Quote Originally Posted by Tosha_Mc View Post
Someone delete the post above -- I hit the wrong button :
Done. Btw great post Tosha.

I would add for the OP that your purchasing decision will likely help a lot in wanting a snake that is reasonably socialized early on. Picking one up in a general pet store won't likely be a good choice for you as they live very stressed in those glass tanks full of other snakes. Neither may a hatchling that comes from a larger breeder just due to it not being handled much as a hatchling due to sheer numbers. You may want to work specifically with a smaller breeder in order to get a hatchling that's seen a bit more handling time already or as Tosha said, go with a slightly older snake that's already gone through it's "omg I'm small and everything scares me" stage.

Just take your time and buy the snake that you feel comfortable with. I really do believe a confident, calm handler helps to create a calmer situation for the snake to be handled in hopefully encouraging the snake to be less stressed and defensive.