pet snakes - Rhunt!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 04, 2004 1:44 pm

Our kitten ate my daughter's fish last night. (His new name will soon be Lucifer.) Now she wants yet another pet. I'm considering letting her have a snake. What would be a good breed? I want one that won't bite us, or be unhappy alone in a tank, or be too expensive. What do you recommend?

Somehow I think the cat is going to eat whatever we get.

Post by **pianomahnn** » Tue May 04, 2004 1:58 pm

Not if you get a rather large snake. . .8+ft. Bye bye kitty.

Post by **Eagleman** » Tue May 04, 2004 2:45 pm

just start walkin around in leafy areas and brush piles...im sure you'll find several snakes. They're starting to come out now in the red.

Post by **rhunt** » Tue May 04, 2004 2:53 pm

Sandy, Lots of options..

Snakes are super easy and very low maintenance. I would consider a corn/milk/king snake. You wouldn't need anything larger than a 20 gal aquarium and a solid wood top which would be completely cat proof. Plus you'll be suprised at how your cat reacts to a snake...fish are a tasty treat for cats but a snake... it'll think twice about trying to eat.

PM me if you want more info..I can help you get set up.

Post by **GWG** » Tue May 04, 2004 3:07 pm

Sandy,

Sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter's pet.

My son has had several snakes in the past. I agree with rhunt on the corn/milk/king snake. The one thing to consider though is that these eat mice so be prepared to the feeding process.

My son currently has a corn snake, a white oak rat snake, 2 garter snakes, and then lots of other reptiles. Fish are a part of the diet for several of his critters.

The garter snakes he's caught around the house have done real well in his cages. They have had babies each year he has had them and at one time, we had over 45 at one time.

He just feeds them worms, crickets, and other assorted bugs.

Let me know if I can help as well.

Post by **Meadows** » Tue May 04, 2004 3:09 pm

Geez, from looking at the title, I thought the snake joke had returned.

Post by **TradMike** » Tue May 04, 2004 3:29 pm

Don't buy any of the large specimens like boas, pythons, etc. They get too big and then you don't know what to do with them.

Post by **rhunt** » Tue May 04, 2004 4:17 pm

very true, I bought my boa when she was about 6 weeks old in 1997, she was about 12 inches long. I kept her in a 20 gal aquarium and feed her small mice. Now she's about 8 feet long, weights in at about 30 pounds(with a full belly) eats large rats and somtimes small rabbits(esp around Easter..lol) and lives in a large custom cage.

Stick to the smaller breeds, unless you are really into the hobby.

some python species can reach 18 feet in lenght in captivity.

Post by **GWG** » Tue May 04, 2004 5:34 pm

My son has a Nile Monitor. He bought it about a year ago when it was about 9" long. It is now close to 2' and will continue to grow up to about 5'. It is eating large mice now and will graduate to rats, rabbits, annoying neighborhood children and barking dogs. Once it gets to that size, fortunately, he will have moved out of the house into his own place by then. He can deal with it.

TradMike makes a great point. Know what it will grow into before the purchase.

GWG

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 04, 2004 6:01 pm

thanks, everyone! I checked into the breeds mentioned, and it looks like the Corn Snakes don't get too big. I will have no problem feeding mice to it, and have discussed it with my daughter. Maybe we'll feed the kitten to it, too?

So do you mail order snakes? Check out this one!