Small Snakes

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Miss Wiggle

Practically perfect in every way
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am i the only person who gets cravings to get a new pet?!! Well I really want a new pet at the moment and I think I'd like a snake, we are very pushed on space though so sadly can't get anything massive.

wouldn't be for a little while yet because frankly i really can't afford anything right now, but just checking out some options.

so what would be a nice snake that just needs a small amount of space, preferably colourful and diurnal. :good:
 
I know exactly what you mean.....just look at my profile to see all the reps we have :lol:

The only diunal snake I can think of is the Garter snake. They don't get very big and you can get some nice colourations. The only other ones I know of are venomous and I don't think that's the type you're probably after :lol:

Although pricey.....the checkered garter snakes are gorgeous!!!!

Here's a pic of one.

http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/images/v...;sigh=116qo19lc
 
hi oh great and wise wiggly one :)

most snakes are not what you'd call small so could I suggest a legless lizard instead?;
even the so called giant legless lizard Ophisaurus apodus only reaches 3ft
but the chances of being able to buy one of them is slim.
I have seen slowworms (native UK legless lizard) in petshops but suspect they have
been caught in the wild, so wouldn't go for one of those.

whatever you go for, remember the key is research, research and more research.
 
Western Hognoses are tiny. :good: Slightly venomous, though. Usually completely harmless, but some people have a small reaction.
 
Best small easy to handle snake is going to have to be a corn really. Require a 3ft viv as adults, loads of colour morphs available with alot of fancy ones under £50 if you buy direct from breeders.

Hognoses are a rear fanged species. So although they do have weak venom they have to 'chew' on you to put it to use. A quick tag from a hog nose would not leave you with a big swollen area.
 
yup wolfy, you know me, i'm not about to leap into anything without researching, it'd be after xmas before i could afford anything anyway so that gives me time to decide what i wan and do some research. also i still have to convince Ian that I should have another pet, generally not too hard though we ususally have to try and convince each other not to buy more animals rather than the other way around. :rolleyes:

they had some beautiful lizards in the pet shop that they let us handle when we went in, can't remember the name of the species but they need a 6'3'3' viv and were £450 for the pair and we were still looking at each other with that look in your eye that says 'we don't really need a sofa do we, could fit a nice 6 foot viv in the living room if we sit on the floor from now on' :rolleyes:

anyway thanks for the suggestions everyone, the hognose is sooooooo cute!!! what size viv do they need?

legless lizards could be an interesting option, got any suggestions for small species, i don't mind if they're a little expensive or hard to get hold of (so long as it is actually possible to get them anyway!), we're always happy to wait for the pet shop to order in anything special for us. with limited space for pets we'd always rather wait a couple of months and get something we really want rather than rush it and get whats available and then find we regret it later.

i don't mind venemous actually, don't want anything that's super dangerous but not phased by the possibility of a slight reaction occasionally.

got a snake question, we were talking to the lads in the et shop about the whole survive/thrive thing, saying with fish and other pets we don't tend to keep them in the minimum tank size, we almost always go a little bit bigger so that they have a brilliant living space rather than an adequate one. he said it doesn't work like that with snakes and they don't like to have too much space, it freaks them out. is that true or just the pet shop spinning us a line?!
 
Nope, your pet shop is giving you good advice.

You don't want to start with a huge viv for a hatchling snake.

For hatchlings you would start a small tub the size of a sandwich box. You then move them up through the sizes and eventually you put them in a viv. Or alot of breeders keep there snakes in tub racking systems.

But as a pet I'm guessing you'll want a nice looking viv.
 
ah ok, at the pet shop they gave two tank sizes, one for the size of the snake now and then one for it as an adult. we've always taken the approach with fish that you get the size tank it needs as an adult and let the fish grow into it rather than stepping up gradually, good to know that's not appropriate with snakes.

also this reinforces my view that we do have a good knowledgeable reptile specialist shop which always helps. i was pleased to see them refuse to sell something to a customer when we were in there, i've no idea on the validity of the decision but just the fact that they only sell advanced animals to people who can care for them has to be a good thing even if occasionally they loose a sale.

i'm quite liking the idea of the hognose, can you give me an idea on the size vivs/containers i'd need and the time frame for moving them up to the full adult sized one.
 
To be honest I haven't had any experience with hog noses but for a hatchling you would be looking roughly at a 3l sandwich box with a few holes made in it.

Eventually a hog nose would be happy enough as an adult in a 3x15x15 viv. The snake would probably need to be a couple of years old before using a full size viv. Up to that point you can just up the box size.

Between all he boxes the heating equipment will be the same so it's not like it's a new set up all the time, just a few quid for a new tub.
 
I love corn snakes and plan to get one when I'm out of collage. I have the bad habit of keeping wild garter snakes for a few days before letting them go. Love them to death, but no snakes allowed in the house. Which is why I have my caecillians, closest thing to a snake I could get. They are really cool and funny. I love the fact that at 2 feet long they won't even bother the 3" fish that try to take food from them.
 
I have a western hognose, and she is probably the favorite of my snakes. They are great little snakes and good for beginners except as hatchlings are prone to hunger strikes. If you can I would get a juvenile that has a good feeding record. My hognose went on a 7 month strike and wouldn't even look at anything I offered her, live, prekilled, pinky mice, pinky rat, fuzzy mice, she didn't want anything. Finally I gave her to a good friend to see if he could force feed her. Fortunately it never came to that, we found a teeny little toad and gave it to her and she snapped it up. We gave her a pinky mouse next and gulped that down also, and then another one. That was in May and she's been eating great ever since. They are considered mildly venomous but not enough to even warrant mentioning most of the time, combined with the fact that the rare times they actually try to strike at you they usually do so with their mouth shut. A US 20 gl tank would work good for an adult male, although if you have room for a larger tank great. Females would need a larger tank.
Their rate of growth all depends on the size and frequency of their meals. When they're young feeding every 5-7 days is good, and once their older 7-12 days works well. You're reptile shop will be able to help you pick prey of the appropriate size. Good luck picking a new baby!
 

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