Newbie Snake Ideas
- Thread starter jason longboard
- Start date
That's a hard question to answer. There are several tricolor kingsnake species, and a couple dozen milksnake subspecies (not all of which are tricolored). There's no easy way to tell all milksnakes from all other Lampropeltis. Try poking around the kingsnake.com forums for pictures of the different varieties.
reptech;2240922; said:
I've got six STPs right now, the oldest being five years old, and have never had one of them come close to being sick from constipation, nor have I heard about any becoming sick or dying of constipation. Their extremely infrequent bowel movements are a result of their very slow metabolism. If your snake has continual access to water, it shouldn't have any problems defecating. When it comes right down to it, probably any snake would get serious constipation if it didn't get enough water.
Sorry to bump an old thread, but it may help some guys.
Again, its just kind of a rough fast look at some ideas and to be able to see picks of them in one post. I could easily make long detailed explanations to each snake but just ask if you have questions. Since this thread I have acquired a hogg as well, very cool snake, one of my top favs, mine just doesn't grow, little punk.
I still think someone could start with a blood, but they can get pretty big and if it never becomes docile it could be scary to a noob, temps and humidity are important, Im just sayin this ones kind of on the edge of this thread.
Again, its just kind of a rough fast look at some ideas and to be able to see picks of them in one post. I could easily make long detailed explanations to each snake but just ask if you have questions. Since this thread I have acquired a hogg as well, very cool snake, one of my top favs, mine just doesn't grow, little punk.
I still think someone could start with a blood, but they can get pretty big and if it never becomes docile it could be scary to a noob, temps and humidity are important, Im just sayin this ones kind of on the edge of this thread.
Good thing you revived this thread of yours.
Beginner snakes, imo, are Kings and Milks ( for those who like feisty ones and cna handle that awfull musk discharge).
Corn snakes, without the feistiness and the musk.
And Ball pythons, for those, like me, who don't care for Colubrids ( except some non mentionable in this thread ).
All the others mentioned require a little more experience, or, at the very least, age and maturity from the first time owner, imo.
Bloods ( Brongersmai ) used to be agressive. All of them. That is why they were called Blodd Pythons.
And the same goes for both the other two species of Short Tail Pythons ( Breitenstieni, aka Borneo and Curtus ).
They mellowed a lot, with captive breeding programs and are now perfectly manageable snakes ( with some exceptions, of course, because some are mean as hell ).
Anyway, Short Tails can be a beginner snake, if the person is mature enough to handle such snake. They get as thick as a man's calf and some females can get to 7 feet. They are heavy and very strong. And if, joined to taht, you chance on a nasty one, it is not fun.
As to poo retention, I have had a female retaining poo and only being able to get rid of it with a long swim in the bathtub.
As to RH, in my experience ( and on others experience also, as already documented in MFK ) the young ones are very prone to respiratory infections and they do die from that.
People keep them too humid, imho.
My 2 cents, for starters
Beginner snakes, imo, are Kings and Milks ( for those who like feisty ones and cna handle that awfull musk discharge).
Corn snakes, without the feistiness and the musk.
And Ball pythons, for those, like me, who don't care for Colubrids ( except some non mentionable in this thread ).
All the others mentioned require a little more experience, or, at the very least, age and maturity from the first time owner, imo.
Bloods ( Brongersmai ) used to be agressive. All of them. That is why they were called Blodd Pythons.
And the same goes for both the other two species of Short Tail Pythons ( Breitenstieni, aka Borneo and Curtus ).
They mellowed a lot, with captive breeding programs and are now perfectly manageable snakes ( with some exceptions, of course, because some are mean as hell ).
Anyway, Short Tails can be a beginner snake, if the person is mature enough to handle such snake. They get as thick as a man's calf and some females can get to 7 feet. They are heavy and very strong. And if, joined to taht, you chance on a nasty one, it is not fun.
As to poo retention, I have had a female retaining poo and only being able to get rid of it with a long swim in the bathtub.
As to RH, in my experience ( and on others experience also, as already documented in MFK ) the young ones are very prone to respiratory infections and they do die from that.
People keep them too humid, imho.
My 2 cents, for starters
Just an afterthought: A person who ( excuse me for insisting on this aspect ) is mature enough ( in terms of broad and general capability for taking care of an animal and practice good husbandry ) is willing to start with a Short Tail ( Blood, Borneo or Curtus ) can go right ahead , if willing, to Boa Constrictors, if Boidae are more said person's cup of tea than Pythons.
Again, just my opinion.
Again, just my opinion.
I am on a roll, forgive me.
If the a.m. person is one that does not fancy terrestrial snakes and enjoys real pieces of nature ( both in trems of the snakes as their enclosures ) to behold and not to pet ( I am tottally against petting snakes ) and likes arboreals, then a good beginner snake for such ( again, mature, person ) would be the Amazon Tree Boa ( Corallus Hortulanos ).
They are the first step to arboreal snakes, imo. Prepare you for the GTP'S and ETB'S and, later, much later, to the "dark side" of herp keeping, ,that so very special domain, that challenge, the venom.
If the a.m. person is one that does not fancy terrestrial snakes and enjoys real pieces of nature ( both in trems of the snakes as their enclosures ) to behold and not to pet ( I am tottally against petting snakes ) and likes arboreals, then a good beginner snake for such ( again, mature, person ) would be the Amazon Tree Boa ( Corallus Hortulanos ).
They are the first step to arboreal snakes, imo. Prepare you for the GTP'S and ETB'S and, later, much later, to the "dark side" of herp keeping, ,that so very special domain, that challenge, the venom.
