In my experience, balls are great to start with because they allow you to get familiar with handling and basic care before moving into something more advanced, faster moving, or slender bodied.

As far as other snake species go, it really depends on what you like. I personally am extremely fond of African House Snakes, a small little species from Africa that is ridiculously easy to care for, small, and super smart and adorable. I also keep pituophis, or gopher/pine/bullsnakes, and adore their attitudes. If you are not too confident with snakes yet, it may be better to steer towards the house snakes or more commonly kept North American colubrids such as cornsnakes or kingsnakes.

Rosies are kind of like ball pythons; the only thing I don't personally enjoy about them is that the ones I encounter are pretty prone to "side biting", where they will crawl over you and while you're holding them, just turn and chow down. The majority of them don't do this, but a fair few of the ones I've encountered do, enough to where I am not personally very fond of them!

Sand Boas mature small and are similar to rosies in temperament; they burrow beneath sand 99% of the time so you almost never see them. They do mature at 24" or less, though, so if small is what you want, they're great.

Carpet pythons are fun snakes, not much harder to care for than ball pythons, just more active. Give them more space, tinker with humidity a bit more, and prepare for a longer adult animal. Girth wise, they do not get much thicker than balls, just longer. They're smart and inquisitive, and babies can start out nippy, so be prepared for that.

If you can, check out as many snakes as you can at a reptile show. Or come visit us at our stores if you're local - the best way to find out about new species is to play with them!

-Jen