Pet snakes?

Question

ok...

So I want a snake for my 16th birthday,

But my mother has a problem with me feeding it mice..

What kind of snake doesn't eat mice and stays at a reasonable size??

please help!

Answer 1

garter snakes, you aint gonna find much that dont eat mice, u aint gotta pay for it. the ones that eat mice are some of the good beginner  snakes.

Answer 2

Perhaps you can convince your mom to let you get one if you feed it frozen mice. You can buy them frozen at many pet stores and they have already been humanely killed. Corn snakes are great beginner snakes and will gladly take frozen/thawed mice. Ball pythons are popular too, but I find some babies to be hesitant to take frozen/thawed. There are very few snakes that both don't eat rodents and make good pets.

Answer 3

Why would you want a 'pet' snake.  For companionship? To play ball with? To snuggle with while you watch TV?

You are doing nothing for the snake except removing it from it's natural environment and keeping it captive. You want the snake for YOU.  It's selfish, cruel and casts the worst light on the human species.

Answer 4

Oh, I have a snake.  It is called a Lyer Snake.  Its small and skinny but VERY cool.  You may think its weird to know that  girl has a snake :) But I have had my snake for over a year and my mom and dad have had no problems with it  Plus, it has amazing designs on it.  Plus it will NOT eat any type of Mice!  It will eat lizards only

Answer 5

Hello; would she be fine with feeding it frozen/thawed mice that were humanely euthanized? You can purchase them at places like http://www.rodentpro.com , http://www.lllreptile.com , or even at a lot of local Petsmarts or Petcos, and it is a safe way of feeding a pet snake that doesn't involve a painful death of any rodents. ;)

If that still not doable for her; have you considered a Rough Green Snake? They are beautiful, small, and feed on insects; but I will say that they are quite quick moving and can be a tad difficult to handle for that reason. They are also harder to care for than some other species of snake. Here is a care sheet on them:

Rough Green snake: http://www.herphavenreptilerescue.org/Ro...

You could also go for a Garter or Ribbon snake as they need a varied diet, and Ribbons in particular tend to not be all that fond of rodents. Both are small and interesting looking, but again; can be quite quick moving.

Here are some care sheets on Garter and Ribbon snakes:

http://teenreptileclub.freewebspace.com/...

http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/snake...

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/1.h...

http://www.repticzone.com/caresheets/576...

If she is willing to go the frozen/thawed route; here is a list of some great species of pet snakes. I don't know how many reptiles you have previously kept, so all of these species are excellent for beginners and experienced snake keepers alike. I've also included information on why I chose them, and a care sheet on each species. :)

1. Rosy boa. They are small, very docile, calm, are great eaters, and are slow moving (and thus easier to handle than a lot of colubrids like King snakes and Corn snakes). They are also very hardy, low maintenance, come in lots of different colors and localities, and aren't prone to shedding problems.  

Care sheet: http://www.rosyboa.com/desertboas/caresh...

2. Kenyan sand boa. They have all of the good qualities of the Rosy like the gentle disposition, ease of care, small size, great feeders, etc, but the only problem that some keepers may have with them is that they spend most of their time under their substrate. For those who like to randomly walk by their snake's cage to check to see what the snake is up to and how it is doing, that could be frustrating for them.

Care sheet: http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/snake...

3. Corn snake. They are quite docile, low maintenance, great eaters, generally are great shedders, are a bit bigger than Rosys or Kenyans but not so big that they are awkward to handle, and come in a wide variety of colors. My only thing I'd worry about for a beginner with these guys is they are very quick moving and can be quite nervous as babies, so they require a bit more caution when handling.

Care sheet: http://www.anapsid.org/corn.html

4. Childrens pythons. They are very small (the second smallest python species in the world), are low maintenance, are great eaters, and usually have a great temperament. While I wouldn’t classify them as slow moving, they aren’t all that fast, either. However while I think that they are quite beautiful; some would consider them to be ‘bland’ looking, so if one was in search of a flashy looking snake, then these guys probably wouldn’t be for them.

Care sheet: http://www.tinypythons.com/caresheet_chi...

5 & 6. King snakes and Milk snakes. I lump both species together due to their similar appearances, temperaments and care needs. The only notable difference in their behavior is that Kings tend to be a bit quicker to settle down when being handled. Both are a bit bigger than Rosys, Kenyans, or Childrens (roughly the same size as a Corn, though may be bigger or smaller depending on the subspecies), are low maintenance, great feeders, and usually tame down quickly with regular handling. The problems with these guys are that they are another quick-moving species that tend to be nervous when young. They are also cannibalistic, so it is under no circumstances a good idea to put a Milk or a King in the cage with another snake if you wish to keep both snakes alive and well.

Care sheet (works for both species): http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymountain/R...

7. Rough-scaled sand boa. These guys are a very small, generally docile, low maintenance species of sand boa. They are hardy and easy to care for, are great feeders, and are excellent for beginners. The only problems with these guys is that they are a bit harder to find than most of the others on this list, and like the Kenyans, they spend most of their time buried under their substrate.

Care Sheet: http://www.reptilia.org/care_sheets/snak...

8. Ball pythons. They are a normally very sweet-tempered, medium-sized species of snake that is quite popular with beginners. They are slow moving, beautiful and exotic looking, easy to handle, and reluctant to bite. Unfortunately due to their high humidity needs, shedding problems, and notorious issues with feeding, I would only recommend them to a beginner if they had done extensive research on their care and knew how to deal with the common problems that they may have with these guys. Better yet if they had a ‘coach’ of some sort, another Ball python owner who knew how to handle this species, and could tell you the best kind of caging for them, the best sorts of substrate, and what to do when the snake goes off of feed. If the person knew how to deal with those issues, then these guys make a wonderful beginners species.

Care sheet: http://www.anapsid.org/ball.html

9. Hog Island Boa. These are a very beautiful, generally docile species that are medium sized and medium upkeep. They require a bit less humidity than other subspecies of Boa Constrictor, and are usually fantastic feeders. The only problem with Hog islands is that they are a bit difficult to find.

Care sheet: http://www.centralpets.com/animals/repti...

10. Western Hognose Snakes. They are a usually good-tempered, low maintenance, small, amusing species that could be mistaken for a Rattlesnake if someone wasn’t well versed in reptiles. They are generally very sweet, tame down quickly, are great feeders, and are great shedders. They are mildly venomous, though not enough so that it could pose of any danger to humans. Not only are they reluctant to bite; their fangs are also located in the back of their mouth thus making it very hard for them to bite you unless you literally stick your finger in there. Even if they did manage to bite you; you’d have to let them ‘chew’ on you to get any sort of reaction at all. Generally the reaction from their venom in humans is mild irritation and swelling.

Care sheet: http://www.reptileallsorts.com/westhogno...

I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions at all on the subject or on any of the species I named; please feel free to message me and I will be more than happy to assist you. :)

Good luck!

Answer 6

i have 2 baby ball pythons they eat frozen rats you can get them from pet-co my wife has a problem feeding live so she lets me feed pre-frozen you can get 3 pre frozen mice or rats for $10 and that will feed it for a month or more just depends on how often you want to feed i feed every week unless it is shedding then they will not eat at all if you have never had a snake before i would prefer a ball python they are easy to raise i had corn snakes and a african rock python and they was harder to raise

Answer 7

sadly all snakes no matter what type eat mice or some other type of living animal so unless you decide to go with a lizard you wont be getting a new pet anytime soon