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ive wanted a snake for quite some time....
I have a 29 gallon tank with a crack in it that can no longer be used for fishies....
im thinking about abusing this upsetting turn of events and turning the tank into a pretty planted vivarium...
I thought about frogs...but honestly I don't need my brids chirping like tree frogs LOL!
so im thinking snake...
and im stuck trying to decide between corn snake and ball python.
I want an easy to care for snake that I can handle and will be easy on the eyes too...
he or she would be in my living room...I don't own a tv so my tanks are my entertainment
Thoughts?
I love the coral mutations in the corns...
and the spiders in the balls...
We used to have ball pythons. They are awesome snakes. A male could live in that size tank it's entire life, but if you get a female you'd need to upgrade in a year or two. They are very docile snakes, easy to handle. You will need to handle it regularly though (once or twice a week) so it always will be. They can be picky eaters sometimes, but if you get one from a reputable breeder at a reptile show, they should only sell them once they are eating strong and consistently. They eat about once a week, but it is not unusual for them to go off feed for months at a time. ALWAYS feed them in a separate bin outside their tank.
You need a warm side and a cool side with at least one hide. The warm side should be in the low 90s, the cool side in the mid 70s. Humidity around 60%. The water bowl needs to be large enough for the snake to fit it's entire body in snuggly. When the snake is in shed it will often soak and you will need to keep the humidity up a bit by spraying it down with water. If the air is too dry, the shed will stick and come off in pieces. NEVER pick at or pull off stuck shed from any reptile. This is very painful. With proper humidity, it will eventually come off on its own.
Spiders are beautiful, but they are prone to head wobble. We had several spiders and none had this trait, but if you want one, take it out and watch move around to make sure it doesn't have this or that it is minimal. Prices for ball morphs have dropped significantly over the past few years. You can get some really cool stuff for a few hundred bucks now.
they are super pretty
I LOVE the pieds, but those prices even coming down are still not doable for me lol.
temperament is my main concern though and I had herd balls were pretty easy going
Yes. For the most part. We had a few feisty females, but for the most part they are pretty calm. We had about 40 at one time and kept them for about 3 years. Each of us only got bit once during the entire time and they were just defensive bites (snap and let go). It really doesn't even hurt .
I wouldn't feed live, had a frined whos very expensive exhibition snake got torn up by a very feisty rat...not worth the risk to me, hence not wanting a species whos particularly picky about frozen/thawed.
I wouldn't feed live, had a frined whos very expensive exhibition snake got torn up by a very feisty rat...not worth the risk to me, hence not wanting a species whos particularly picky about frozen/thawed.
Ball pythons can be picky and some will only eative, but we always fed frozen/thawed and never had a problem.
And if you feed live properly, you snake will never be in danger. You NEVER leave live prey unattended in the snake's enclosure.
oh his was fed in a separate tub...that rat just had NO intentions of becoming dinner...he put it in and before he could blink it had latched onto the snakes face right neer his eye...poor snake was thankfully ok after some cleanup and reament, and the rat (who became known as Taz) whent on to live a long life as a pet... but the snake had some pretty nasty loking scaring after that and had it been unsupervised it could have been truly serious...
funnily enough the snake that had refused pre-killed in the past would ONLY eat pre-killed fter the incident...I swear poor guy (or girl, I dunno which) was traumatized! Probably had nightmares of killer rats lol.
ive had pet rats and know some just have no intentions of going quietly, and that little guy was fast as lightning.
I had a corn snake for several years. While they're interesting initially, but for me after the novelty wore off he was fairly boring. Snakes just eat 1-2 x week, and then don't do much the rest of the time. Sure, if you leave the cage open (keep an eye on them), they'll sometimes come out and slither around.
Snakes don't really have much personality. Sure some are docile, while others are more aggressive, but their behavior seems almost entirely instinctive. If they're handled at an early age, most will get used to it and don't seem to mind it, but overall they seem mostly oblivious to us.
It's important to consider because it seems many like the initial idea of a snake as a pet, but judging by how many ads on craigslist I see for 'free boa', 'free python', etc, the appeal isn't long-term.
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