help with my mom

ok my mom said i can get one but she also said i cant get one thats eats bigger animals (like mice) so is there any snakes that dont eat bigger animals


:flames: :santa: lol i just had to do that

Greensnakes eat crikets...

ok but are they good as pets and could i get one from a pet store and are there any others

If you want a snake that does not eat rodents, a good choice is a rough green snake. However they don't like much handling. They eat crickets, and soft bodied insects. They like climbing so if you get one make sure you have a viv that has alot of branches and vines. They are also active durning the day and sleep at night.

The rough green are a look but don't touch type of snake. There is also a catch 22 with the rough green, not many people have success in keeping them because most are w/c and refuse to eat in a captive situation.

A garter snake start on insect but move up to small fish and pinkies. Garter snakes are a less fragile then green snakes, however you will have to bump up the food with a garter snake.

I would highly suggest doing some research on different types of snakes and go from there.

what about worms i heard garter snakes also eat worms

I only know a little about garter snakes, I suggest if you want to learn more about them to look on the internet on information about that type of snake.

alright yea they can also eat earthworms

I really don't have a suggestion regarding what type of snake would be good, but if you do get a garter, don't feed it just earthworms, because they don't have much nutrition to them. Garters need a variety of foods.

Okay. I understand how you feel. I wasn't able to have snakes as a boy either because my mother was/is "extremely afraid" of snakes so I didn't really pursue it. However, as an adult my wife and I purchased our teenage daughter a corn snake and haven't regretted it. We have enjoyed the first one so much we now have two.

I also understand your mother's point of view. Initially I too had a problem with the idea of feeding a dead mouse to a snake. I wasn't keen on dealing with the dead mice or, more importantly, keeping them in our freezer! This is what we did: First, my daughter and I did independent research on pet snakes and we both came up with corns as good pets. The only problem was the mice. I too didn't want to deal with the mice but wasn't entirely closed minded to the idea as long as we didn't have to deal with any larger prey- no big fat rats. Next, I found out that one of my business associates kids keeps an adult corn snake so I arranged a visit with them to see how large the snake was, check it's temperament and watch it eat an adult mouse. This way both me and my daughter could assess exactly what we were getting ourselves into- the worst case scenario I guess you might say. Much to my surprise their snake (about 3.5 feet long) was very relaxed and also very beautiful. It's skin was soft, not slimy or scaly and seeing the look on my daughters face when she first held it was enough to melt my heart. On the other hand, I hadn't seen it feed yet so... next, their son thawed out a mouse in a cup of water and placed their snake with the mouse. At first I felt a little sorry for the mouse and was a little grossed out seeing it in a cup of water but once again I was surprised. I had expected a violent constriction, blood, gore and general snake on mouse mayhem. Instead, the snake simply picked up the mouse and began to swallow it whole. Within a few minutes it was in it's belly and their son placed the snake back in it's cage. Not only did it not bother me as I had expected, but I was fascinated by the simplicity and calmness of their critter. After discussing the whole thing with my wife, who is really quite agnostic about it, we decided to get an Anery corn and later an Okeetee.

Perhaps you should do something similar with your mother. She's going to have to live with a snake too so she may as well find out what it's all about. As with us, your mother may find out it's not really as bad as it first seems and corn snakes make excellent pets. Good luck!

yup well i totally forgot about the whole buying the frozen already dead mice and i told my mom about that and she had that same i dsont want a dead mouse in my freezer(lol i can understand) but i said i wud put them in my basment freezer in the back so now i just have to keep my room clean for a reasonalbly long amount of time and keep it clean(i guess to show how responsible i am) and then i can hopefully get one well im gunna try to clean the whole house b 4 she gets home (i ws talkin to her on msn shes at work) so maybe that will help

LOL! Well, I wouldn't count on a simple house cleaning to change your mother's mind about a 10+ year commitmnent to a pet. Believe it or not parents can see right through those sort of things. We're looking for signs of long term responsibility. I guess it couldn't hurt though and it sounds like something I would have done too...

yea but one of her main complaints were you can hardly keep your room clean now

My experience was similar to Nuemann's. I was totally freaked out by snakes but I was able to take my daughter to a reptile store and had an employee take time to explain to us alot about Cornsnakes. After about a month of research my wife, daughter and I went to a reptile show and we looked at all the exhibits and finally settled on the breeders that took the time to explain and answer all of our questions. He also let our 4 year old daughter hold the snake and explained to me that my kid wasn't so weird for wanting a snake because his young kids also helped with the care of his snakes. He then sold us our hatchling hypo and we have now had him for a year and what a great learning experience. Good luck with mom, but also realize it is a big responsibility.

ok well now only two probs my mom dosent want to have to feed it and she dosent know how much the frozen mice cost (ill find that out) o yea and now i gotta deal with my dad now hes sayin i dont want a animal that eats another animal well if i get it clear with my mom shell convinse him lol so now i just gotta convince her shes not gunna have to feed it o yea and i hope frozen mice r cheap lol just an update

o yea and shes concerned with how long they live she thinks if i go to colledge she'll have to take care of it

That's the deal either you have shown her in the past, if you have had a pet she was the one having to take care of it. When we spoke on Instant message , the advice I gave you will work. You have to show her your commited to taking care of the snake.

I would if I were you do the research show her you have really learned about the snake and also show her you can keep your attention on one thing for more then one week. So if you keep up with cleaning your room. Having a snake is a responsiblity is a big one because your in charge of another life. So you really need to make sure your ready to put that responsibilty to work, and do what you say.

I have a nephew that is 11 and he jumps from one thing to the next his attention span on anything is very limited. I put him in charge of breeding mice for the corn snakes I own. And several times I have had to remind him just to clean out the cage and give them water. So I can understand where your parents are coming from.

What you want to do and what you show them what you want, are two different things. Your mom is worried about having to take care of the snake when you don't. So you need to show her if you are very serious about this that you will take care of it.

I also think its something you should not enter in to lightly and be reminded that it is something that will tie you down for the next 10 years or so.. So do your self a favor and think very hard on this, and make sure this is something you really want.

yea i just gotta do that. ive always wanted a snake but i used to always think i could just go catch a garter snake (there every where in wisconsin). then i accually started looking into it so i no i cant do that. and another thing i think shes worried apout is that switching intrestest thing cuz ive got a lot of hobbies. but i keep up with all of them so i guess i can point that out somtime

Yeah so you really have to show her your committed, I hear ya..

ive gotsa question um how do i make a hot and cold side of the cage?? and shud i use a heat lamp or a heat mat

Okay you live in WI I lived there for about 3 years outside of Green bay so I know it gets wicked cold there, however I am living in CT not as cold but gets pretty close, what I have is an undertank heater, I also have a lamp because in the winter I know I will need both, ambiant temp in the house is not going to cut it. Right now its not too bad because it has been pretty warm.

What folks mean by having two different temps is you have your heating pad on one side and same side as the light, you should get two temp gauges as well because one side of the tank will be cooler then the other.

I have my tank on the warm side running about 80 degrees and pretty much figure the cool side is going to be a few degrees lowers. no heat is on the cool side of the tank. I watch my temps very carefully. You can also get another temp gauge for that to make sure.

I am pretty anal too and will change out light bulbs as well. I have one for day and another for night, However this is not nessacery but like I said I am anal about things and my critters I keep.

But in summary you have a heat source on one side of the tank, and no heat source on the other side.

Also for pet supplies I ordered on line, from 2 places that had the best deals one was pets warehouse the other reptile depot. I got the screen and lighting and substrate from pet's warehouse, the bowl and hides and temp gauges from reptile depot. I spent a total with shipping under $50.

Check all good deals for supplies. That would help you out too.