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Well...I'm a new snake owner myself...


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Posted by Nicodemus on April 07, 2003 at 18:11:59:

In Reply to: looking for posted by Snakeman5124 on March 30, 2003 at 14:06:01:

Not an expert, but I can tell you what I found out when I was researching.

Decent beginner snakes are (from what I read) Rosy boas, Ball Pythons, Corn snakes, and some King snakes. There are others, but I found these are easiest to obtain and typically real easy to find captive bred.

I've read various things of Sand boas. Some people say they are great first snakes, but other say they can be a bit tricky at times. The same goes for the king snakes.

I've seen beutiful specimens of all of these, although I thought the albino rosies are kinda ugly. Kings and sand boas look amazing with some incredible coloring. Balls have some nice patterns.

King snakes tend to get pretty long...sometimes around 7 feet...and need larger pens.
Rosys and balls rarely get above 3.5 feet (I think balls can get a tad bigger). I have my rosy in a 20 gallon long.
Corn's get around 4.5 feet.

I've never seen a "real active" snake, but I can say that corns and rosys are pretty active. Mine has just recently figured out she can burrow in the aspen, so I see her a little less now, but as long as she's happy.
Corns and Rosys tend to be pretty active.
Ball pythons and kings seem kinda sluggish (from what Ive seen).
Sands tend to hide alot.

As for care, I'd say corns and rosys are easiest and tend to be real hardy snakes. The others are still pretty basic snakes, but from what I've been reading they have quirks from time to time.


Personally I'm very biased towards the rosys. I love mine. Eats great, very tame, active enough to make her very interesting to all who see her (unlike something like a pacman frog)...kind of a plain girl (chocolate rosy, cream and chocolate brown stripes), not all dolled up with cheap street walker colors like SOME snakes...just kidding :)
Plus I love the idea of the size of when she's full grown. At 3-3.5 feet, its just like the perfect size. Not too tiny...not too big. And I don't have to worry about a huge tank for her.



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