Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mom is thinking about getting my 11 year old brother a snake for his birthday. Can anyone tell me what a good starter snake would be, we are leaning more towards a checkered garter.

I'm not a big snake person but i know a corn snake is a really good starter.
-----
Thank You,
Brad S.

I would go with a baby ball python. I have 1.2 Ball Pythons, 1.2 California Kingsnakes, 2.0 Honduran Milksnakes And 0.2 Rat Snakes. Scott

are there any good starter snakes that you don't have to feed mice to?

You can feed them frozen/thawed mice, you can get frozen/thawes mice at a pet shop. I have a baby 2004 female ball python that eats frozen/thawed mice and my adult male eats frozen/thawed mice to he eats 3-4 frozen thawed mice a week and he will eat frozen/thawed small rats to. No matter what kind of snake your brother gets it will mostly eat mice. Thanks Scott glover

Garters eat earthworms and fish and will tolerate handeling after a while.
-----
Thank You,
Brad S.

I used to keep wc gaters and every time I pict one up it bit be, If you do with a gater snake go with a easter gater snake, you can only get eastern gater snakes at KS. Thanks Scott Glover

I have a suggestion:

The snake that I started with... the snake that I still keep in my collection today... my favorite species...

So diurnal and fascinating. So gentle and easy to care for...

THE NORTHERN BROWN SNAKE OF COURSE!
-----
DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
0.0.1 Eastern ribbon snake
1.1 red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
1.2 fire salamanders
1.1 scarlet kingsnakes
0.0.1 scarlet snake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
1.1 Southern ringneck snakes
0.0.1 night snake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
1.0 rough earth snake
0.1 Northern brown snake
COMING SOON: Western worm snakes, Midwestern worm snakes and West/ Midwest intergrades, more Brahminy blind snakes!

Rough Green Snakes are a good bet to avoid haveing to feed mice. They usually eat small insects and the such.

Redbelly snakes are usually a pretty good choice. They eat earthworms, are incredibly docile, stay small, and are very hardy. Avoid ringneck snakes like the plague. They're really common in a lot of places, but as a general rule, they don't eat well in captivity. In the wild, their diet consists mainly of amphibian eggs, and termites, so they're kind of hard to feed. Worm snakes aren't a bad choice if you don't mind a snake that stays underground most of the time. They're an attractive little snake, never bite, and eat mainly earthworms and slugs. Rough earth snakes also fit into that category. I'd also recommend garters, they're really easy to take care of, they usually tame down, and they're very common. Ribbon snakes are pretty good too, they're like a smaller, more attractive little garter snake. Anyway, hope this helps.
Kevin

get either a corn or a ball python