Quote Originally Posted by RatAtat2693 View Post
I'm stuck between the King, Garter, Corn, and Ball. I've never had a reptile before though, so that might be a factor.

I'm leaning towards the Garter, mostly because I have pet rats. While I have no problems separating my pets from the feeders (those guys aren't exactly cuddly), I mostly just don't want any escape accidents. I've also read that they eat mostly bugs and fish, so that makes feeding a lot easier. I've bred tropical fish, so I can't imagine goldfish or guppies being much harder. (I have a deep dislike for mice, so that's another thing I don't mind feeding.) And I don't want anything I have to buy a 50 gallon tank for, so that seems to knock out the ball. (Though I have a tendency to go overboard, so if I end up with a 100 gallon tank for a corn snake, don't be surprised.) My only real reservations are about temperament, as every garter I've handled has been kind of testy. Nips and full-on bites.

I'd like my first snake to be something colorful I can hang out with. And while garters fit the bill in habitat, they don't seem to have the right personality. For something that can live 10 years, I would like to actually be on good terms.
Garters can be very musky/flighty. They are great display snakes and can be good for handling depending on personality of the individual. Most garter keepers today recommend transitioning garters to pinkie mice because of the lack of good quality feeder fish available. The ones in pet stores are lacking some sort of nutrient that can lead to nutrient deficiencies of some type. I'm not a garter person myself and don't know the specifics.

If you want a snake you can regularly handle without it going off feed or anything, corns are seriously your best bet. Some BP's tolerate handling better than others, but nowhere near the way a cornsnake will. I have my cornsnake in my very busy high school science classroom all year long, and he is handled more than most snakes and STILL never misses a meal. They're ironclad.

So far as escapes go... don't have one. Set your habitat up to be escape proof and develop the personal habits to ensure that it stays that way. Escapes are bad for snakes and for the public perception of reptile keeping. And also... most adult corns aren't going to be able to kill and feed on fully grown, adult rats. Babies? Sure. But adults not so much. In fact I would worry more about the corn in that case. Adult rats are nothing to mess with.