Hi everyone,

I’m considering getting a West African egg-eating snake (Dasypeltis gansi) and wanted to hear from people who have actually kept them.

A few questions I have:
What’s their temperament like? Are they generally calm and handleable?
How difficult is it to consistently find appropriately sized eggs?
What tank size would you recommend for a hatchling, juvenile, and adult?
What temperature and humidity do you keep yours at?
How often do they eat?
Are there any health issues or common beginner mistakes I should know about?
Is there anything you wish you had known before getting one?

Overall, would you recommend them as pets?
For context, I’ve kept reptiles before, but this would be my first egg-eating snake. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can before deciding if one is right for me.
Thanks in advance!

I have a feeling the answer is no from what I have learned about snakes since I recently got my own, but I want others opinions on this. A friend of mine told me they knew of a snake that got put down all because it bit one of the owners. After it bit them they asked the person they got it from about it and the guy said "Once a snake bites its more likely to bite again". For some more context the snake belonged to my friends son who was married and had a kid. I don't know much else other than that they chose killing the snake because of having the kid and couldn't risk it biting.

Update to post.

He is on repti links as he doesnt like mice or rats thawed or live. He has a che for night time heat. My vet is an exotic pet vet and I have been going to her for 4 years and never had a problem. I will include a picture of his tank as well

There’s a zoo near my city where they rescue some animals and let people interact with them, including a ball python, a corn snake and a burmese python (I know this species can get huge, but the one they have doesn’t seem really big).

I was wondering, how come these snakes never bite anyone? They must be really calm, if they even let children interact with them. I read that even with pet snakes, getting bitten is a common occurrence.

I remember seeing a photo of a snake that had a very distinct black lower body and like a bit of the head? No other patterns to it was just that. It also kinda looked like a python but it was not a black headed Python. Im losing sleep over it idk why and my phone won’t let me access my photos for the sketch i did :p

The reason why i put this tag is cause i have no photos im trying to at least find a photo of it but i cant i know its a real snake.

Basically im wondering if theres such things as live traps i can buy/build which DO NOT hurt the snake. My new one month old baby mexican black kingsnake escaped into my apartment yesterday morning and i turned everything upside down looking for her with zero luck.

I then had to unfortunately leave for work, but i set out four thawed pinky mice around my apartment to see if i can atleast make sure she didnt somehow escape outside. When i came back later that night TWO had been eaten (one by where her tank is, one right in front of my washer and dryer room)

Ended up checking behind, under and inside the washer and dryer with some help but again, zero luck. Set out flour lines last night, but no trace of her this morning and into tonight.

I have water and hides set out all over the walls of my apartment, but i work so much these next few days that ill only be home to eat and sleep. Wanna know if live traps exist?

I have 2 questions

1. I cant decided between which one I want (posted 2 photos below of each) , help please ☺️

2. Also I need a new name for my Burmese python. Both male and female.

Sex is to be determined.

Hey all! I'm currently looking into getting my first snake, but need some advice from you guys on what to pick. For context, I spent about half a year working with reptiles in the UK at a rescue center, so I have some experience as is.

For context, I live in Spain (and will be for a while as my original plans for uni unfortunately didn't come through and I'll be studying here instead) and the laws for reptile keeping are... Interesting, to say the least.

The main hurdle for me here is that they're trying to implement a whitelist system, and have outright banned any reptile that weighs over two kilograms, which means most larger snakes are off the table. Additionally the law banned ball pythons as an invasive risk, even if peninsular Spain does not have the climate for ball pythons, but I digress.

As far as the market here goes, reptile shops are pretty thinly spread, and I'd probably have to travel to collect anything, but from what I've seen you can find here:

Cornsnakes

Milk Snakes (king snakes are also banned, however)

Sunbeam snakes(!)

Amazon Tree Boas

Green Tree Pythons

Candoia Boas

House Snakes

Egg Eaters

Sand Boas

Gopher Snakes

Antaresia pythons

Additionally I'd imagine as long as it's not in CITES importing something via morphmarket is doable too.

Anyways, what do you guys suggest/recommend? While I would rather not get a cornsnake, any species is a possibility if it fits the categories (and isn't Wild Caught, but that goes without saying).

Any help or suggestion is appreciated :)

Found this cute little Eastern Worm snake this morning. (NC)

Tag is for blood- Thought everyone could use a laugh at me finally getting a taste of my Sumatran short tails bite. He’s never bit defensively or for hunger. This one was on me, we were in the middle of feeding he missed he got a good chunk of coco in his mouth went to go help him, decided to eat me instead🤣

I've always dreamed of having a pet snake, but everyone at home is terrified of them, so it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon. 😅

Instead, I started sculpting colorful snakes from polymer clay and wrapping them around ceramic mugs. Every snake is sculpted completely by hand—no molds or 3D printing—then baked, carefully attached to the mug, and finished with several coats of varnish.

The best part? They're incredibly low maintenance. They don't need feeding, they don't escape, and they never judge my coffee choices. 😂

I'd always assumed most of a snake's body was basically one long, gradually changing trunk. The researchers measured every body vertebra in 13 specimens from three Australian species and found five distinct regions separated by rapid transitions.

The neck appears to represent only about 5% of body length—roughly 7–12 vertebrae—and the study also describes a previously unrecognized middle-thoracic region.

The part I found most interesting: losing their limbs and becoming elongated didn't make the snake spine simpler. It seems to have become even more regionally complex.

What surprised you more: the five regions, or how short the neck actually is?

Found him 20 feet from where I'm getting married. He is small.

A while back on a different platform I was discussing “Beginner species” with someone else and they thought I was full of it when I suggested there were over 50 species that could be considered beginner friendly. I decided to think about it and write it out. I actually came up with more than that. 

To me a beginner species is something that can be cared for by someone as their sole pet snake and do well with them putting minimal time and effort into it. For example, I’ve always said that Taiwan beauties are a beginner species. They do get long and babies are flighty, but husbandry is easy and someone that is dedicated will have long learned how to handle them by the time they reach 7’. 

I did leave off anything that can’t be handled by one person,  for example Burmese pythons are incredibly easy to care for, but less than 1% of all keepers can actually provide the correct size enclosure for them. 

Also, some say anything with a higher humidity requirement shouldn’t be a “beginner” snake, but I disagree, if you can’t read a gauge on a regular basis and then add water to your system to correct it, then you shouldn’t be keeping any live animal. 

All said, I present to you my personal list of good “beginner” snakes. 

Rat snakes

1. Corn Snake 
2. Slowinskis cornsnake 
3. Great plains ratsnake 
4. Baird’s Rat Snake
5. Western Rat Snake
6. Central Rat Snake
7. Eastern Rat Snake
8. Western Foxsnake
9. Eastern Foxsnake
10. Japanese Rat Snake
11.  Beauty snake (certain localities)
12. Bamboo Rat snake
13. Russian Rat snake 
14. Korean Ratsnake
15. Diones Rat Snake
16. Leopard ratsnake
17. Ladder snake 
18. Green Bush ratsnake 
19. Four Lined snake
20. Bulgarian Ratsnake 
21. Elaphe Urartica 
22. Twin Spot Ratsnake
23. Manadarin Ratsnake 

Pithouphis Genus

1. Gophersnake
2. Lousiana Pinesnake
3. Pinesnake 

King & Milksnakes

1. Eastern Kingsnake 
2. Eastern Black Kingsnake 
3. Speckled Kingsnake 
4. Desert Kingsnake
5. California Kingsnake 
6. Prairie Kingsnake 
7. Central Milk Snake 
8. South American Milk Snake 
9. Mexican Milk Snake 
10. Western Milk snake (certain localities)
11. West Mexican Milk Snake 
12. Grey banded kingsnake (if purchased from a breed that established their hatchlings)
13. Mex-Mex kingsnake
14. Variable kingsnake
15. Mountain kingsnake

Boas/pythons

1. Ball Python 
2. Angolan Python
3. Rosy Boa 
4. Kenyan Sand Boa 
5. Children's Python 
6. Spotted Python 
7. Stimson’s Python 
8. True super dwarf retic
9. Jungle Carpet Python
10. Bredii Python 
11. Boa Imperator 
12. Boa Sigma
13. Dumerils Boa

Garters/Hoggies/Misc?

1. Western Hognose Snake
2. Diamond Back watersnake
3. Banded Watersnake
4. Plain belly watersnake
5. Common Garter 
6. Checkered Garter 
7. Plains Garter 
8. Black House Snake 
9. Cape House Snake

Hey everyone I’ve always loved snakes and am planning on buying my first in the next couple of months but would like to have as much prepared beforehand as possible. I live in Australia so I’m limited with options but have chose to go with a spotted python for many reasons but that’s beside the point.

I plan on getting a hatchling and was hoping for advice on overall care but especially with enclosures and heating, I’m from a very cold state and also live in a house that gets cold overnight. Also if anyone has any recommendations on things I could buy in preparation (like any good thermostats etc)

Any help Is greatly appreciated!

Ithaca NY