Best Snake For Gecko Person?

[Xuniet]

Okay, thanks

[Charis]

They are usually a little shorter lived than other snakes. Somewhere around 8 to 12 years is about the average. This is a big breeder of them with a really good rep. Can give you an idea of what kind you might like. http://www.albinogartersnake.com/home.html

Huh, somehow that posted twice.

[kadaysa]

I will chime in and say currently I am housing Milksnakes, cornsnakes, ratsnakes, ball pythons and a hognose. I have also had rosy boas as well. For me they are all great snakes to have. The balls require more humidity then lets say the colubrids but I love the solid and laid back feel to them. The colubrids I can feed adult mice to vs rats and that is a cheaper feed. Not to say you cannot feed mice to balls however you would feed multiple mice to a ball at feed vs a larger rat. I guess one question is what do you want to feed. What is your husbandry like for the snake, what is easily provided. And best what type of snake do you like as far as color and feel. I do feel the corn snakes are really the easiest to take care of and the easiest to feed and handle.

[ShadowKorin]

In the same way that most gecko keepers would avoid feeding wild caught insects to their geckos because of toxins and pesticides that the insect may have been exposed to, one should avoid feeding wild caught fish to their fish-eating snake. Fish carry a relatively large toxin load as low level prey species in the food chain and could prove detrimental to the health of your snake.

Most wild caught water snakes (garters and larger species like Nerodia sp.) are NOT handleable. They are very aggressive biters and have a potent, awful musk that the readily exude. Their recurved teeth make bites especially painful. This is something you should strongly consider if you do want to try and catch an animal. And many states require that you have a permit to capture and keep wild animals anyway, so you should make sure that you have permission to capture and keep a native species.

I personally would recommend a kingsnake or a cornsnake as a first time snake; despite needing to eat rodents, these are easy keepers, tend to handle very well, rarely go off feed, and come in a huge variety of colors and patterns.

[Tauni]

I personally would recommend a kingsnake or a cornsnake as a first time snake; despite needing to eat rodents, these are easy keepers, tend to handle very well, rarely go off feed, and come in a huge variety of colors and patterns.

Agreed. The insect and fish eaters I feel are a little more advanced then what you are looking for. I understand that losing your pet sucked but to have an easy to keep and handle snake it's best to go with a type of snake that eats rodents, all of the types mentioned above. If I were you and I couldn't get over the rodent feeding then I would personally wait to get a snake until I could so that I could get the type of snake that would match my skill level.

My colubrid never refuses a meal, never bites or snaps, and has never musked me. The little fuzzies I feed her don't really disturb me because they are f/t so they aren't alive and, yanno, my snake has to eat. It's nature, the food webs, completely natural.

If you get a snake post pictures <3

[exodus]

i would say a corn snake i have about 12 cresteds and i just got a cornsnake and i like them because there temp is good its like from 83 to 90 not going over 90.and mine i feed frozen thawed mice every 7 days.and they look cool

[Charis]

I will say that garters and water snakes have a very foul rep, which is quite overstated but not completely unwarranted, especially with freshly caught wild ones. I'd definitely recommend any of the snakes in my sig as well but they are all mice eaters. Frozen thawed is generally held to be the best way to feed, safer for the snake and more humane for the prey. It is easier to feed already dead rodents to a snake for the animal lovers out there too. But I also completely understand not being able to feed at least certain kinds of rodents. I've kept rats too and wouldn't be able to feed even F/T ones, so that is my limiting factor on the snakes I get, none can get big enough to require rats. Mice don't bother me much though.

[Brian(:]

Not exactly a snake, but what about a Burtons Snake Lizard? They very closely resemble snakes, but are indeed lizards.

[katie_]

If you do choose to get a garter, please don't take one from the wild.
You can buy captive bred garters from petstores, and avoid a possible parasite ridden animal. Also, petstore garters will already be eating the food you'll want to be offering - wild caught will not. Garters can be fed fish, but they still need rodents in their diet. Would you be comfortable feeding a frozen thawed rodent that was euthanized humanely?
If you, that opens up a lot of other options for easier beginner snakes.
My cornsnake, sandboas and my ball python eat frozen thawed. The ball was a little harder to switch over, so I would not recommend one for a beginner. Sand boas however stay small (males can be housed in a ten gallon) and generally have very sweet personalities.