beginner snakes

It depends on the way he reacts to snake behavior.

In general BPs do not bite too often, and as you know are relatively slow moving animals for the most part.

I don't have any experience with captive Corn Snakes, but I've played with a couple in the wild and they've flat out refused to bite. But they are a much more flighty and quick moving animal.

If your brother is nervous of that sort of thing, I would definitely go with the BP.

The biggest advantage to the cornsnake would probably be that I think you can keep them cooler than a BP. But in my experience, other than feeding inconsistencies BPs are near bulletproof.

I'm "temporarily" taking care of a corn snake for a school. He's very friendly and doesn't bite, but he moves quickly and his scales are sharper than a ball python's. He isn't headshy and ate a frozen thawed rodent after years and years of live. He doesn't need as much heat as a ball, either. A nine year old kid took care of him for years (not the best care, but he tried). Basically, he's a beginner keepers dream.

Ok, now for the negatives. A baby corn snake is very difficult to handle, and somehow I doubt you would be finding it anytime soon if it got out. Mine is quite the escape artist and somehow got out of a locked exoterra. Their lighter weight makes them feel a bit fragile and their quick movements intimidate some people.

If the kid's favorites are ball pythons, get him to research them (good life skill, and you may as well get him involved in choosing the animal). A corn snake may be the perfect beginner snake, but that doesn't mean they're perfect for him. Make sure he knows about the issues, but don't discourage him. If he doesn't see a problem with hunger strikes and isn't put off by it, I see no reason not to get a ball python. If he likes them, he'll stay interested longer. That's the most important thing. :)

Just make a sure that he does the research. His pet, his responsibility to learn. Let him choose what kind of snake he's looking for. You can give him some recommendations to look into, and obviously tell him to stay away from super difficult stuff, but an eleven year old should do the research and choose a pet. If he can't do that, he may not be ready for a snake just yet.

I grew up around my cousins bps and Burmese but my first snake of my own was a corn snake and I was only 8. Bps are good starter snakes too but when you consider a kid is the intended caretaker, corn snakes are much easier to house and maintain. They also have a much better feeding response. They are faster then BPs but not too fast for an 11 year old to handle and they are more active during the day so they would be more interesting for him to watch in his enclosure

I bought my corn snake when he was 2 years old, was raised in the pet shop his whole life and they just couldn't sell him. They took him out of his cage once a week to feed him, that was all the handling he got, some workers even seemed hesitate to hold him. I bought him, didn't handle him at all for 3~ months and just cage fed him. One day decided to give it a shot, was very nervous as I didn't know his temperament. Put my hand in slowly and just aligned all my fingers so he couldn't just snag one, and after a while picked him up for 5-10 mins over his cage. After doing tat 4 times a week for around 3 weeks, I held him fully, and brought him upstairs. Most people I know say they're hard to handle, but this snake was rarely ever handled yet he was amazingly calm. He doesn't try to squirm away, he just likes to move and as long as you let him move he'll be happy and calm down and sometimes even rests on me. One thing you must keep note with the child though, is do not grip the snake, they're quite thin and it could hurt him. I'm very happy I got my corn snake, it got rid of any instinctive fear I had of snakes. Corn snakes are also very easy to care for, mine eats like there's no tomorrow, sheds perfectly, and best of all is timid. I know baby corn snakes like most other snakes are nippy, but I don't think you'd want to give someone with little snake experience a baby snake. Also as a other person has said, they don't mind colder temperatures than a bp. My corn snake tends to like it colder than warmer in his cage and is 99% of the time on his cool side. Only thing I can see bad with a corn snake is the need of cage upgrades. They seem to grow quite well, especially if fed enough. My 2 year old is 3 feet and I may have to get him a 55 gallon tank soon as he's outgrowing his 40 gal. Also no real worries needed for humidity for corn snakes unlike for bps which is great.

Have you looked into Kenyan sand boas? They stay small, require smaller enclosures (20gl long for adult female, 10gl for adult male), and don't require as-specific humidity as BPs. Generally they have a good feeding response (unlike some hognose and BPs), and they are pretty docile as long as you are careful holding them and taking them out of their tank... The only downsides are that they stay below the substrate a lot of the time and that they don't "climb" so you have to take care when handling as they will crawl off of you and fall. I like my two KSBs and would recommend them to anyone (as long as you don't want a display snake).

They also come in many morphs and don't have a high starting price.

I think one of the temperate colubrids like a corn would be a good choice. If your brother wants to try and do most of the husbandry stuff himself, something that is more tolerant of varied temps and doesn't require a lot of extra equipment is a good choice.

My first snake was a garter that I got when I was twelve. They're probably the most forgiving snakes out there when it comes to husbandry, and the average lifespan is 8 years, so less of a commitment than most snakes (I have one that's 16 though, so they can definitely live longer). A baby garter would be a bad choice as they are extremely fragile, but adult females are generally quite docile and not very flighty. They can be a bit messy because of their faster metabolism, but they are by far the most interactive and social snakes I've ever seen. As far as keeping a young kid's interest goes, I think a snake that actually actively tries to interact with them is a plus. In a month or so, the major breeders should be selling off adult snakes at the end of the breeding season, so that may be something to look into.
I'm just partial to garters because they were my first and favorite snake :)

I don't believe in "beginner" snakes, or any reptile for that matter. Get what you want, as long as you research and are responsible.m


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Perhaps an adult ball python would be good for a beginner - not so small or squirmy (used to being handled) and generally very well mannered when out of their enclosure.

For me, the ball python was the perfect snake to start with and made the addition of a boa that much easier.

another option that hasn't been mentioned is a rosy boa. they are similar to a bp in temperament but stay smaller and eat like pigs. they are also pretty forgiving with husbandry.