ozone
New member
Hello folks,
My son has been wanting (desparately) a pet for quite some time now. After doing research over the past couple of weeks, we have decided that a corn snake would be an ideal pet for his birthday this month (June 9). This will be our first pet snake.
I have been researching this for a few days now, so some of my assumptions may be incorrect, but my dillemma appears to be as follows:
We want to choose a corn snake for presentation on his birthday next week. My son loves the look of an Aztec or Okeetee, but he is so eager, i know he is willing to settle for less than his ideal choice because. As a relatively patient adult, I'd prefer to not settle for anything less than our ideal choice.
As I see it, we have two options:
(A) NEWBORNS: if we choose to order a hatchling from a reputable breeder such as SerpenCo or CornUtopia, we will need to wait until August before it will be feeding and ready to ship. The clear disadvantage to this is that my son will have to wait another two months to receive his snake as a gift. At 9 years old, my son is going to be crushed to learn he needs to wait this long to receive his pet snake. The advantage is that we'd be able to choose from a wide variety of morphs and enjoy the experience of nurturing a baby into adulthood (i know that there are no guarantees that the little guy will grow into a gem).
(B) YEARLING / YOUNG SNAKE: if we choose to order a young snake that was born this time last year, the remaining stock at breeders and pet stores appears to be well picked over...leaving perhaps "less than ideal" little critters to choose from. Most of the local reptile specialty shops in my area (San Jose, CA) are down to only 2 or 3 corn snakes. I plan to buy the snake from a breeder, but was just going to the pet store to buy all of the equipment and to hold a snake or two.
The advantage for us snake-owning newbies in choosing a yearling appears to be that we will be getting a snake that is clearly a feeder, has a known temperament, etc, resulting in a slightly easier first time experience. The other advantage is that we get a snake in time for his birthday.
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So, I am interested in knowing your opinion on this dillemma, as well as my assumption that last year's stock is truly "picked over", or are there young gems to still be had???
Thank you very much for helping us sort this out!!!
-Chris
My son has been wanting (desparately) a pet for quite some time now. After doing research over the past couple of weeks, we have decided that a corn snake would be an ideal pet for his birthday this month (June 9). This will be our first pet snake.
I have been researching this for a few days now, so some of my assumptions may be incorrect, but my dillemma appears to be as follows:
We want to choose a corn snake for presentation on his birthday next week. My son loves the look of an Aztec or Okeetee, but he is so eager, i know he is willing to settle for less than his ideal choice because. As a relatively patient adult, I'd prefer to not settle for anything less than our ideal choice.
As I see it, we have two options:(A) NEWBORNS: if we choose to order a hatchling from a reputable breeder such as SerpenCo or CornUtopia, we will need to wait until August before it will be feeding and ready to ship. The clear disadvantage to this is that my son will have to wait another two months to receive his snake as a gift. At 9 years old, my son is going to be crushed to learn he needs to wait this long to receive his pet snake. The advantage is that we'd be able to choose from a wide variety of morphs and enjoy the experience of nurturing a baby into adulthood (i know that there are no guarantees that the little guy will grow into a gem).
(B) YEARLING / YOUNG SNAKE: if we choose to order a young snake that was born this time last year, the remaining stock at breeders and pet stores appears to be well picked over...leaving perhaps "less than ideal" little critters to choose from. Most of the local reptile specialty shops in my area (San Jose, CA) are down to only 2 or 3 corn snakes. I plan to buy the snake from a breeder, but was just going to the pet store to buy all of the equipment and to hold a snake or two.
The advantage for us snake-owning newbies in choosing a yearling appears to be that we will be getting a snake that is clearly a feeder, has a known temperament, etc, resulting in a slightly easier first time experience. The other advantage is that we get a snake in time for his birthday.
-------
So, I am interested in knowing your opinion on this dillemma, as well as my assumption that last year's stock is truly "picked over", or are there young gems to still be had???
Thank you very much for helping us sort this out!!!
-Chris
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