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Anonymous
Hi /an/.

I'd really like a pet snake, but I'm not well-versed in their care and keeping. Are they generally low maintenance? How expensive would all the initial costs be (for the snake, whatever it lives in, some kind of heater, etc.)? What's a good breed for someone who wants to handle it, but doesn't have loads of room? Cornsnakes seem the best option at this point. Anything else I should know?
>> Anonymous
Snake, Aquarium, Substrate, heater/lamp if applicable, and continued electricity and food costs.

It's good that you're doing research though. There's a lot of sites with a lot of good info. Corn snakes, ball pythons, king snakes, and rosy boas all make fairly good pets. But they aren't going to love you, at best they'll tolerate you.
>> Anonymous
Oh, and plan on feeding your snake frozen mice. Feeding them live mice is a hassle and it's possible that they can actually hurt your snake.
>> Architeuthis !n8DM/3U.xE
I reccomend Corn Snakes. In my experience, they have been the friendliest. They make good fashion accesories, too.
Make sure that if you get a baby snake, that it is eating. Sometimes baby snakes don't eat, and they end up starving to death, and sometimes pet stores sell those snakes as if they were normal. A good snake breeder will often sell those un-eating baby snakes for real cheap, because they will probably not start eating, and thus will probably not live long.
>> Anonymous
Red rats {AKA corns} DO make good starters. But.

>>53717
Plenty of snakes won't eat thawed rodents.

It's often easier to bonk them-- A thump on the head for a mouse, or a whack on a table for a small rat-- and toss them in. They'll still twitch, still catch the snake's attention, still unable to harm the snake. Of course, there's a slight chance of them waking up, so it's best to stay close and observe feedings. Which any herp keeper should to anyhow.
>> Anonymous
>>53749
Eep. I have no problem with frozen mice, but I don't think I could kill them myself. Besides, don't most petshops refuse to sell live mice for food?

As for the temperature--I live in the Northeast, and heat is expensive, so during the day the house drops to the 50's, and it's rarely about 65 or so. Would a heating lamp be sufficient, if it were kept on 24/7?
>> Anonymous
>>53855

it's actually pretty good to feed frozen as live or fresh killed ones can carry parasites, and a stunned mouse or rat can potentially bounce back and hurt the snake. no matter how closely you watch the feeding, the rodent could possibly take a snake's eye out before you can do anything.
>> Voleta
>>53749
>>53887

Not to mention the terror that the prey would be in before it dies.

Although I only had one snake, it was a wild caught rat snake, and it would eat thawed mice, quite gladly. If you thaw them well, and loosely loop some wire around, one end (I usually did around the head/neck), you can pretty easilly convince the snake that the prey is live. just be sure to keep the un-wired end twoards the snake so it doesn't eat the wire.

Its less cruel, healthier, and safer for everyone to feed dead food to your reptiles whenever possible. Rodents are fed good food (well, good for the snake, anyway) before they are euthanised.
If you must feed live food, please make its last moments good ones, give it a treat or pet it, before you knock it out. Every being deserves to be loved once in its life, and to die unafraid.
>> Anonymous
>>53887
Doesn't change the fact that there's always the snakes who won't take frozen, no matter what. Out of the two hundred something I work with every day, we've got about twenty something who won't accept frozen, or even stunned. But we do pre-killed when possible.

Breeding your own mice like I do for my varanids helps, too. When you raise them and care for them yourself, they're generally healthier.

>>53888
Yeah, I'm not going to baby a rodent before I kill it. Thanks. They're reptile food, straight up.

But maybe that's the professional in me.
>> Anonymous
Less headbutting, eh, children?

I think we can all agree that the OP would be better off finding a snake that's ready and willing to eat frozen.. for the sake of convenience and the snake's health. A picky snake is going to be harder to care for if you're new to owning snakes. Yes? Okay.

I'd recommend finding a good breeder/pet store and getting familiar with them. Go to your local pet store and browse, pick up some snake enthusiast magazines, get an idea of what you need/want/would be spending. Talk to some knowledgeable employees.
>> Anonymous
>>53855

>Besides, don't most petshops refuse to sell live mice for food?

Um, actually they breed mice just -for- that purpose. They keep them in the back with the worms, crickets and other 'food' animals for pets. While you may be correct in assuming if you wanted to get one of the pet mice as food they'd refuse, most pet stores have mice and other creatures -just- for that purpose.
>> Anonymous
"Fancy" mice and rats, the ones raised to be pets, are usually more expensive anyway (partially to deter people who want feeders).

But there are still a few pet stores who will not sell small mammals as feeders. PetSmart is a good example.
>> Anonymous
>>53855
Under tank heater.

You can't leave a light on 24/7. Unless you opt for a red bulb, which I've never been a huge fan of, save on my gecko tanks.
>> Anonymous
>>53909
Thanks. That's not much of a fire hazard, is it? Seems like it would be.

I guess I'd try to get an adult corn that is known to eat frozen mice, but I saw a baby the other day and it was mighty cute. Oh well.

Anyways, I'll have plenty of time to take all this into consideration seeing as my mother won't let me have a snake in her house because they freak her out, and I don't know what I'd do with it once I go to college in a year and a half anyway. But thanks, all.
>> Anonymous
>>53715
"I has a mouse"
>> Anonymous
snakes are low maintenance but the startup is a pretty substantial amount of money. aquarium, substrate (any vet will tell you newspaper is fine for snakes) heat lamp, crawl sticks, uva/uvb light(very important!), and awater bowl that cant' be tipped. Do NOT use heat pads or rocks as they often burn your pet and any reptile that won't eat pre-killed will eat it if you purchase a vibrating food dish which is about $50.
>> Anonymous
>>55123
Fail for blinding lack of experience in herp keeping.

UVA/UVB is actually pretty pointless on snakes, especially coloubrids like what the OP is leaning towards, as they're mostly nocturnal.

Vibrating food dishes are marketed towards people who keep lizards and are squeamish about insects. They hardly ever do anything to help a picky snake. Or the lizards they're geared towards, for that matter.

Hot rocks are fail, but under tank heating pads are life savers if used properly.