the.badger
Well-Known Member
Hey guys, my husband has very recently decided he'd like to have a pet snake, and I must say I think it's one of his better ideas, and I'm all for it. We applied for a license this morning and have already visited a few pet shops to check out their stock and to try to get a bit of info, but I've found them all to be fairly unhelpful. I bought a book on Aussie pythons but again the info is all very general, and can't seem to find ANYTHING on the net, but this site kept popping up so I thought I'd ask the experts....
Firstly, where should we buy the snake from? The shops we went to didn't really have a massive range, most of the snakes were kept in Chinese take-away containers which I found a bit off, and I think one of the shops had a bunch of cross-bred things because all of their markings looked identical although they were labelled as different breeds. Is it OK to buy from a shop or would would it be better to buy from a breeder? If so, are there any pages which list the breeders in Victoria? I looked on the net but came up with nicks. I'd be willing to travel within Victoria of course, but would prefer not to order from interstate as I'd like to handle the snake first to get a feel for its temprament.
I guess you'd probably have to settle on a breed of snake that you're after before finding a breeder? So can you guys recommend a particular breed that would be suited to first timers? We're not looking to breed or anything, and would like to handle the snake a fair bit, so we wouldn't want anything TOO big (probably not over 8 foot?? is that considered big??), or a snappy snake (I've heard that Children's Pythons can be a bit bitey). I realise it's a personal preference but we're not overly interested in colouration, we're just after a friendly and suitable pet.
I quite like the look of albino snakes but I'm guessing they'd be waaaaay out of our price range. The hubbby likes tree snakes but from what I understand tree snakes aren't great for a first timer (messy, fragile and flighty???). My absolute fave looking snakes are the hypo pigmented guys, they are simply stunning! But I would imagine they'd be hard to find?? Any ideas on this?
I've got plenty of info on general maintenance, but was wondering if it would be suitable to keep its enclosure in a busy and noisy room like the lounge room, or if it would be better to give the little fella some privacy in a spare bedroom or something? Also, we have 2 dogs, and while we'll keep the dogs outside when handling the snake, I was wondering if we should keep the enclosure in a room that the dogs do go into? Does having dogs around stress snakes out? They're not crazy yappy dogs or anything, but I wondered if their scent might affect the snake...
Also on enclosures, is it better to upsize as the snake grows, or is it just the bigger the better? And can you put real plants in a snake enclosure or not? I've only seen fake plants in most enclosures except the diamond and jungle pythons... Does watering the plants create a humidity level that's too high for other breeds? And is it better to get an enclosure with a bit of height to it so the snake can climb, or is 2 foot OK? I guess this depends on the breed aswell...
Anything I've forgotten? As you can tell, I really don't have much of a clue about any of this and I really feel I need to get as much info as possible in the next 6 weeks (or however long it takes to get a license) because I want the best for our snake, and the best snake for us, seeings as it's going to be around for the next 15 years! Any help would be awesome.
Firstly, where should we buy the snake from? The shops we went to didn't really have a massive range, most of the snakes were kept in Chinese take-away containers which I found a bit off, and I think one of the shops had a bunch of cross-bred things because all of their markings looked identical although they were labelled as different breeds. Is it OK to buy from a shop or would would it be better to buy from a breeder? If so, are there any pages which list the breeders in Victoria? I looked on the net but came up with nicks. I'd be willing to travel within Victoria of course, but would prefer not to order from interstate as I'd like to handle the snake first to get a feel for its temprament.
I guess you'd probably have to settle on a breed of snake that you're after before finding a breeder? So can you guys recommend a particular breed that would be suited to first timers? We're not looking to breed or anything, and would like to handle the snake a fair bit, so we wouldn't want anything TOO big (probably not over 8 foot?? is that considered big??), or a snappy snake (I've heard that Children's Pythons can be a bit bitey). I realise it's a personal preference but we're not overly interested in colouration, we're just after a friendly and suitable pet.
I quite like the look of albino snakes but I'm guessing they'd be waaaaay out of our price range. The hubbby likes tree snakes but from what I understand tree snakes aren't great for a first timer (messy, fragile and flighty???). My absolute fave looking snakes are the hypo pigmented guys, they are simply stunning! But I would imagine they'd be hard to find?? Any ideas on this?
I've got plenty of info on general maintenance, but was wondering if it would be suitable to keep its enclosure in a busy and noisy room like the lounge room, or if it would be better to give the little fella some privacy in a spare bedroom or something? Also, we have 2 dogs, and while we'll keep the dogs outside when handling the snake, I was wondering if we should keep the enclosure in a room that the dogs do go into? Does having dogs around stress snakes out? They're not crazy yappy dogs or anything, but I wondered if their scent might affect the snake...
Also on enclosures, is it better to upsize as the snake grows, or is it just the bigger the better? And can you put real plants in a snake enclosure or not? I've only seen fake plants in most enclosures except the diamond and jungle pythons... Does watering the plants create a humidity level that's too high for other breeds? And is it better to get an enclosure with a bit of height to it so the snake can climb, or is 2 foot OK? I guess this depends on the breed aswell...
Anything I've forgotten? As you can tell, I really don't have much of a clue about any of this and I really feel I need to get as much info as possible in the next 6 weeks (or however long it takes to get a license) because I want the best for our snake, and the best snake for us, seeings as it's going to be around for the next 15 years! Any help would be awesome.
