Thinking about getting a snake, I've never owned one before but always wanted one
What are some reconditions would you guys give for beginners
I know the common consensus for beginner snakes are Ball Pythons, Core Snake and Milk Snakes. But are these overrated?
Are there better options?
I had a cornsnake. one day I saw it had a small red bump under a scale. I resolved to take it to the local exotic vet the next day(I noticed it at 10 pm). I woke up the next day and it was dead. Tbh I underestimated how much I'd miss my snake. I love you Icharus
>But are these overrated?
no they're popular snakes for a reason
they're hardy and hard to fuck up, they're handle-able species which makes them fun to own. the snake is big enough to handle without worrying about hurting it, and its bites won't hurt. exotic vets will know what to do when they have a problem etc.
>ball pythons
the best first snake, their three downsides:
very timid eaters
proper enclosure setup when full grown is like 500-1k, other recommended snakes don't need as much space too
nocturnal and not very active unless you handle them
that's it they're pretty much perfect.
corn/milk snakes are less handleable (but still v handleable) but diurnal/semi durnal, far more active, far more voracious eaters and have a different just as cool aesthetic.
they're also pretty much perfect.
can't go wrong anon.
i didn't like snakes when i got my first snake forced upon me but they're probably my favorite animals now. any of those species will make you fall in love with them. do it gay.
Kenya sand boa. Chillest snake I ever got.
Better yet they hide in sand so it's easy to home them and clean up after them.
Saw a cornsnake today. It was pretty good.
OP here
So after reading this thread and doing some research, I decided that I want a ball python
But there are two concerns I have
1st is their tendencies to go on food stricks. What's the best way to prevent wasting rats when this happens?
2nd is the breeders. From what I've read from across the web, these guys are hated for their treatment on ball pythons and other reptiles. Can I honestly trust these people to sell me a healthy snake?
Should I advoid getting any type of morph?
>What's the best way to prevent wasting rats when this happens?
Keep em dry, get em warm. Of course make sure your snek is warm too
the best way to prevent a food strike is to provide adequate husbandry. do not cheap out and buy a tiny terrarium and shitty heating fixtures with no enrichment. giving a shit about your terrarium is giving a shit about your snake. do not fucking trust youtubers or those stupid starter sets they sell at pet stores, they don't know what they're talking about. ball pythons are really more of an intermediate level snake because of their humidity requirements (bare minimum 55%) and pickiness, although they are wonderfully docile, sweet, curious snakes.
also some retard in this thread said that you feed every week and this is a huge expense. honestly after it's a year old you feed every two weeks, and then three after it's a few years older, and then after five years you can feed around every month. as another anon said, by far the biggest expense is the terrarium you're keeping it in. if you can manage it, consider building a bioactive vivarium, you won't have to clean it because it's its own little ecosystem (but you will have to be okay with having springtails and isopods in there, they're your janitors that eat mold and poop)
do not fucking get any ball pythons with morph issues like spider, champagne, woma, etc. wobble is a serious QOL issue that can't be bred out, and can get worse with time, that moneygrubbing retards keep perpetuating because the morphs that carry it are popular and aesthetically appealing. https://community.morphmarket.com/t/morph-issues-ball-pythons/114
do yourself a favor and take the effort to research some ethical breeders. there are plenty that keep their snakes in barren shallow tubs on a rack system, breed shitty morphs with defects, and these people should be put to death
tl;dr reptifiles has a good caresheet go check it out
I kinda regret getting a hognose instead of a corn snake
I like him and all but the species just isn't what I was looking for. I like that he's cute and the grumpy personality is funny, but it's really more of a look don't touch kind of pet
Which is a shame since he's underground most of the day anyway so I'll go long stretches without seeing him
That can be fun because it's a pleasant surprise when I see him poke his head out from somewhere
And as far as the handling goes it's easy because it's not skittish or anything but also just kinda sits there, it's pretty boring
i need a licence to have a pet snake and it costs $246.40 per year.
www.vic.gov.au/private-wildlife-licences#licence-fees
I have two cornsnakes and am getting a third when the weather cools down enough to allow shipping. They're curious and easy to handle, as well as extremely hardy. I have never had them go off feeding because of stress. When I was in high-school I would bring them in for the bio teacher and let anyone who was interested hold them. Never had any issues. Though if you're gonna be letting them cruise around outside of the tank make sure they've shit beforehand.
snakes are great because they require infrequent feedings. you can easily go on a trip and ignore them for a while. corns and milks are best for this because they can live at room temp (though probably not digest, so make sure they poop before you make them fast). you could turn off their heat and leave em at 75 for a week no problem.
bps are prettier and more fun, though. they're more handleable and they never poop on you. my corn is pretty docile but handling still stresses it into pooping if it has one on deck. my milk snake is pretty but absolutely hates handling, will musk and bite. I've heard other lampropeltis (kingsnakes) are more chill
final consideration: know what you're getting into. 1 rodent/wk x20 years = 1,000 meals. $4 mouse? You're on the hook for $4k. $6 rat? $6k. And they might live longer.
Food isn't really the expensive part. What's more expensive is changing substrate and every so often having to replace the bulbs in your light fixtures.
And of course, the initial expense of setting up the terrarium.
long term it is absolutely the expensive part
caveat: big enclosure (120gal) + frequent substrate changes + exclusive mouse eater and okay maybe. you can buy bulk mice for like $1
>paying $4 for live because I like watching my boy hunt
>people think I'm a monster too
find other sources of bedding, if you can go with cypress mulch then you can bulk buy it at lowes/home depot/any place that sells mulch. it's ~2-3$/2 cubic feet vs aspen 'for pets' is vs bulk aspen is ~32$ for ~2.3 cubic feet. the cypress holds water better too.
>and they never poop on you
Can confirm this is a lie. My bp took a massive fucking shit on me once but that was on me for handling him before he pooped out his last meal.
Shouldn’t dissuade OP from getting one though, ball pythons are great for new herp owners.
>overrated
No. They're popular pets because they're good pets. There's a tendency for noobs to get a dopamine rush and want the KEWLEST herp even if it's beyond their skill level. Keep it basic. Trust me. A year ago I went kind of manic and got a bunch of herps. In time you learn to love the basic ones and rue the advanced.
Cute
>eyelashes
WHY
STOP
Shanefrost likes his non-humans.
indeed he does
I actually wanted to include a picture from that comic before Wauf borked on me.
You can't really handle them that much as they are skittish and like to musk, but rough green snakes are super cool first snakes.
>small footprint
>very active during the day, you will regularly see it moving about in its enclosure (more rare for snakes than you'd think)
>can be communal if enclosure is large enough
>can be housed with green tree frogs and anoles if the enclosure is big enough
>eats bugs and actively chases them down which is both convenient and cool
Like I said the worst part is not being able to be easily handled, though I've seen people who were dedicated enough to get them relatively hablnd-tamed. Loved those MFs more than my Columbian boas and ball pythons.
hand-tamed*
I forgot to mention if you can find them in-store they're like 15-30$ bucks. You can tong feed them and even feed them from your hand. I shill these MFs cuz they're not as popular but IMO way more enjoyable to own.
Will they eat roaches?
Yes, small dubias, but I have red runners and he LOVES those
its corn snake you SIMPLLETON!