What would you pick?

No, I think that they are about the same when it comes to temperament when it comes to Kings and Corns. I keep my Corn at the same temps and humidity as I do my BP, and he seems to love it.

Here are a couple of pics. of my Corn (he is no longer in this tank)
https://ball-pythons.net/albums/album40/Snake_02.jpg

He is about 11 months old in these pictures and about 20 inches long.

https://ball-pythons.net/albums/album40/Snake_03.jpg

Since they are native to the US, their requirements are pretty much met by being indoors. I provide a UTH for supp heat to my King, but she is rarely over it. As far as temperament of different varieties, there are personality differences, but I don't think there are any differences genetically, besides appearance.

Wolf, they're so skinny! And I see you have a nice big soaking dish -- do they use it much?

Randy, I assumed there would be some personality differences as you said, but didn't know if there might be a known "watch out for this kind of king because they're super nippy" or "these don't do well in captivity" or "these strongly prefer to eat bugs" or something. And it's good to know that heat and humidity can pretty much be met by being indoors. I figured if it could live in the yard here it shouldn't do worse inside, but humidity could be a factor because other than in the winter we have high humidity outside and not so much inside.

Yeah, they are skinny getting maybe 2" in diameter. At least I have never seen him using it (or at least i don't think that he does), but that is not say that they all don't use it different snakes have different perosnalities. Zeus, my BP, has never used his soaking bowls, and he doesn't even like to take a bath.

You may want to go get ya book on Kings. I am not that familar with them as to what species likes what to eat and what they don't. But all Corns will eat mice when they are sub-adults, and there are a couple of species that will only eat small lizards when they are hatchlings.

Hope that his has helped you out.

I keep my king at just a little lower humidity then my bp's; only about 45%-50%..She seems to like it. :)

Jennifer

This is all great info. I will talk to whoever has colubrids at the reptile show next weekend and see what I can find out about feeding, housing, etc.

Let us know how it comes out, and which you decide to get.

ive kept kings for years at a time without even checking humidity once. kings are great pets. they have a hell of a lot of personality, and are beautiful. not very expensive either. in fact, you can get "pricey" looking kings for cheap. corns are good too, basically the same as far as care goes.

OK, thanks y'all. As I mentioned, we may just wait until after the move to get one for her, so I have a better I dea of how I can set her up. I'll definitely be talking to people at the show, and it sounds like both corns and kings are good options for a (supervised) kid.

I have a BP, a corn snake and a six year old son. The corn is so low maintainence and docile, yet inquisitive that he's a perfect snake for my son.

With a corn, you almost never have to wonder if it will eat. That snake is a pig! if you gave it a pinky every other day, it would gobble it up.

The BP is a great snake (my preference) but because it's a little more exotic looking and thicker, it intimidates my son a little.

The husbandry of a corn snake is extremely forgiving. It would be very easy for your daughter to be the primary care giver with the corn snake.

If the snake is for you, go BP. If it's primarilly for your daughter, go corn.

Just my opinion. :wink:

Ken