input on getting a pet snake?

I've got a 10 gallon aquarium that now has half a dozen fish in it. Once the fish have gone "belly up" (I'm not going to rush it), I was thinking of getting a pet snake to occupy the tank. Does anyone have any experience with snakes? I'm a total newbie, so I'd like to get something easy to care for and that will stay small. Something that will eat crickets as opposed to mice or rats!

I work for a pet store, so I think the usual fare is corn snakes, milk snakes, etc... do snakes need regular vet check-ups? how long do snakes usually live?

Snakes scare me!!!
When I was in third grade, I started having nightmares about every male I know turning into evil serpents. (and no, I was not brought up religious so this had nothing to do with the bible)...

No snakes for me...ever!!!!

Good luck with your decision though!

Oh, I am not sure..I wonder if you could google something like that?

I haev no experience with snakes..but I wish you luck

Originally Posted by thh20

I've got a 10 gallon aquarium that now has half a dozen fish in it. Once the fish have gone "belly up" (I'm not going to rush it), I was thinking of getting a pet snake to occupy the tank. Does anyone have any experience with snakes? I'm a total newbie, so I'd like to get something easy to care for and that will stay small. Something that will eat crickets as opposed to mice or rats!

I work for a pet store, so I think the usual fare is corn snakes, milk snakes, etc... do snakes need regular vet check-ups? how long do snakes usually live?

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A snake that eats crickets rather than mice, is a snake that is for more experienced people. Your best bet would be to start with a corn or something simple like that. Working in a pet store, you will know you can feed them F/T pinkies and so on, doesn't need to be live mice.
They only need to go to a vet when something is wrong which isn't very often. They can live for a while.

Anyway I will send you a PM, with a link to a forum which I am associated with. I'm a newbie too when it comes to snakes, all the info I gave you here is pretty much the same as what they will tell you.

Was gonna suggest the corn/milk snakes as they get 4-5 feet at the most. But the snake I had and really liked was a Ribbon snake - very pretty and it eats feeder goldfish - not mice - you might consider them.

Let me find a picture of one.

http://www.umass.edu/nrec/snake_pit/pages/eribbon.html

Mine was more of a reddish stripe then the yellow in the picture. And the description says the can emit a musk odor but mine never did. I looked up the Western Ribbon Snake and it was more like what I had - so maybe that was the correct one.



I got it in a pet shop and it was just listed as Ribbon Snake.

Here's some very good snake advice for them:

http://www.grizzlyrun.com/Pets/Repti...on/Default.htm

I wouldnt put but a baby snake of any kind in ten gallons....

Originally Posted by DIEGO

They only need to go to a vet when something is wrong which isn't very often. They can live for a while.

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Whenever you get a new pet, especially from a pet store, it's a good idea to have a vet do a fecal. It's not that uncommon for reptiles to have parasites, while usually they can live with them any stress can cause the parasite load to quickly be too much. Also, if you do feed live or questionable sources of frozen, it's not a bad idea to do fecals annually.

Regardless of whatever snake the OP decides to get, only a young snake can be kept in a 10 gallon. Even ribbon snakes need more space then that. It's a matter of proper care or only doing the bare minimum.
Plan on 30 gallon + eventually.

yea i agree with the others. you going to need at LEAST a 30 gal long or bigger, no matter how little the snake will be. they need room to move too!

they also need a dish for bathing and for drinking, a heating pad or lamp, and i used turf insead of loose bark for the bottom too.