Are pet snakes worth it?

Rappel

Sun, Apr 19 2020, 7:43 am

Pros:
not a lot of daily maintenance
Feel really cool when you hold them
No true Catholic will ever go near your home

However, OP, since they are untrainable predators, I recommend not getting one that can grow big enough to be a danger to a baby/child. Boa constrictors and large pythons are out - no one needs a Kaa in their life. Corn snakes are very pretty, and they grow to a maximum length of 3 feet. Maybe try for one of those.

amother

Crocus

Sun, Apr 19 2020, 8:20 am

Not advocating buying a snake (or any pet)

Last edited by amother on Sun, Feb 06 2022, 12:40 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Sun, Apr 19 2020, 9:00 am

amother [ Vermilion ] wrote:

HaShem yerachem

OP, get a turtle!!!

But turtles always look like they're judging you.

amother

Slategray

Sun, Apr 19 2020, 12:20 pm

No, they are not worth it. What do you want it for?, give the reasons you want a pet, I will try to make a suggestion.

Mom with pet-xperience

Sun, Apr 19 2020, 3:40 pm

oh my goodness! no!
my son has had many pets. including snakes on loan. I don't care what happens in the wild but I don't want to see a snake eat a mouse - live or not.
what if something goes wrong...
He has thus far respected my wishes not to keep one in the house. and hopefully it will stay that way.
He has a friend who is in 'snake retail' (?) like he sells them online. I do believe this 'friend' has a certain streak of cruelty in him (I can substantiate this by the way if you want details) which I think is related.

lech lecha08

Mon, Apr 20 2020, 11:44 am

DrMom wrote:

my 9 year old girl has been begging for a pet snake for 5 years now. She insists they're cute (sharks too). I don't get it. they might be interesting or invoke some curiosity to learn more, but cute???

amother

Fri, Apr 24 2020, 9:00 am

lech lecha08 wrote:

I don't get it. they might be interesting or invoke some curiosity to learn more, but cute???

Even this little baby danger noodle?

lech lecha08

Fri, Apr 24 2020, 9:53 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Even this little baby danger noodle?

I'll give you that one but most baby animals are cute even if the adult versions aren't.
I don't have a problem with snakes, but am not buying my kid a pet that requires me to keep dead mice in my freezer

amother

Slateblue

Fri, Apr 24 2020, 9:55 am

No.

singleagain

Fri, Apr 24 2020, 10:01 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Even this little baby danger noodle?

So cute. My brother has a gecko. He's adorable. His tail goes fast when he's about to pounce a cricket. And his little tounge flicks out.

I love snakes, but I wouldn't want to feed done. The gecko I don't mind. Bc crickets are not cute.

amother

Fri, Apr 24 2020, 10:36 am

I've heard of a product called Reptilinks, but I don't know if it is a viable option.

Elfrida

Sat, Apr 25 2020, 1:51 pm

lech lecha08 wrote:

Could be better to have dead mice in the freezer than to have the cats bringing in live mice for a game and dinner. As happened yesterday. Of course, it had to happen just after I finished doing sponga.

FranticFrummie

Sat, Apr 25 2020, 4:39 pm

I used to have a Brazilian Rainbow Boa named Medusa. She was definitely a "nope rope". She hated me, but she looooooved my room mate! When my room mate walked into the room, Medusa would rub up against the glass of her tank the way a cat would rub up on your leg. She would hang around my room mates neck and relax. On me, she would try to kill me! When the room mate moved out, I sold the snake and all the accessories for the same price I paid for her. Last I heard, she's a very happy snake in her new home. Snakes definitely have favorite people.

I would stun the mice before I fed Medusa. Medusa was picky, and I found out that she would only eat certain colors of mice. That meant I was left killing the mice that she had refused, to put them out of their misery. Nature is not always pretty.

Snakes, because of their highly acidic digestive system, have the stinkiest poop I have ever smelled in my LIFE! Surprised

There are no words to describe how incredibly foul it is, and lucky you, you get to change out the bedding in her tank. I can handle just about anything, but it was BAD. Puke

When I live, there are wild tortoises. Something Steve Irwin never taught us, is that when you pick up a tortoise and it gets scared, it will poop on your shoes. Fortunately they are vegetarians, so at least it's just digested grass, and not stinky. Still, quite the unexpected surprise.

Turtles, tortoises, geckos, frogs, and lizards all carry some form of Salmonella on their skin. That means that you have to be SUPER careful to wash your hands well after every time you touch them. If you kids are going to play with them, please supervise their washing up.

Any time you get a pet that is from this group, please do tons of research, and join a message board or group of enthusiasts so that you can ask questions and share information.

BTW, if you get a reticulated or ball python, please keep in mind that they can get HUGE, and live extremely long lives. My friend's reticulated python got over 14 feet long, and was eating whole chickens. When she couldn't afford to keep it in a humane atmosphere, she sold it to the local zoo for 4,000 dollars! It's in an enormous enclosure, and is now almost 20 feet long, eating several chickens a day.

A great snake for kids is a red bellied racer, or a garter snake. They stay small, and are known to have very calm temperaments.

amother

Papaya

Sat, Apr 25 2020, 11:57 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

This is my pros and cons list so far:

Pros:
Pretty
Quiet
Lovable
Excuse for a night light
Can be named "Incredibly Deadly Viper"
Easy to knit a sweater for
No haircuts

Cons:
Eats gross food
Doesn't love you back

Anything to add?

I have a chameleon to give away. All pros cons basically the same except it doesn't eat gross food.

cbsp

Sun, Apr 26 2020, 12:16 am

MamO3 wrote:

I once heard about a pet onsteictor snake who got out and slid through the baby crib bars. You can imagine the ending

Not this?

(Gary Larson, Far Side)