Snake Suggestions

Im thinking of getting my first snake,this is what I'm looking for.

Handability/temperment.
Keep at Room Temp/doesnt need fancy lights/
easy eater/food easy to raise/find.
stays small/med. in size.
decent prices/availability.

also add live bearing off spring if possible. if I decide to breed, dont want to mess with eggs.

Any particular interests? Boids, colubrids, etc.?

Tandy

was thinking colubrids or coastal/rosy boas. Also Tandy, Richard Keithy says hi. I stopped by his nature center and we chatted for a bit about herps.

Cool. I haven't seen Richard in awhile. I can only think of 5 or 6 live bearing colubrids right off hand and I wouldn't recommend them as hobby snakes. I've never worked with rosy boas, etc. so I'm not much help there. I am totally in love with my black milk snake and hoggies. I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback on particular snakes.

Tandy

How are hoggies? I really like there looks, and hear they have personalities. are they live bearing?

Evilwezal wrote:How are hoggies? I really like there looks, and hear they have personalities. are they live bearing?

They are awesome and they do have distinct personalities but they are egg layers. I work with a lot of natives and the only relevant live bearers I can think of right off hand are the garter, water, ribbon, and earth snakes-none of which are popular pets. I'd almost rather be sprayed by a skunk than get musked from a water snake. I can't think of any colubrids popular in the pet trade right now that are live bearers, simply put, do not require artifical incubation from the breeder. In the big picture, live bearers are the exception and not the rule.

The hoggies are also great becasue of their size. A large adult will be about 2 feet long and depending on the species usually maxes out at 30 inches or so.

Tandy

"Im thinking of getting my first snake,this is what I'm looking for.

Handability/temperment.
Keep at Room Temp/doesnt need fancy lights/
easy eater/food easy to raise/find.
stays small/med. in size.
decent prices/availability
live bearer"

Kyle,

Given your criteria, it's going to be difficult to recommend a species and Tandy has

already given you some good info.

Here's my 2 cents:

* Handability/temperment: Corn Snakes, Black Milks or Ball Pythons

* Keep at Room Temp/: Depending on what you mean by room temperature ??

Many colubrids will do fine at "room temperature" without supplemental heat unless

the ambient temperature drops below the upper 70's.

* doesnt need fancy lights/: Many snakes do not need supplemental lighting.

* easy eater/food easy to raise/find: Corn Snakes

* stays small/med. in size: Many colubrids and Ball Pythons

* decent prices: A few of our native species make good pets and they're free.

IMO the Prairie King is the best choice.

* availability: native, Corn Snakes, Milk Snakes, Kingsnakes, Other Rat Snakes, or Ball

Pythons.

* live bearer: None of the above.

Garter Snakes give live birth, but I wouldn't keep them as pets.

Note: If you ever decided to breed your snakes, and if you use the incubation

method used by Tony Baum, Johnny Abbott and I, it's not a hassle.

Bottom line: IMO the best first snake is a Corn Snake or a Black Milk Snake.

Both come closer to meeting the majority of your criteria than other species.

Hope this helps.

you guys really love your black milks, somebody must have gotten you all punch drunk on them. I confess though I like them too, but a more cost effective alternative with an equally swell disposition is a nigridis. The problem is that both can get over 4 feet and that is probably bigger than they want. Corn snakes are a fine first pet. My best advice is to just find something you really like and not worry about live bearing or egg laying. If you like what you have it is easy enough to figure out.

I'm not familiar with "nigridis", but if you're referring to nigritus (the Mexican Black

Kingsnake), I agree they are really cool snakes.

I've kept both species.

Of the two, I prefer Black Milks (gaigeae) because:

1.) nigritus are nocturnal and tend to hide during the day

2.) gaigeae are larger, heavier bodied snakes and IMO are more impressive.

Nigritus usually top out at about 3 feet while gaigeae get to be about 5 feet.

3.) Although nigritus are usually fine with handling, gaigeae are even better and have

a reputation as "gentle giants".

I would not use nigritus in my programs, but I use gaigeae all the time because of

their temperament.

My 2 cents.

my nigritus were both over 5 feet and were very gentle. But with all species it varies from animal to animal. Probably though both are too big for what he is looking for.