snakes

I am not sure where I should pose this question, so I decided on here, hope someone sees it and either answers or points me in the right direction on where to ask.
My daughter is having her 16th birthday the end of February. She would like a snake, we have BD's and iguana. I really know nothing about snakes. BUT I do know I do not want her to have a large snake such as a boa, nor venomous. Are there any smaller snakes that I can start searching for that have color? This is her thing and she as well as I will do research on it if indeed there is a snake for her.
Thank you in advance for any input you may give

Rozann Lamont

Any first snake should be a Corn Snake I believe. They are easy to care for and come in many colors, for anyone out there. And there are alot of good books out there for them.

I must agree, I have two corns, and am planning on picking up a third, they are rather easy to care for, and can be quit gentle snakes. They are easy to feed and aren't all that difficult to house. Corns tend to get between 4 and five feet in length with the max being 6, but I don't hear of many 6 foot long corns... If you want to learn a little more about them Rich has a cornsnake forum www.cornsnakes.com/forums should be the sitethere's lots of nice people there who are always willing to answer questions...

my fav. part is the wide variety of color morphs you can get, lavender corns, butter corns, okeetee corns (red and orange my fav. colors!)

or ball pythons are nice, they are pretty much just a stubby version of a regular python or boa (I don't have any but my friends seem to like them)

Thank you and I will be going to that site to learn more about corns. You said balls are not bad to keep either. Are they constrictors? And they don't get as large you say? How about colors?

Thank you again. both of you.

Corn Snakes generally come highly recommended as beginner snakes and come in a great variety of colors. I also find Rosy Boas very pretty and I personally like their colorations very much. In addition, Rosy Boas stay quite small (typically around three feet long and slender), are easy to care for, and can spend their whole life in a 20 gallon tank. You may want to look into them!

Yes, I will look into them. They are not as small as a gartner (sp) are they? I was hoping for something a little bigger than that, but not so big they can eat her LOL j/K I know she would like some color or a really good design. And one that she can handle. I only own reptiles now and she has demonstrated great care for those. I do know her love tho- is snakes.

Whats a mom to do?

They're bigger than a garter. I believe the average lengths are similar, but rosies are bigger around - they're just on the slender side when compared to other boas or pythons. And most Rosy Boas are very easy to handle, gentle and docile.

You can find a care sheet and pictures at http://www.rosyboa.com.

So Rosy boas or corns is the two tops. Thank you and thank you for the sites, I will be looking at them (have already started on the corn snakes.

Thank you again

My first snake was a kingsnake, and she's very nice and calm. She's a blotched king, very similar to easterns or floridas. They're just about as easy to care for as corns.
I've also heard great things about African house snakes, and I have nothing bad to say about roseys and their relatives, rubber boas and all the sand boas.
I think that your daughter should do some research before you make a decision, and she can decide which of the generally recommended starter snakes she likes. It's very important to know the proper method of feeding them so that they don't bite you a lot. Because that's no fun. And also so you know what to do when they shed their skin. Those are the two tricky parts, otherwise they're a lot like lizards.
I hope this made sense, I keep telling myself not to post when I'm tired, but here I am :P. Good luck!

E. Benner

Cornsnakes are the best!!
just got 1 my self and she is a beauty
really colorful and she's a good feeder as well.
as they say.. corn snake is the beginner snake
they don't that much room and are really good temperd...

hope i help