Help Deciding

[Dragon Queen]

I've had bearded dragons, leopard geckos, cornsnakes and kingsnakes in the past, and I am thinking of getting a snake. (I had to give mine away due to being quite sick with lyme disease, but am a bit better now....)

I was thinking I'd get a california kingsnake, but ended up falling in love with the Ball Pythons. I'd always thought they needed a larger cage. Now I know that their size requirements are about the same, I'm thinking of getting one.

What I'm wondering is, how different are they when it comes to care. What are the pros and cons of BPs versus King/Cornsnakes? Is humidity a big issue for BPs, or with a humid hide and water bowl are they OK?

Basically, I'm trying to decide if I am going to get a snake, and if I do, what snake to get.

Another concern for me is college. If I am better soon, I will be going off to college in a year and a half at the minimum (could be longer). I am hoping I will be able to take it with me, but if not I will have to find it a new home. How many of you have successfully kept snakes at college?

Thanks,

Draba

[DrLew]

Go and get you a nice normal BP - inexpensive and very cool.

[SNIKTTIME]

Corns and Kings are cake to take care of compared to Balls. Most of it is the humidity and feeding aspect. Once you get used to Ball Pythons they are awesome though.

[MitsuMike]

I have 3 snakes in a college dorm. Moving to an Apt in the summer. In a 16 qt 5 tub rack that I built. Temps rn't an issue so far. 2 are 4 months and 1 is 3 months old.

[DShaw]

Im going to college and keep my snake underneath my bed with no concerns at all......you just have to be sneaky with it I guess

[illini4x4]

I would go with a ball! I had an albino cali king for a little bit. She was really cool but not as docile as the balls...I ended up selling her to a friend and bought a pastel ball

[Dragon Queen]

I would go with a ball! I had an albino cali king for a little bit. She was really cool but not as docile as the balls...I ended up selling her to a friend and bought a pastel ball

That's why my dad doesn't like Ball Pythons. It doesn't bother me though. I think they are cooler looking.

Thanks for the help everyone

And as far as college goes, I would never sneak a snake in if it weren't allowed. But If I could not bring it, finding my snake a new home would not be an issue.

[DShaw]

That's why my dad doesn't like Ball Pythons. It doesn't bother me though. I think they are cooler looking.

Thanks for the help everyone

And as far as college goes, I would never sneak a snake in if it weren't allowed. But If I could not bring it, finding my snake a new home would not be an issue.

trust me once you get to college you will be sneaking alot of stuff in because it seems like everything is banned from the dorms

[Kaorte]

Honestly, ball pythons or any snake for that matter is a long term commitment, just like a dog or cat, but longer. If you are going away to school in a year and are living in the dorms, you will probably not be able to have pets. The smartest thing to do would be to wait to get the snake until you are either living off campus or done with school.

I will admit that I did get my first BP while in the dorms and hid her there for about 6 months. I have moved out of there though and have my own place where I have the OK to have snakes. The main problem with sneaking a snake in would be if it were to escape. You would have to tell the school and they would probably over react and evacuate the building or something. You would most likely get kicked out of student housing.

[zantedeschia]

From someone who has both ball pythons and corns, if you have less time/energy to pay to your snake, definitely get a corn.

Took me a few months to figure out the pythons and I had one serious problem when I let the ambient temperature in the room drop too low. We had a really unusual late cold snap for my climate, record breaking lows sort of thing and I had just fed him. He didn't digest well and suffered a prolapse when he tried to pass the partially digested mouse. I know better and have 2 space heaters in the snakes' room.

Corns you only have to worry about getting too hot, you don't want them above about 90. They can go about 10 degrees cooler than BPs and are good at 70-85F. They're also not as picky about humidity, I let mine go with the ambient humidity here and the male has always had perfect sheds. (My female has only shed once since I got her, it was in 2 pieces when I found her shedding so I helped her with the rest of it off).

Ball pythons need it a little warmer and a little moister. 80 to 85F (people here will tell you they need warmer but mine are fine in that range) and 50 to 60% humidity. I've got mine in glass aquariums so I am constantly tweaking their humidity levels. I hear it's easier to keep heat/humidity levels constant in a plastic tub, tho.

Other than BPs specific temp/humidity needs, they are notoriously picky eaters (tho both of mine eat fine, and one eats like a pig) and they can have problem sheds (my large BP sheds fine, my new little one has yet to shed since I've had him).

OTOH corns are a snap to take care of. They shed great, they have great appetites, I don't have to mess with their humidity or temp hardly at all. (except in the summer here my A/C is out on that side of the house so I give them a dish full damp spaghnum moss. The corns will slide under it to stay cool.) The big thing about corns is they are notorious escape artists. I lost my first corn cause he pushed the top of the cage off and I thought I had not fastened the lid down securely until my second corn did the same. Now I have a brick on top of his cage. And while my pythons don't seem to be interested in getting out of their cages so neither of them have secure lids ATM, there have been many stories here of people's ball pythons escaping so I'll eventually need to rectify that.

Your bigger problem seems to be what to do with it in the long term, so I'll just say, "what they said".