Getting a New Snake

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Originally Posted by DennisM

my experience has been similar. I find adult milks (Honduran and Pueblan) to be more high strung than kingsnakes (California and Mexican Black).

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Hi ..

When you guys are suggesting that Milks may be more highly strung than King snakes are you referring to Milks occasional liking of musking on you when they're handled or that they are more jittery / restless when being handled or more likely to give you a nip !?!

I only have one , very calm / placid Milk x King hybrid and he's a complete darling .... So I'm not qualified to comment on Milk snakes per se .

I do have four , young ( 2 year old ) Kings that I don't really handle , they're purely display snakes and very food orientated and viv 'offensive' :)
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I'd recommend Corn snakes to the op , great colour options , easy to keep , extremely tame calm so great to handle , great display as they're always active - here's my beaut Amel Stripe Corn snake

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That said if he likes the idea of Black and White snake it's either a Cali King like mine above or maybe one like my Anery Sand Boa shown below !?!

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Hi ..

When you guys are suggesting that Milks may be more highly strung than King snakes are you referring to Milks occasional liking of musking on you when they're handled or that they are more jittery / restless when being handled or more likely to give you a nip !?!

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All of the above. :)


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I love kings. Truth about garbage disposal. They just keep on eating lol. I have a Florida king at work I named omega. He has the omega symbol on top of his head. He is calm, chills out when held and just an awesome little guy. I vote King lol

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Originally Posted by BluuWolf

Yeah those were the milk snakes I was looking into. They are absolutely gorgeous XD that's second pic is amazing [emoji7] I was just wondering what their temperaments and personalities typically are. Like I said if they are similar in that sense to a king snake I'm sold!


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Honduran Milksnakes are great snake and can get to a very nice size, I have own and bred Hondos since 2007 and while I have also work with other colubrids, kingsnakes, hognose, ratsnakes they remain my favorite due to their size and striking colors.

The first 6 moths to a year is really the most difficult when it comes to their behavior, nothing terrible but musking and sometime biting (if restricted) is something pretty typical in young individuals. As they grow that behavior goes away on it's own, usually I don't handle hatchlings until they are at least 6 months old time at which they start to calm down.

Young individuals are very skittish and flighty and will musk every chance they get, once they put on size it's no longer an issue.

When it comes to food, they will eat anything anytime offered, I can switch back ad forth between live or f/t, rat or mice they will eat anytime and when fed F/T I don't even warm up their prey.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Hi ..

When you guys are suggesting that Milks may be more highly strung than King snakes are you referring to Milks occasional liking of musking on you when they're handled or that they are more jittery / restless when being handled or more likely to give you a nip !?!
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For me it's been more of a handling thing. Almost all baby kings and milks I've had throw the musk quite liberally, but I haven't found this to be the case with adults. Nor has biting been an issue for the most part. My milks just didn't seem to take handling as well as kingsnakes as adults. They always seem to do quite a bit of squirming. However, I'm not one to handle the snakes as regularly as some folks and it's likely that was a factor.

Just to clarify, by no means am I suggesting these are difficult to handle snakes. They're not.

I don't have any adults of either in my collection today. I restarted the colubrid collection with hatchlings last year. We'll see how it goes this time around. The young hondos seem less nervous than the pueblans so far.

I do like to handle on a pretty frequent basis with my beeps at least, not too much of course, so I'll for sure keep in mind the milk snakes being a bit less chill at first at least. Kings seem to be winning for me least at the moment. I'll of course handle them myself to see but i will for sure keep in mind all of your guys advice. Thank you so much!


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Maybe the best option is to find a reptile store that will allow you to handle a few different types of snakes - especially a couple of Kings ..... you may not be 'quite' so keen on them ;). If handling is a priority then it has to be a Royal /Ball python , followed by a Corn snake ..

I'll throw some love towards garters. Most stay relatively small so you can have a lot of fun creating a naturalistic setup that doesn't take a ton of space and won't get destroyed on day one. Some aren't fond of handling but, even so, you get plenty of interaction through their favorite pastime - eating. They're active hunters that utilize their vision more than the average serpent. Mine are always out and about, foraging for food or basking in clear view. Whenever I approach their enclosure, they always zero in on me, looking for something to munch. With their color schemes and active habits, these make for some of the better choices if looking for a good display snake. All in all, a very groovy and often overlooked genus.

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Originally Posted by John1982

I'll throw some love towards garters. Most stay relatively small so you can have a lot of fun creating a naturalistic setup that doesn't take a ton of space and won't get destroyed on day one. Some aren't fond of handling but, even so, you get plenty of interaction through their favorite pastime - eating. They're active hunters that utilize their vision more than the average serpent. Mine are always out and about, foraging for food or basking in clear view. Whenever I approach their enclosure, they always zero in on me, looking for something to munch. With their color schemes and active habits, these make for some of the better choices if looking for a good display snake. All in all, a very groovy and often overlooked genus.

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Yeah, I had considered garter but it was just the handling issue that had me wary. They are absolutely beautiful however and I would love to get one eventually as a display animal :P

My boyfriend has been looking into Russian Rat Snakes, they seem to have wonderful personalities does anyone have any experience with them? My only concern is it seems to be almost impossible to get your hands on one.


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Maybe the best option is to find a reptile store that will allow you to handle a few different types of snakes - especially a couple of Kings ..... you may not be 'quite' so keen on them ;). If handling is a priority then it has to be a Royal /Ball python , followed by a Corn snake ..

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Yeah, I already have a couple BPs and was looking for something different. I absolutely love them but I want to broaden my hourizens :P The only problem there is the reptile stores near me only sell ball Pythons, Boas, and some Green Tree Pythons, not even corns. I'll probably end up waiting until the next convention comes by to really make my decision.


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