Mexican Black), and not very engaging, usually seeking to escape when held or exercising.

Boas & pythons grow too big. Don't make the mistake that thousands made before you, and eventually end up giving them away to a reptile rescue & small enclosure only partially adequate. What a waste of living gems.

Milksnakes are colorful, but generally skittish and don't prefer to be handled. Like many other small colubrids.

Garters are wonderful, and highly social, but problem feeders. They are HIGHLY social, and prefer being with others. (In the wild, they are often found together, even of unrelated species.) Red-spotteds prefer frogs; mine refused worms & pinkies. Northwesterns feed readily on worms, but are very shy and don't prefer to be handled.

Rat snakes generally grow to be less than 6', feed readily, climb well, and can even be quite personable & active. I have a female Black Rat that is a gem; probably my best snake yet!

Ameron
Portland/Vancouver

0.1 Black Rat