What would you pick?

[Marla]

I have an 11-year-old daughter who loves animals and wants to work with them as an adult (she's not sure how, but she doesn't think she wants to be a vet because she doesn't want to perform surgery). She is good enough with animals to be the only one who can keep my father's 100-lb.+ male boxer in line, and he is devoted to her.

Jessica's been eyeing some colubrids, but I don't know enough about enough kinds to know what good and bad choices for her would be. She is fastidious about cleaning her rat's cage and feeding it properly and does very well with her tasks of feeding and watering and supervising outside visits for the dogs. However, she's also very tender-hearted and likely to cry if the snake does poorly or breaks her skin with a bite.

I haven't decided she can have a snake yet and might not get it until after we move (1st of June or July) if I do, but I'd really like some input on what varieties of colubrids would be better suited to a kid like her than others. I did read a thread on ks recommending a western hognose and discussed that with her, but she's just wowed by all the black and red and yellow and pastel kings, milks, rats, and corns. My strong preference for her would be a snake that either caps out at <4 ft or is a slow grower (~4 yrs to get bigger than that) and that eats rodents or feeder goldfish/minnows instead of bugs.

The question may be moot because she might just catch herself a snake on her grandpa's property, but if I end up buying one, what would your suggestion be?

[CROWLEY]

Personally I would recomend starting with a baby ball python. They are pretty darn easy to keep as a pet, and as with any handling is not to much to worry about, they are subtle for the most part. Knowlege to help you learn more as you and the snake grow older is availible in alot of different sources, including the this great web site here!
I would perfer to see you 11 yr old start this way with a captive baby then tring to catch an unknown species of snake on the ranch, not knowing what your tring to catch is poisonous or not could be a bigger mistake then one might think.
Hope this helps a little, more members in here should add to this because the experience here goes way beyond mine concerning different snakes and other reptiles.

[RPlank]

I love my kingsnake, and she is growing reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy ssssssslllllllllloooooooowwww!
The only thing your daughter might not like is getting musked when she goes to pick it up (lots of Colubrids do that), but the smell doesn't bother me. I was a bachelor for a long time, and am used to nasty smells (mostly from the refridgerator!)
She has never struck at me, and after she gets the obligatory musking out of the way, she calms right down, but isn't a lump like a BP. I had a cornsnake, but he was so active, it was tiring just to keep control of him.
Let us know what you decide!

[emroul]

Marla,

There are many colubrids (including the ones you named off) that I could recommend. I see alot of children keeping corn snakes; and alot of "big breeders" who say their first snake was indeed, a corn snake. I've owned cornsnakes before, and they are very docile. Mine have never tried to bite (although, just like with bp's, there are individuals who may be mean). I'm sure if you go to your local pet store, I can almost guarantee you they will have some, and you can check out their personalities. Not too mention they come in a variety of colors! They can be pretty skinny though, especially as hatchlings; and I don't know if your daughter is gentle enough to handle one without damaging its spine and such. But all in all, I would definately recommend a corn snake. Oh yeah, California kingsnakes (Or, I suppose any locale kingsnake would do ) could be a good starter, as well. They too are often very docile and handleable, and grow to be about the same as cornsnakes (roughly 4-5 feet).

I, too, would recommend a ball python, as well. I usually do not recommend them to children however, but since you will be there to guide her, there shouldn't be a problem. The only reasoning to this is because sometimes they can be a big pain in the butt to feed, and children holding them all the time may stress the poor thing out really easily.

There's my two cents.
Jennifer

[emroul]

LMAO Randy, I haven't noticed much growth in my lil cali either.. LOL! Even at 5 pinkies a week...ahh well.. LOL.. :lol: It's funny, my king has yet to musk. That's where individual personalities come in, my friend.

Jennifer

[wolfman38]

Marla, my first snake was a Corn Snake. They are a great "starter" snake. they get maybe 4' in length and about 2" in diameter. They are very docile, and their are exceptions to this rule just like with bp's. I have had my corn snake since April '03. He was about 16" long when I got him, and he is now about 26" long. There are so many different Corn Snake morphs that one can choose from. I would gurantee that the majority of all baby Corn Snakes in pet stores are Captive Hatched from captive raised snakes. And the majority of them are already eatting F/T mice. So, there are not that many worries about your new snake not eatting f/t mice or just not eatting at all. In my opion, I would recommend a Corn Snake over a bp only because they are so easy to take care of, because with a bp you don't know if he will eat and/or take f/t mice. But this is just my two cents. Hope that this helps.

[Marla]

We do have a baby ball python (though she's mine), and she's doing much better since I got her (bad condition petstore snake, you can see the history in the bp section).

There are only about 5 species of poisonous snakes in Georgia, and as the property doesn't have any creeks or anything she's unlikely to find any water moccasins, which are probably the most dangerous. We do have those in our own neighborhood, though, as it surrounds a small wetlands and she knows to avoid wild snakes here. I was going to review photos with her of all the poisonous snakes and the more common non-poisonous that she might find before she would be allowed to look for them anyway, because I am concerned for her safety. I figured if she found anything it would probably be a ribbon snake or black racer like I used to find (at home, actually, I found rattlers and water moccasins, but I steered clear of them).

[Marla]

Thanks to everyone who replied. It sounds like corn and king are both good ideas if she wants to go with a colunbrid, but can you tell me if it makes much different which kind of corn or king? For example, California kings tend to be pretty pricy around here, but Eastern kings might be less. Are there any varieties of corn or king you'd suggest avoiding because of nippiness or size or temperament or being picky about environment? I don't think musk is really much of an issue -- if she can deal with rats peeing on her and boxers getting out of line she can deal with a musking snake.

It's great having all these minds available to pick!

[wolfman38]

I believe that Corn's generally get a little longer in length than the kings do. Corn's there are so many different morphs to choose from, but you maybe a little more limited in your chose with a king. Here in Charlotte kings and Corn's are priced about the same, depending on the morph. They are both docile snakes, although I think that the kings are a little more secretive snakes than the Corns are. I have never had my Corn musk on me or anywhere, at least I haven't smelled it yet. But a corn or King is a really good chose for a child beginner. And it just depends on what color you want.

[Marla]

So there generally isn't a big difference in temperament or anything from one variety of corn or king to the next of the same? And how picky are they about temperature and humidity compared to balls?

Thanks for helping me out!