Snakes for Sale

Snakes as Pets

Choosing a Pet Snake to Buy

Best Pet Snakes for Beginners

These snakes are reasonably sized, fairly easy to care for, and tend to be quite docile.

• Corn Snakes for Sale - This snake shows up on a lot of people's lists of best pet snakes, and with good reason. Cornsnakes are the easiest to upkeep, feed and house. Corn snakes come in a wide variety of color "morphs" with names such as snow, pewter, blood red, candy cane and creamsicle ... just to name a few. It's hard to go wrong by choosing the corn snake as your type of pet snake! I put the corn snake on the top of my list of pet snakes -- especially for the first-time keeper. and are very easy to hold. They can get 3-5 feet, though typically not longer than 4-4.5 feet. They stay slim and may not even eat prey bigger than an adult mouse. They are easily kept in a 10 gallon tank when little and grow to full size in about 4-6 years.
  
• King Snakes for Sale - Kingsnakes are called so because they will eat other snakes. The California kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae) is one of the most common types of pet snakes in general, and one of the most popular kingsnakes among keepers. Other kingsnakes commonly kept as pets include the grey-banded kingsnake, the Florida kingsnake, and the mountain kingsnake varieties. These are not quite as handleable as cornsnakes, but some of the California Kingsnake color varieties are very striking. These will require a minimum of 55 gallons at full size if not double that.
  
• Milk Snakes for Sale - Milksnakes are most often known by "Red touches black, friend of Jack. Red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow" Milksnakes mimic coral snakes in their coloring. They can get anywhere from 2 feet to 6 feet.
  
• Ball Pythons for Sale - The ball python (Python regius) is a good snake for a beginning snake owner. Growing to a maximum size of 3-5 feet, ball pythons are not as large as many of the other constricting snakes that are kept as pets, and are quite docile and easy to handle. A captive bred ball python usually flourishes given the proper care.

Feeding Snakes

There are as many different varieties of diets for snakes as there are types of snakes themselves. Some eat worms, insects and toads while others feed on birds and small mammals. Some examples of snakes that feed on rodents are pythons, the king, rat and gopher snakes. A captive snake must be offered the right type of food to give it the proper kind of security to feed. If the snake feels insecure, he will not eat, even if he is very hungry. Do not handle the snake after it eats. You must wait until it has digested its meal otherwise it may regurgitate the meal and refuse to eat for several days following.  

General Things You Should Know About Pet Snakes

* Be sure you give your snake enough heat - that means enough for the snake, not you. A snake is best kept at warmer, summer temperatures of 85 - 100 degrees F, unless being cooled for hibernation. Temperate zone species may tolerate a 30 degree drop in temperature at night, but tropical species rarely do well with such fluctuations.

* Never, ever use your snake to scare somebody! Many people are afraid of snakes, some pathologically so. Using a snake to scare a person is irresponsible of you, may cause injury to another person, and is traumatic for the snake.

* Be sure to feed your snake an adequate diet at appropriate intervals. Snakes under 3 feet in length should generally be fed prey about the size of an adult mouse once or twice a week. Larger snakes take more or larger prey at less frequent intervals. Truly large snakes may eat only once per year, but these are not snakes for novices.

* Do not handle snakes after feeding, or until they have digested their meals. If a snake is handled too soon after eating, it is often likely to regurgitate the meal, and may refuse to feed for many days afterward.

* Snakes must shed their skins, but they do much better if you do not help them. If the snake has been fed and watered well, it will grow, and the old skin is carefully broken by the snake and shed in one piece. If a snake sheds in patches, it may be dehydrated or have a nutritional disorder.

* Do your homework! Buying a snake is not the same as knowing how to care for it properly. It is your responsibility to learn about your snake and any special needs it will have in captivity. For example, unless you carefully teach your snake otherwise, many have specialized diets: garter snakes eat fish and frogs, hognose snakes eat toads, and corn snakes eat small rodents and eggs.

* Get a snake veterinarian lined up now. Snakes have a slower metabolism than us mammals, so they may manifest symptoms long after contracting an illness. Waiting to find a qualified vet until the snake is ill may be too late.

* Clean the snake's cage as it becomes dirty - don't merely wait for Saturday morning. Only use appropriate disinfectants for a snake cage. You may use rubbing alcohol, soap, and specialty products available at your pet shop. Do not use chlorine bleaches or industrial cleansers such as Ajax or Comet, because their residues are often toxic to snakes. Lysol is particularly dangerous.

* Always wash your hands well with soap and water after handling your snake or the cage accessories. Snakes, like most animals, may harbor dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella.