Jestersix

Does anyone keep snakes?

Thanks, again helpful all.

A long lifetime isn't a negative by itself, the context was more understanding the personal practical ramifications. We previously for instance had a green cheek conure which unfortunately didn't make it's full lifespan, but did live over 10yrs. Liberty Ducky Goose was a family member, though spent a lot more time in its cage when the kids were born than before. However, birds are social and do bond, so it's a different situation imo.

On the other extreme I wouldn't feel bad giving others my coral. I'm imagining a reptile is closer to a fish in all these regards.

A trip to Berkeley is in order, and we will probably hit up the reptile expo in January. Hoping somehow to convince him to want some dart frogs. I've always wanted those, and they seem a lot less involved. At least, no feeding rodents.
 
@richiev
I’ve had a conure too
Before the kids came
The bird did not agree with our choices to have children
It had the decency to fly away one day...I did find it 1.5 years later happily living at a woman’s house near by!

And
If you’re coming to Berkeley, hit me with a pm
 
Kensington Reefer said:
@richiev
I’ve had a conure too
Before the kids came
The bird did not agree with our choices to have children
It had the decency to fly away one day...I did find it 1.5 years later happily living at a woman’s house near by!

And
If you’re coming to Berkeley, hit me with a pm
Click to expand...
That's really funny.

Ours had a great life when we lived in Chicago; it probably spent more time out of the cage then in during the day. When do moved to CA it still was out quite a bit. When we had kids it basically never did, and it was too difficult to do. Was sad.

In retrospect I wish we'd of gotten it's wings clipped when we had kids. We'd of been able to let it out a lot more, even if it wasn't at its peak birdness.

Actually, maybe another conure is a solution to this. The previous we had since it hatched. We could do that again or do a rescue...
 
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Hehe, glad to see folks tagging me on this one! I used to breed a few different species of boas and pythons. I had to pare down my collection when I got married a while back, but still have a few, and will hopefully get back to breeding again soon. So I'm biased;).

I think there are a few that can make very good pets. I agree with what others have said in that they don’t “bond” with an owner like a dog, but I feel that needs to be an expectation if you’re interested in one. In my opinion, they can, and should, get used to you as a non threatening part of their environment, and I believe gentle handling provides them with environmental enrichment, plus it’s fun. Depending on what you’re after, a corn snake from a reputable place like the east bay vivarium is a very good option. Something to be aware of though, most baby snakes are nervous and a little flighty until they get used to you - remember they’re on the menu of basically every small predator there is. So until you learn to read the animal's body language, which happens quickly, getting bit is likely. A nip from a little corn snake is painless, but it can be a little jarring, especially for a child. But there are other good options. I personally feel the typical boa constrictor (b.c imperator) can be great pets; they’re a bit more robust and fun to handle. They will need a minimum of a 4‘x2’ cage, but ideally bigger is better.

I feel they’re about as low maintenance as a pet can be. A little effort in the setup, feeding once a week or so and routine cage and water dish cleaning. It’s also been mentioned here, snakes can and should live quite a few years, so please take that into account. A buddy of mine got a corn snake for his daughter a couple of years ago, it nipped her shortly after they brought it home, and my buddy ended up taking care of it, which he did a good job of. Now, a couple of years later, the snake is mostly grown and his daughter has decided she likes it, so it’s working out, but took a while.

As a side note, I tried keeping dart frogs once. Such cool little critters, but so much work. No feeding rodents, but maintaining fruit fly cultures is a lot of work.

If you have any specific questions, it sounds like there’s some good experience here, but happy to answer anything I can!

Here‘s a link to my never-updated snake keeping instagram
My ideal being some situation involving the full experience, including feeding frozen mice, so the full experience becomes real.
Click to expand...
This is great example of doing one‘s homework! If you are near SF, I’d be happy to have you come by for a feeding demo. Fortunately most people feed frozen/thawed mice.
 
Meet Sophie, the Super Pastel Lesser Het Clown Ball Python.



1704258115528.png


Still creeps me out a bit, but less than before. Held a couple at the east bay vivarium today and ended up taking this one home. Setting up its enclosure with monitoring using home assistant + some wifi smart sensors. I'll likely end up trying to DIY a snake controller as another side project.

Thanks for the assistance all!
 

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richiev said:
Meet Sophie, the Super Pastel Lesser Het Clown Ball Python.



View attachment 51667

Still creeps me out a bit, but less than before. Held a couple at the east bay vivarium today and ended up taking this one home. Setting up its enclosure with monitoring using home assistant + some wifi smart sensors. I'll likely end up trying to DIY a snake controller as another side project.

Thanks for the assistance all!
Click to expand...
I recognize that counter!!
good luck with your new friend
 
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