Question asked the most. Best starter snake?

[djansen]

I agree with pretty much everything said here.

One thing that stood out was your comment about corns as babies possibly not being the best beginner snake. Being so tiny and so quick, coupled with their ability to fit pretty much ANYwhere I think you make a good point. Juvenile corns, Kings, etc... need to be monitored extremely closely while out, and enclosures must be completely escape proof. These little guys can be like Houdini if you're not careful.

I personally moved on from corns, in favor of Kings. And even at that, if I ever add another it will be sub-adult or adult. I've got no interest in the constant hand over hand handling sessions anymore. I love active and alert, but super quick and flighty isn't for me anymore. My snakes relax me and help me unwind. I find a certain tranquillity in them, and handling juvenile corns and similar colubrids is more work than tranquillity in my opinion.

came in to say this. We currently have 2 corns, one adult who we got as a sub-adult and one we got after she had eaten a few meals. My fiance is new to snakes and she is in love with the adult, he is so chill and not once shown any signs of aggression. She can hold him all day and he doesn't care.
The little female on the other hand is a little spit-fire, shes very flighty and quick. She used to rattle her little tail and strike like crazy. She's slowly calming down but for now shes my problem to deal with haha.

I have always had lots of success with ball pythons, and depending on where you live I don't feel the care requirements are difficult. If you can't handle the simple requirements of a ball python you should not be keeping reptiles imo