I have owned a corn snake for almost a year and he is a great snake. However, I want another one. I absolutely love my friends ball python, but I don't know anything about them. I went window shopping the other day and I am now torn between another corn, a ball python, and a milksnake. I like snakes that are smaller in size (not bigger than 5-6 feet), are fairly good eaters, and are docile and like to be handled. I like the colors of the corns and milks, but I like the thickness and gentleness of the BP. In my area, there are not many reptile shows (I've never heard of any at all), only 1 reptile specialty shop 30 miles away, and a couple of pet stores. I plan on going to the reptile shop, since that is most likely the best place to get one. I don't know any other ways of finding a local place for snakes. Can anyone give opinions on all three and help me figure out which one would be better for me?
I recommend a yearling or older unless you have experience with baby snakes. Especially from a petshop. Also eventually a Ball Python will be eating some pretty large prey items, larger than a cornsnake or milksnake. Also what type of milksnake were you looking at, some breeds can be very timid and hard to get feeding as babies.
The ones I saw while 'window shopping' are all babies. I think the ones at the breeder are also babies. I got my corn as a tiny baby and watched him grow. I'm hoping to get into the breeder/reptile shop in the next couple of days to ask questions. I really don't know what is available, or the ages yet. I'm really leaning towards a BP, so that I will have 2 very different kinds of snakes. I do understand that they eat larger food, and I'm OK with that. I'm hoping to find one that is fed frozen/thawed already.
Ball pythons are very good snakes - they are docile, mellow and slow moving...however they are prone to not eating for long periods of time on occasion...if you go with a ball, make sure you get one that is alrady consistantly feeding on frozen thawed rodents. Corn snakes, as you know are also great snakes...they come in a variety of colors and are easy to care for and great eaters. If you get another corn i would recommend buying from www.cornsnake.net (south mountain reptiles) Don S has been breeding corns for decades and always has great quality babies that eat very well. Milk snakes generally are jumpy and harder to tame...it depends on the individual snake and the species of course but in general they can be nippy and musk a lot.
