Hi to everyone on this forum.
I have never posted here but I post on the QP Talk.

My question is..............................................................................
..
Is there anyone out there that is into snakes?

I am looking into getting one.
I had one as a kid and now have the time and $ to get another.

My other half Wayne isn't too keen on snakes.
So we are looking to see what type of pythons/constrictors have a fairly placid temprament.

Any advice would be FANTASTIC.
Thanx.
Tricia.

There are a couple of people on here who have snakes, hopefully they will be online later on, I cannot remember there names offhand, but if we had them here I would have one .. I love them.

I'm really not sure, but I've heard to steer clear of ball pythons, simply because they're very messy. They'll lay in their own droppings, etc. Anyone who has seen snake droppings will know that that is absolutely disgusting!

Not at all! I have one somewhere in my house. I can't find it and I worry about my birds.

I had a friend whose snake got out and ate her bird. I just couldn't go around her any more because she seemed to have no sympathy for the bird. She just said, "well that natural for a snake" and never shed a tear for the loss of her poor sweet little bird. Said she never dreamed the snake could have gotten out of his tank.

I consider myself pretty knowledgeable on reptiles so hopefully I can lend some advice. If you are a 1st time snake owner, I wouldn't recommend a Ball Python, Burmese Python, Reticulated Python, or Columbian Red Tail Boas. Every just about every ball python I've been around or heard about (7+ yrs of retail pet experience) goes through frequent finicky eating habits, especially as the seasons change. It takes an experienced owner to distinguish seasonal food moods vs. something is medically wrong or the environment is wrong. Balls, burms, rectics, and columbian boas will all get large enough to have to eat rats and in some cases rabbits or young livestock - which causes very high food bills. They will eat weekly and when I worked in stores, rats ranged from $3-7 depending on size so you could easily be looking at $300-$400/yr to feed them. Since they get so large (many easily 5-12ft depending on species) they need a very large, very secure enclosure and expensive heating fixtures. Many states in the US have strict laws about snakes. Where I live for example, it is illegal to own a snake over 6ft long - which is several snake species. Special permits are needed because they are viewed as dangerous at this size. So looking into your local govs laws might decide for you too!

I would recommend a corn snake (lots of cool color morphs), kenyan sand boa, children's python, or a rosy boa. These guy are all more manageable in size (all around 3ft, except corns which can get close to 5ft) and have decent temperments. I would do a little research into these guys and see if one fits your needs. Especially if someone in the house is a little unsure of snakes, these would be good choices because they are smaller. If you purchase a baby, they will be about as big as a pencil - which seems less intimidating and then it will grow in size as your comfort level increases. Summer is the best time to get a snake because so many breeders have them available. This increases your choices and decreases their price considerably. I hope this helps!

Thanx heaps for the advice

I am aware of the requirements for housing/heating/security of cage.
We have the set up ready to go, all I need to do is buy 2 locks

We are leaning towards eiter a Diamond Python or Bredli Python


We have heard they have pretty even tempraments
It is good to get feedback from sources other than the breeder.

Thanx again.
Tricia

Both my Daughter and a good friend who is a member of this forum are into snakes. My Friend Breeds and raises and sells them. If I hear from her I will have her get with you so you two can chat.

Those are two species that I am not familiar with, but sine you're in Australia its easy to imagine that different species are more/less popular or easier/harder to get when you're across the world . I did just a fast search and both get fairly large. Since they would both get pretty large, I would start trying to get a baby to eat pre-killed rodents (if the breeder isn't already). Also with large snakes, I think it is very important to feed them in a separate enclosure then their permanent home. The feeding cage can be something as simple as a large rubbermaid storage box with a few holes. Doing this helps with a few things: 1. They don't see the cage opening and a hand coming in as "oh I'm getting fed" so it can help with some hand aggression, 2. They won't ingest any of they cage substrate if you will be using any, & 3. It gives them privacy when they eat since the cage isn't see thru. This way they can focus on eating and not what's going around in the room.

My hubby is big time into snakes. He has kept and bred them for 10+ years. We have 2 Burmese Pythons now and one is roughly 14 ft long and she weighs over 100 pounds. She, as you can imagine, is hard to handle but she has the sweetest disposition. My hubby says that the Diamond/Carpet Pythons can be a little nippy but usually will calm down with handling IF they are captive bred. We have never owned a Bredli's Python so not real familiar with their disposition. We have owned everything from Corn snakes to Reticulated Pythons and all have certain "quirks". Our best snake was actually a captive born and bred Ball Python. That snake was the sweetest that we have owned. It ate consistantly and never showed the slightest bit of aggression. The Retics are a TOTALLY different story!

I've owned and been around an enormous variety of snakes. I currently own a texas speckled kingsnake. Kingsnakes are one of the more docile snakes, and they can kill a rattle snake, so they're kinda interesting in their own respects. I would suggest you look at what you want in the snake. If you want something to look at, an dnot handle that often I would go with something like a ribbon snake. They look like a cool version of a garter snake. Now to house one of these happily they will need a spacious cage with a small water tank big enough to hold feeder fish. That's right i said fish! These guys will hunt in the water for dinner and they will swoop and twirl around like a ribbon. These are very cool and active snakes with low aggression. If you want a snake to handle. I would suggest a corn snake or a kingsnake. They both do get to the 4-5 foot range, but they're managable. (my king is almost 2 and alreay 3.5 feet. I don't like ball pythons for a number of reasons. They are notorious for unexplicably not eating. They also like to ball up as their name implies. This makes it hard to tell if they are defensive or just cozied up. So it can lead to an occassional bite. Here is a brief run down of snake accomodations.

1) never use cedar bedding in their cage. All snakes are allergic to the oils in cedar.
2) temperture dictates appetite as well as shedding. Have a thermometer in thei r cage to keep an eye on temp. and watch for signs of their eyes becomming glazed over, as this is a sign of shedding
3) secure the heck out of the cage. These guys don't tend to sit around and they can amount a bit of strength and can use it to pop off a not so tightly secure tank.
4) research and see if your snake does better with a heat lamp of a heat pad under the tank. Never use a heat rock.
5) offer them somethign to hide under in both th ecool part of the tank and the warm part.
6) make sure they have water. Hydrate them like crazy especially when shedding.
7) don't handle your snake after feeding. You shuold always wait 2 days before touching your snake.
8) If you go the debatibly good route of feeding frozen rodents to your snake don't ever buy them from petco. there is a mile long list of reports about them having frozen mice and rats with all kinds of diseases, and have killed many snakes.
9) Research your snake. You can learn a lot about one particular breed of snake that doesn't apply to many if any other snakes. My kingsnake cannot be housed with any other snakes not even another kingsnake. The kings wild diet consists of other snakes. They are immune to snake venom and can make a quick meal out of just about anything.
10) try not to touch their food with your hands. Don't allow them to associate your scent with their food. Need I say more about why?
11) was before and after you handle the snake. You have germs and they can have hardcore germs. You can die from some of the things that don't even bother them, and vice versa
12) If the snake ever bites you and won't release the bite. Simply turn on the water and put their head under it, making sure that their nose, and the breathing hole on the outside of their throat doesn't get water in it.

That's all the advice I can think of right now. Feel free to get my attention if you have any more questions. Good luck with your choice!

Wow...that's a lot of information. Some of it, I don't agree with (without going into particulars).

I breed and sell Ball Pythons myself. Nearly all of mine are terrific eaters and not the least bit fussy (except two that I purchased somewhere else and will not sell). They never get big enough to outgrow a 20 gallon tank and usually spend most of the time coiled in a hide. (I prefer to house in racks..it's much easier to maintain their temps and humidity)

A lot of their feeding habits (fussy, or not) depends on whether or not they are housed correctly. Similarly none of our animals will eat if they aren't comfortable and secure, right? However, I can honestly say that Ball Pythons do not normally view Parrots as prey; however they can probably be taught to view ithem as prey.

I honestly think that BPs are among the most docile snakes out there. I have a Corn and Bull snake and I can say that I prefer holding my Ball Python to them. This is a full bodied snake that doesn't grow over 3-4 feet max normally compared to the more active snakes, BPs have been compared to rocks (yes the kind that sit on the ground) *seriously!*

Yeah BPs are I guess you could say an "under active snake" and I don't believe I did adequitely touch on their eating habits. Of all the Bps I have owned none of them have really ever had an eating problem. In fact most of my friends have never had that, but it is a problem associated with their species.

If you are more concerned with your snake eating your bird, then check it's diet. My kingsnake definitly will eat a bird, he more then likely would only eat something carnary sized or smaller.

Captive bred ball pythons are great beginner snakes. Harley(my bp) was the first snake I owned. Aren't diamonds in the same family as carpet pythons? My other snake was a jungle carpet. She was very nippy when I first got her, but as she was just hatched and as big around as my pinkie it didn't hurt so..If I remember right they get bigger than carpets, so remember that's going to be a lot of snake to handle some day. I think you can safely handle up to about 6feet by yourself, after that it's something like one person per four feet of snake. It's been awhile since I had snakes so I'm not sure. Also, be very careful. They are escape artists. Mine would bump the lid until they managed to somehow work the pins out. I eventually had to keep about 30lb of weight on the lid plus the clips to keep them from escaping. Thank goodness I didn't have any birds back then, but my sisters gerbil population was signifigantly reduced
My ball was my favorite, he was laid back and would stay draped around you for hours or just sit curles up in your pocket. My jc was alway squirming and moving and hard to keep hold of. She was gorgeous though, bright yellow and black.
Snakes are really not messy, they only go poop maybe once a week so I only scooped that out when needed and cleaned thier tanks when they shedded or about 1x a month. Mine both also ate frozen mice so that was really convenient and easier for me than the live little guys. (not for my mom who did not appreciate them in her freezer )
Now I'm starting to miss having snakes thinking about my guys. I gave them to my cousin when I had my daughter because she was in and out of the hospital and very sick for a long time after she was born so I didn't have time for anyone but her.

I just had to come in here and add my 2 cents worth. I don't like snakes, never will. ha ha . When I was in California and our other lab, Barney, he was outside barking under a lawn chair and when I looked, he was barking at a snake. That was it for me. Sorry, I don't care if they can be friendly or what, I DO NOT LIKE snakes. I just recently went over to Betty's, (she is a forum member) and her daughter had a snake and held it like it was some kind of child, NO NOT ME! It gave me chills all over just thinking about it being there. Ok, I have said my piece. You guys can have your snakes.....Just had to get it out of me.....ewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!