Warm boot recommendations please

[BarbaraJ]

I am after a snake, have wanted one for years but not a huge one. Something like a corn snake but smaller.

I've seen pictures of a Californian King Snake which looks cool

 

Has anyone else got a snake as a pet?

[Ana's flock]

We do. We have a lovely ghost corn snake called Sybil. They are very easy to look after. They will need feeding about once a week, and the usual plenty of fresh water and keep their cage clean. They poop a fraction what the chickens do! (well, they only eat once a week, bless them!). When they're about to shed they won't take their food, they get rather lethargic and their eyes go bluish (that's just the skin coming off)

 

Good luck with your new pet.

[kitbag]

do they really eat things like live mice like they do on TV!? Yuck!!

 

Kitbag xxxxxxxxxx

[Ana's flock]

Mine doesn't eat live things (because I don't let her near my three lovely ratties!). I feed her defrosted large mice - we buy them from the animal feeds shop.

 

I suppose in the wild she'd kill and eat her own prey, just as a cat, dog or other carnivore would. (Chickens eat worms and slugs too! perhaps to compensate for the mess they make in the garden!)

[BarbaraJ]

I like the idea of dead frozen food, one of the reasons i decided on a snake rather than a bearded dragon because they need crickets or similar and they are a pain to catch and keep from escaping.

[SarahJo]

Look after 6 corn snakes - all eat dead (and defrosted) mice. Also have 2 leopard geckos, which are really .

 

One of the corns - is black and silver, so they are not all orange and yellow in coulour, 2 of the babies are a deep red and black.

[Paola]

I used to keep Garter snakes when I was little. I fed them on worms and defrosted frozen fish. They are very easy to keep.

[purple hen]

We have a corn snake, they come in a wide range of colours and are an interesting and low maintainance pet. Ours was quite shy when she was tiny but is much more brave and curious now she has grown bigger. My son has spent hours making hides and branch things to make the vivarium interesting for the snake(carol) but her current favourite thing is an old sock.

[Willow]

I know it's daft but I really don't like snakes. I accidentially got a grass snake with the spade when I was digging and even though I felt sorry for it I couldn't bring myself to pick it up

[Paola]

but her current favourite thing is an old sock.

 

How sweet Do you have any pics of her using her sock?

[Shirl]

I have a boa constrictor which I ought to rehome because it is difficult to get out and generally see to during the day with little ones around. Due to lack of space it is now in my sons bedroom so I don't get to enjoy him like I ought to. He's very easy to look after though. The worst thing is he eats defrosted rats

 

I think probably the best starter snake is a corn snake. They are large enough to be easy to handle but small enough to need a relatively small vivarium.

 

Snakes are just so relaxing to handle

[Ana's flock]

Yes, they give lovely massages when they crawl around your shoulders after a hard day's work. They also respond to your mood, for example, when my younger son handles Sybil, she'll move and wriggle a lot, climbing all over him and making him giggle. When I pick her up, she tends to either curl around my shoulders or, if she's feeling the cold, get under my clothes and just sits there while we watch the TV, sometimes poking her little head out and smellin the air to show she's still alive. It's a bit of a shock when she first goes under the clothes as often she's frozen!