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rock4ever's avatar

What are good species of snakes for first time owners?

Asked by rock4ever (1866points) May 18th, 2011

My mom said I can get a snake. I’m wondering what type I should go for. I have a 21 gallon tank. I’m looking for a snake that as an adult is about 3 feet. Is my tank big enough or do I need a new one? Also I can’t have a venomous one. I’m most comfortable with a snake that eats mice, but I’m flexible with that.
I’ve been researching and so far on my list of snakes to research further are:
black snake, king snake, coral snake, and milk snake. Do you guys have any ideas of good first time snake owner snakes?

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15 Answers

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jrpowell's avatar

My sisters first was a corn snake. And a 21 gallon tank seems pretty small.

rock4ever's avatar

@noelleptc oh well then the website I was on lied. It said that they’re not venomous. Thanks that would have been a mistake getting one of those. I was leaning toward a king snake. Is the tank that I have big enough? Or will i have to get a new one once it starts to grow?

syz's avatar

You haven’t been doing a very good job with your research. Coral snake should not be on that list. For a tank that size, you might want to look at garter snakes (if they’re legal in your state; they’re considered indigenous by some states and not allowed as pets).

Plucky's avatar

First off, your tank is too small for a 3 foot snake.

Brian1946's avatar

In addition to noellptc’s urgently important advice: If you decide to get a scarlet king snake, make sure that it’s not a coral snake.

rock4ever's avatar

@PluckyDog Ok I still have all my Christmas and birthday money so with that I can buy a new tank. How big does it need to be?
@Brian1946 Yeah I got that thanks. Red and yellow you’re a dead fellow…

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Plucky's avatar

The smaller the tank, the more it can actually stunt your snake’s growth. Many people use a 20 gal tank for 3 foot of snake. But many also disagree with that. If it were me, I’d go with at the very least 30 gallons. The tank should be much more long than deep as well.

As for starter snakes, some good ones are:
Corn Snake
Ball Python
Milk Snake
King Snake

KateTheGreat's avatar

Ball pythons are sweethearts. At least the one I had was. It slept under my pillow sometimes.

rock4ever's avatar

I don’t think I’ll go with a ball python. My maximum limit for length is 3’ 6” and they exceed the limit. Also they can often have eating problems. I’m more leaning toward a type of king snake. Is there any other type of snake that fits the description I gave?

KateTheGreat's avatar

Milk snakes stay very small and they are also very sweet. I love my milk snake.

WestRiverrat's avatar

I suggest you not do get what my college roommate did. He brought home a 6” prairie rattler from one of his nature hikes.

KateTheGreat's avatar

@WestRiverrat That’s absolutely horrible! I’d beat my roomie with a bag of bricks if she ever did that!

Coloma's avatar

Forget snakes, come to my place and round up the gazillions of giant alligator lizards I have.
I found a MONSTER basking on my living room rug the other morning. I am not exagerating, this guy was at LEAST 10 inches long, as big around as two fingers, green and black stripes and a very EVIL eye! lol

I actually picked him up around the middle and he swiveled around but didn’t bite me. Whew!

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