New Pet!
 

I know you guys probably don't care about this, but I'm excited and want to tell everyone! :D

Since my goldfish died Sunday night :(, I have been thinking about another pet. I want another reptile. I'm tired of having things that die in a few years and having the same old boring-ass pets. I've had several turtles over the years and they've always been awesome and fun to have, but just too damn difficult to take care of when they get big. So, I had it down to either an iguana, a tiger salamander, a bearded dragon, or a snake. Each animal had their pros and cons. I ended up choosing the snake. I've wanted one since I was a kid, but my mom was terrified of them, so they were absolutely out of the question. Now that I have the chance, I'm going to go for it. :)

My new baby will be a ball python! My boyfriend has had snakes before and he loves them. I'm really excited about it. I can't wait! We're going this weekend to pick him out and get the stuff for his tank. We already have an empty 30 gallon tank we plan on using for his 'home'. We just have to buy everything else.

Do any of you guys have any snakes? If so, I could use some helpful tips.

I.Hate.Snakes.

Don't know what it is all about really, because Spiders, Lizards, bugs, etc. don't bother me, but I absolutely HATE snakes. Don't care what kind it is, they just creep me out.

Same here. I've had a lizard b4. I would rather come face 2 face with a grizzly bear than touch a fucking snake.

A lot of people feel that way. I'm the opposite. I am terrified of spiders and scorpions, but I've always loved snakes. I remember when I was about 6, I found a baby corn snake nestled inside of a dead tree stump. I picked it up and proudly brought it into the house to show my parents my little prize. With a big smile on my face, and holding the snake in my right hand with it's head lightly pinched between my forefinger and thumb like I saw on TV, I showed it to my mom... and that's when I found out how much she hated snakes. My dad thought it was awesome that I found it, but my mom quickly made me take that 'nasty-ass goddamn thing' outside. I've just always liked them and I've always been fascinated with them, for as long as I can remember. Everytime there was a snake show on TV, I had to watch it.

Why do you guys hate snakes so much? Everytime I ask my best friend, she says they're 'slimy and disgusting'. She is just ill informed. :rolleyes:

Gotta name for the devil's creature yet? Im with the other two guys.... im terrified of snakes. Call me what you want, when I see a snake, my ass is running.

They are so fast and ninja-like. They can strike poison into your body in a split second. As far as the non-poisonous snakes, well, they just scare the shit outta me. I can deal with spiders, but I draw the line with snakes.

"The devil's creature"... hahahaha. I love that. No, we don't have a name yet. I have to see him first and get a feel for his 'personality'. You'd run when you see a snake? Why not just pull out your gun and shoot it? :p

The ball python is obviously non-venomous. I would never have a venomous snake. Those are the ones that scare me.

I really dont understand what the big deal is about domesticated snakes. You guys are a bunch of wieners. Now wild snakes Id understand though. I kill them when I see 'em.

my brother and I had a rattle snake that we picked up out of the road. It ended up killing itself and we had it mounted it was pretty cool.

I've been fortunate enough to not encounter a rattlesnake in the wild. I did see a water moccasin when I was a kid and my dad killed it... I cried. When I see black snakes or indigo snakes (which are beautiful), I leave them alone. I wouldn't kill any snake unless I had to, even if it was a rattlesnake. I'd just stay the hell away from it and let it go on its merry little way.

well we like to catch any snake and put it in his pasture so that they can keep the rats away from getting in the house. the rattlesnake was just for fun to see if he could be domesticated but that didn't happen.

Its not so much hate snakes more than scared fucking shitless of them. Ilive in a place that has a lot of venomous snakes. We got rattlers that I know that get over 6 feet long. We fished these ponds that were way back in the woods and we seen more than a few them. We also got copperheads and water moccasins.

Not really a fan of snakes either, but fear spiders more. I've encountered rattlesnakes a few times.

I hate snakes.

Call him Lucifer.

OH SHIT SNAKES ON A MUTHA FUCKIN PLANE!!!

i used to have a ball python named pepsi. he escaped. at least i thought he did, untill i noticed the smell coming from the vent in my barracks.

great animals, pretty docile, but you WILL get bit. Dont worry, you dont even feel the bite, it feels like he taps you then you start to bleed

careful feeding them mice. i had a moue bite right through the top of pepsi's head when he was trying to kill the mouse. while it is less exciting, it is worth it to take the mouth outside and chuck it against a brick wall real hard to phase or kill it.

good times.

My buddy had a ball python and it was the coolest thing ever. He was gone for a weeked and his headlamp went out and the snake died though:(

You have got to name it Monty

I actually like that name a lot. I'll add it to my 'name list'. :)



What kind of lid did you have on his home? I plan to get one of those clamping lids and then weigh it down or ductape that bitch when I go to sleep because I don't want him to get out. Sucks about Pepsi. :( How long did you have him?

I read that when they bite, it doesn't hurt. I was bitten by a friend's milk snake when I was a kid. Basically just felt like sandpaper, haha. I'm not too worried about it. I'm more worried about not being able to take care of it properly, even thought I've spend the last 3 days at least 4-5 hours a day reading about them.

My boyfriend is adamant about wanting the snake to eat live. I'd rather feed it dead mice/rats/gerbils for the reason you stated. I don't want the snake to be harmed. That is the only part about having a snake that bothers me. I don't want to see it eat. I already told my boyfriend he is going to have to feed it. There is a pet store around here that sells the mice/rats/gerbils already dead and they freeze them.

I know that after we get the snake, we will argue about it. Hell, we already are. I just want to be safe about everything. He thinks he knows everything and that this snake will be exactly like his last two. :rolleyes:

I dont hate snakes...used to have a King snake back in the day. But...I dont understand reptiles as pets...They just dont ever give back, or react, or recognize you... like the "boring" animals like cats and dogs do. I dunno. One things for sure, you better provide us a vid of feeding time(live food required)

Water Moccassin is very lethal. i'd rather your dad kill it then it bite somebody.

and i love snakes. :) i wish i could have one.

I had a snake when I was a kid, I forget the name of it but it was some kind of Hognose something. My grandfather caught it when it was about 6" long and I had it for a few years untill it was about two feet. We feed it frogs. One night it got out of it's container, inside the house, never found again.

He/She is probably living underneath of your residence, eating small babies.

That would b the last night my ass would have stayed in that house. My ass would have moved just as soon as someone said they couldn't find the snake.

Valerie your weird..

I've always wanted a snake! My mom hated them so we made a deal, Minnesota Vikings win the superbowl, i can have a snake (we made i a long time ago, like 10+ years). As soon as im done with college that will be one thing i get!

I used to raise boa constrictors, and believe me they grow quickly. I'm sure a python will grow as fast or faster. Not sure bout pythons, but boas need live mammals. Just don't tell the pet shop why your buying little white mice..

My boas would make a grown man say WTF, when you see it in action. It's pretty gruesome, and there is no warm fuzzy feeling from watching it.

Godaam boa will strike so fast you wont see it if you blink. Then all you see is a rolled up mouse shitting and pissing himself, then trying to breathe. with each breathe the boa gets a tighter squeeze. Then he let's it go when it's dead and eats it.

I had to quit raising boas because my empathy got the best of me. I know it's nature in action, but I don't need to be part of that.. :eek:

Well imagine that. someone made a video of a Boa eating. The reason I don't advise a reptile as a pet.. :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvAZcklM6hA

better still. a bermese python. I did not watch this one. Sorry. :o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6gZE0MdaVY

WTG Val!!! I hadda Burmese Python for about 12 years. He was AWESOME!!! I took him everywhere with me. That snake made countless trips to Florida for spring break with me. I had a 93 Bronco at for a while with the big wide wind deflectors on it, and his favorite place to ride was wrapped around the driver's side mirror and tucked up inside the deflector. :) His name was Leroy. When he finally died, he was close to 10 feet long.

Make sure you get a female they get bigger

Oh, I know reptiles don't return affection like cats and dogs do, but I don't care about that. I have a cat and a dog who do, so they'll make up for what the snake lacks. I can say that one of my turtles named Angus that I had for 7 years recognized me and seemed like he returned my affections. Every time he would see me even coming in the room, he would swim like hell to the top of the tank. He wanted to be fed, haha. He knew food time as well. I fed him at the same times every day. If I didn't feed him, he'd make all kind of noise in his tank until I did. He also loved to have his head petted and he'd push his head against my finger as hard as he could. He also only let me pick him up. When anyone, and I mean anyone else tried to pick him up, he would either bite or swim away. I could take him out of his tank, sit with him on my lap, and he'd just sit there and chill. Angus was so awesome and was definitely one of the coolest pets I ever had.


Thank you. :D


Ball pythons will eat either live, dead, or frozen and thawed mice, rats, and gerbils. The typical size for a BP is 4-6', usually they grow no larger. The pet shops around here sell mice and rats specifically for snakes. You can even buy them already dead in some stores, which is what I want to do.

I'm the same way you are. I already told my boyfriend that I do not ever want to see the snake eat live. I also told him that if the snake prefers to eat live, he will be doing the feeding. The way you describe it makes me want to see it less than I already did, which I didn't think was possible. We have another tank in a separate room that we are going to feed the snake in, so I don't have to deal with it.


I probably won't watch that, but I couldn't even if I wanted to. My work computer won't let me watch YouTube videos.


I've already decided on a male. All of my current animals are male. I plan to keep with that tradition. :)