# Pet Snakes, Anyone?



## Aozora (Jun 27, 2016)

I keep and breed corn snakes, and I have a few others just because they're cool. Anyone else keep snakes here?


----------



## TAH (Jun 27, 2016)

They are so cool!! Are they pretty easy to care for?


----------



## Aozora (Jun 27, 2016)

Yeah, corn snakes are American natives, so their care requirements are pretty minimal. They need a warm spot at 85F, and the rest of the cage can be room temperature with no problems. Ambient humidity is just fine, but in the winter if it gets below 40% they like a humid hide (plastic shoebox filled with damp paper towels with a hole in the side) when they're getting ready to shed. Make sure they have water, feed them once every 2 weeks for adults. I buy my mice frozen and just thaw out whatever I need as it's needed (but I do have to warn guests about looking in my freezer, hahaha!) Poo can be cleaned up with a paper towel, and since they only get fed once every 2 weeks, they only have to be cleaned every 2 weeks. They're the best "beginner" snake someone can get. They stay small (max is 5', most are about 42"), and as you can see from the pictures they're quite colorful.

My boa (second picture) is a little more high maintenance, but it's not too much different. He has higher heat requirements and likes higher humidity, but he's a South America native. He's useful to have around... sometimes you get chicks that hatch out deformed, or ones that spraddle... It's the best food for him, and they don't go to waste.

If you handle them a lot, they get really tame. The corn snakes are pretty active, but you can hold them for a good 30 minutes or so before they start warming up and getting too antsy. My boa is a lazy lump, likes to hang out on the couch and watch TV. The best snake for laziness is a ball python--my roommate and I call them pet rocks. I prefer snakes with more personality, myself.

I love the feel of them. They're cool to the touch and smooth. They are an odd mix of solid muscle and squishy give. Their bellies are squishy, and they'll suck in their guts and try to move away if you poke them in the belly. Their sides and top are really muscular. My boa is a dwarf, and I can still make him go where I want him to go, but it's a challenge. A full size boa would kinda just do what it wants and you'd have to deal with it. I refuse to have any animal which could hurt my cat or me.


----------



## TAH (Jun 27, 2016)

WOW they are pretty easy to care for.


----------



## Southern by choice (Jun 28, 2016)

We use to have a Ball Python. She was great! Sadly we lost her - accident.  I really like the Ball Pythons because they stay small and are very slow to move- hence the name...


----------



## TAH (Jun 28, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> We use to have a Ball Python. She was great! Sadly we lost her - accident.  I really like the Ball Pythons because they stay small and are very slow to move- hence the name...


cool. Sorry you lost her.


----------



## Latestarter (Jun 28, 2016)

I love/like/don't mind snakes, but have no desire to "keep" them as a pet. Great to have them around the homestead though and I've never killed one. Even poisonous ones.


----------

