Looking to get a colubrid to keep but don’t know which one is best for me

[ballpythonluvr]

I am not keeping ball pythons anymore and I am looking to get a colubrid. I was thinking of a corn snake, California king snake, or milk snake. Are they all relatively easy to keep? I want something that is going to be fairly active and not be a pet rock. I am researching all of them now. Please ignore the angry emoji in the title of my post, lol, I accidentally somehow put it there.

[redpandakitty]

I admit I've never had a King Snake or a Milk Snake, but I love my Eastern Rat Snake (very similar to a Corn Snake). He is so much more active than my boas and ball pythons, so more fun to just watch. He's also really active when I hold him, which makes that more of an activity than the ball pythons, for sure. I'm sure someone else will chime in about King Snakes and Milk Snakes, but I don't think there's a lot of difference in behavior and care between them.

[Bodie]

Mexican black kings are great snakes. Mine is active during the day and has a great temperament. Their solid jet black coloring is truly stunning. Another consideration is a hognose which are active also during the day too. You mentioned a corn. You will not be disappointed if you went that route. They are awesome snakes. I do have a milksnake also. They are great, very beautiful, but mine is mainly nocturnal and will musk you in a heart beat. She is still young so hopefully she will calm down cause right now she is very flighty. Good luck

[67temp]

Obviously I'm a little more biased to corns. The corns and cal kings care is very similar. It took a while for both of my cal kings to settle down. For the first year they would always musk and tail rattle while being handled. They also preferred to stay hidden a lot and wanted to eat inside their hides. Overall the cal kings seemed just a little bit more shy than my corns. Both species can be fairly active snakes compared to a ball.

[EL-Ziggy]

King snakes are great. I've kept a couple of them in the past. My favorite colubrids are bull/pine/gopher snakes. They're larger than kings and corns and mine are pretty active. The husbandry is a breeze too. Indigos and cribos are beautiful larger colubrids too but I haven't kept those.

[Bogertophis]

I am not keeping ball pythons anymore and I am looking to get a colubrid. I was thinking of a corn snake, California king snake, or milk snake. Are they all relatively easy to keep? I want something that is going to be fairly active and not be a pet rock. I am researching all of them now. Please ignore the angry emoji in the title of my post, lol, I accidentally somehow put it there.

Gosh, you're going to have to change your "name"?

A corn snake is a great choice...beautiful colors, docile temperament, they stay a nice size, easy to feed f/t, & MUCH easier husbandry. Best in glass tank w/screen top.

Along the same lines, many rat snakes are great pets too, most get bigger but have lots of personality; 2 of my favorites are Trans Pecos rat snakes & Bairds...both are
mellow pets to handle, but definitely NOT "pet rocks". The corn/rat snakes enjoy branches in their cages (once they grow up some) so you'll see them & they watch you too.

King snakes are more terrestrial, & while many do make great pets to handle, some are very food-focused (as in accepting fingers, lol). Mexican blacks & Calif. kings are
good choices in this category. I'd steer completely clear of milk snakes...they're very pretty, but much more nervous, & more of a snake that burrows/hides in 'real life'.

Only caution is the tiny size that all of these start off with (assuming you get a hatchling): they can climb & will escape MUCH easier than a BP, from the least little gap, so prevention is the key.

[Craiga 01453]

My vote would be for a King 100%. I've kept corns in the past as well, and honestly, they bore me. I also have a fantastic little Hognose, but they're not for everyone.

Kings, milks, corns are all super easy to keep, and with your experience they'll be a breeze.

I've never kept the following, but they definitely deserve consideration...
Cribo, indigo, bull. I've always loved mangroves as well, but my understanding is they're more challenging.

[Craiga 01453]

Obviously I'm a little more biased to corns. The corns and cal kings care is very similar. It took a while for both of my cal kings to settle down. For the first year they would always musk and tail rattle while being handled. They also preferred to stay hidden a lot and wanted to eat inside their hides. Overall the cal kings seemed just a little bit more shy than my corns. Both species can be fairly active snakes compared to a ball.

Hmmmm, interesting. In my experience my Kings have always been out and about, especially once they smell food. None of mine ever ate inside their hides that I can recall.
Just goes to show that there can be variance from one individual to another within a species.

I've only kept Cal Kings though, so maybe your are different localities? Interesting any which way.

[FollowTheSun]

No matter what you get I know you'll enjoy your new friend! I LOVE my ratsnake! She's so smart, entertaining, and curious. She watches activity around her. I got her as a tiny hatchling and yes they do escape easily! But it's been neat to watch her grow up and trust me. They are easy to feed, and they don't require as much tweaking of their temps/humidity. Enjoy! And be sure to let us know what you end up with!

P.S. My ratsnake has never musted on me, rattled, or even considered biting. I think the key is early gentle handling and building trust.

[67temp]

Hmmmm, interesting. In my experience my Kings have always been out and about, especially once they smell food. None of mine ever ate inside their hides that I can recall.
Just goes to show that there can be variance from one individual to another within a species.

I've only kept Cal Kings though, so maybe your are different localities? Interesting any which way.

I admit I'm not very versed in king localities like what county or road they are from. I just know mine are cal kings. Once mine got bigger and more confident right around the 1yo age, they came out a lot more and stopped with the musking. But to be fair I've also had a couple (maybe two or three) of baby corns be similarly shy.