My First SNake I Need Help!!! ?

Question

i am about to buy my first snake i am completely new to it any experts please give me a step by step guide? on like housing what i should look out for how many times i should feed them what i should feed them what time what temperature, and i also want to be able to breed them at one point so if you know step by step what to do for breeding i would appreciate it!

im getting a ball python or a albino cornsnake....maybe a pastel python but any info will help THanks!

Answer 1

Albino Corn Snakes would be a great begginer snake. You shouldn't really get a pastel. I wouldn't suggest a ball python either, remember they are really nippy eaters. They go on long hunger strikes. But if you really want to get one go ahead. I have one myself.

Okay back to the albino corn..

You will need a night light and daylight bulb for lighting. Use a clamp for it. Or you can get an undertank heater with a thermostat. Which all adds up to 37 dollars.

Hmm for hides you can buy half logs or dens at your local pet store

But why waste money on half logs for 5- 10 dollars. You can make your own hides with a small carboard box or legos. Just simply make an entrance.

Baby Corns eat pinkies. Juveniles eat fuzzies, Subadult eat fuzzies to hoppers. Adults eat hoppers. F/T is cheaper than live. You feed em every once a week.

For bedding you can use carefresh or aspen bedding. Avoid Cedar and Pine. They have tozins in them that are harmful to animals. Corn Snake love to burry so give them lots of substrate.

Provide them clean fresh water everyday. You can use a plastic ziploc bowl.

And for decors you can buy them at craft stores.

If you want to breed them you have to have the same species.

Items required:

Incubator

1 female 1 male cornsnake

money to buy food for snakes

water

You have to hibernate them which triggers breeding. You have to seperate them when hibernating. After hibernating you simply put the male corn in the females. then take the male out. Put the male back in the tank. Do it 5 times if needed. And you will get 2-3 clutches of eggs.

Find a good site on breeding corn snake and cornsnake care.

Good luck on getting ur snake.

Answer 2

Well first the cage - You will need a 20 gallon long tank. Though some pet stores say that a 10 gallon will work the 20 gallon is better. You should have a water dish and an area that your snake could go to keep to himself. You should also have a light for the top of his cage.

You can decorate the cage however you want by picking up things from your pet store.

The snake and care  - You should only feed your snake once a week. They don't need to be fed more than this. If you get them when they are young you feed them pinky mice, and just get bigger mice as you go.

Hope I helped!! :)

Answer 3

Ball Pythons can be good 'beginner' snakes, if you follow a few caveats and know what you are buying. One thing that you should know, is that getting the snake setup in a secure cage will probably cost as much, if not more, than the snake itself. You will need a cage (typically an aquarium), a secure lid, at least one heat source (either a heat mat, or an aluminum type clip lamp), a thermometer, a water bowl, and at least one hide box. I would suggest you also get a lamp timer, an extra hide box or two, a hygrometer (humidity gauge), a second heat source, a snake hook, and a pair of hemostats×. You will also need to know where to get food for your snake (or be able to raise your own), and know of a qualified reptile veterinarian in your area.

So you've done the research and decided that you are ready to care for a snake. Now the question is, where to get it? The easiest place to get a pet snake, would most likely be a pet store. As typical with life, sometimes the things that come easy aren't necessarily the best. Unfortunately Ball Pythons are not commonly bred in captivity, which means that most of them seen in pet stores originate from the wilds of Africa. If you do some research and find a herpetological (or herpetocultural×) society in your area, you may be able to find someone who breeds them. If you do get your snake from a pet store, hatchlings (16-18 inches) usually adjust to captivity. Wild caught adults (36-48 inches) however, typically do not fare very well in captivity, due to a host of health problems.

Once you have your snake and got him/her set up at home, the best thing to do is leave it alone for at least a week or two. This will give your snake time to get comfortable in it's new home. A snake that is not stressed and acclimated will eat, and generally be a better pet. After you've patiently waited a few weeks, I would try and feed it it's first meal See Feeding Strategies. Once it eats a few times for you, it's OK to start handling your snake for short periods of time. I feel it's better to get them out of the cage with a snake hook×. Ball Pythons do not usually bite, but if a bite is going to happen, reaching your hand into the tank is typically when it does. The snake may not know your intentions and see you as a predator or confuse you with a food item. Bites very rarely happen, and fortunately do not hurt any worse than getting a shot from the doctor. Once you've had your snake for awhile you will be able to "read" it based on it's body posture and activity cycles. For the most part, hatchlings may tend to be a little more defensive and/or hungry, and adults are typically very docile.

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    Housing For Your Snake

Housing is basically something in which you can keep your snake secure and safe. Good caging means you can provide correct heat/light cycles and NOT provide a means of escape for your snake. It can be simple like a Rubbermaid or Tupperware brand sweater or shoe box with air holes in it. More popular cages are usually modified aquariums. These do not have to be expensive. Since most people only see the value of an aquarium if it holds water, you can sometimes pick them up at garage sales. Small Ball Pythons (16-28 inches) will do pretty good in a ten gallon size enclosure (20x10x12 inches). An absolute minimal cage for an adult Ball Python (30-48 inches) would be a long twenty gallon (30x12x12 inches). A long thirty gallon (36x12x18 inches) would of course be preferred.

Securing your snake in an aquarium does not have to be a challenge or too expensive. Pet stores will sell you screen lids which work fine, but I like to make my own. You will need 3/4 x 3/4 inch wood molding (for 10 gallon tanks) or 1 x 2 inch boards (for bigger tanks), some 1/4 inch hardware cloth, some screws, some wood staples, and maybe some angle brackets. Most hardware stores sell the heavy duty screen material, known as hardware cloth. An hour or so of cutting, s******g, and stapling and you can construct a strong screen top like the one in this picture. To hold it down on the tank you can either use some weight (For SMALL snakes only, I like ceramic floor tiles), or better yet you can strap it down. Straps are as easy as getting some belt material and buckles, from the fabric section of your local Wal-Mart/K-Mart type store. You will end up with something which looks similar to this.

Other options to providing safe housing for your snake would be to purchase a commercially made reptile enclosure. More and more pet stores are selling "Lizard Lounges," which are aquariums with sliding screen lids. Neodesha cages (a product of Bush Herpetological Supply - off site) and Vision Herpetolgical (off site) are two well known and respected caging products.

Heat can be safely provided in a few different ways, either a heat mat,× and/or a clip type lamp with an aluminum reflector. AVOID "Hot Rocks!!!"

Answer 4

I've never had a snake for a pet, but i've read a ton of books on taking care of them. All you have to do is make sure they have some lighting fixtures, and that they also have a source of shade, water and some animals you can buy from the pet store especially for feeding.

Answer 5

I would suggest you go for the corn as they are the easier of the two to keep, and if you are planning on breeding they will probably be more popular.

Ball or royal pythons, tend to be problem feeders which is definitely not what you want when it is your first time reptile.

To start with for a corn you will need a small (2 foot) plastic starter container which you can buy from a pet store, and when they get to about 9 months you should buy a vivarium no bigger or smaller than 4ft x 18" x 18".

You should use aspen for substrate and provide clean fresh water at all times. They also need at least two hides at either end.

With the plastic tank use only a heat mat on the underneath on one side only, covering about one third of the tank.

When you house it in a bigger home you need a heat mat covering one third of the viv and either a ceramic heat source or a red incandescent heat bulb. The more economic in the long run would be the ceramic heat bulb as they tend to last longer and are more reliable. With these you need a special ceramic bulb fitting and also a pulse thermostat to regulate temperature. The heat should always be at one end so the snake has a cool end and a warm end to go to. They cannot regulate their own temperature so rely on outside sources for temp control. You need thermometers at both ends.

You do not need UV lighting, these snakes are a mixture between crepuscular (awake at dawn and dusk) and nocturnal, therefore they would not naturally be out in the sun so there is no need to provide it. Giving them UV lighting can also damage their eyesight. Keep them in a well (naturally) lit room so they still benefit from natural photoperiod but don't keep them right next to a window.

As for feeding, when babies you should feed them two pinkies twice a week and gradually increase the size while decreasing the amount and frequency, as the snake grows.

Buy a copy of 'The Corn Snake Manual' either from your local reptile shop or look online at amazon.co.uk.

If you need further info email me at [e-mail]

By the way, they can breed a lot earlier than 3-4 years! I have successfully bred them myself. You do not have to hibernate them and you do not have to separate them either.

Answer 6

You will need a 20 gallon long tank. You will also need an under tank heater, 2 hides, a water dish, and aspen snake bedding. Put the under tank heater on one side of the tank. Put a hide on the warm side and one on the other side. Keep the basking temperature at about 79-88 degrees and about 30%-60% humidity. I'm not to sure about breeding. I know they can't breed until they are about 3-4 years old, but anything else I'll have to look it up. Feed them a mouse that is the same diameter as the thickest part of the snake once a week.

Answer 7

http://ball-pythons.net

Much better place to ask such an open ended question about snakes.

Answer 8

Check out the corn snake forums---excellent expert advice.  You do not need any kind of lights or lamps with corn snakes as they are nocturnal.  What they need is belly heat from an UTH mat to warm and digest.  

http://cornsnakes.com/forums/

Answer 9

I am a new owner of a albino corn snake. I feed him once a week. when I first got him I would feed him 2 pinky mice. Now he is about 30 inches long and I feed him once a week still but I feed him 2-3  fuzzy mice. Good luck.  

Answer 10

Well here are some info on the snake you were interested in....

Some info on ball pythons: They are "docile" but would never recommend to be near children w/out someone watching because ball pythons or get head shy. Any quick movements can scare them so if a child is holding it, please be careful. Ball pythons tend to stay quite small(4-5 feet) so that's why they are considered as beginner snakes. But I'm just going to tell you that they aren't the bestest eaters in the world. Actually they are quite picky(i know i know it sounds bad but snakes can live up to a year without eating) So if there is something in the cage that don't like they probably won't eat. Or if they don't like the way you're feeding them. But they don't tend to bite or strike as often though which is good =] So in summary, The pros- stay pretty small and they are more docile then some others so don't need to be handle daily. Cons- They are head-shy and for the most part horrible eaters.

Care- They usually range from $15-90 depending on where you buy them at. If you buy them at Petsmart or Petco(NOT recommended) then they are about $80-90 but please don't buy them there because most of their ball pythons(well most of their snakes) suffers from respiratory infection. So buying from a local pet store would be your best bet. Or you could buy them from craigslist and usually people on craigslist sells everything(tanks and accessories) for around $100. Lastly if there is a reptile expo near you...you could buy the pythons there too. The cages alone would be around $50-100 depending on where you buy them. Craigslist is your best bet on this one. Food usually cost about $2-3 dollars a week depending on the size of your snake. If it is a baby ball python then maybe just $1 a week. I would also recommend you buying the feeders at a local pet store(it is way cheaper) or at a expo(cheapest) CAGE/TANK- Your best bet would getting a 55 gallon for when they are bigger but if they are a baby then a 20 gallon would do just fine.

http://www.reptilerescueca.org/Ball.html

Cornsnake: They are one of the best eaters I've seen other then king snakes and all that. They don't get to big(around 5 feet) and they are..I guess docile. You do need to handle then daily though just in case. So they would be use to being handle by people. Corn snakes would make an OK beginner snake but I wouldn't recommend children around them because they could squeeze them and most likely kill him because corn snakes have very small bodies. Pros- Kind of docile, excellent eaters, stay small. Cons- Does need to be handle often, not the best snakes to have around kids because of their size.

Care- Corn snake costs around $15-60 depending on what type of corn snake you want. Just a normal one is probably around $10.00 at least my corn snake was. (I already mention about the stores on the ball python's care) A corn snake would probably only need a 40 gallon tank for most of it's life but a 55 gallon tank would be just fine too. And same goes for the food(just like the ball python) You should only feed the snakes once a week.

http://www.cornsnakes.net/care.php3

The links would help you more too, and would give you a more in detail information about it. But you should one feed a snake once a week(so like maybe every Sat.) Saving the breeding stuff for last, don't rush into it that fast because it is going to be your first snake.(as much as I'm against breeding) Also I would recommend you to not get a pastel to soon, not as a first snake, maybe wait for a while(months to years) to see how things goes then get a snake that is a little bit more expensive, so you would have some experience with snakes.

Hope this could help!