The most popular snakes to keep at home. Have you decided to get a snake? What you need to know

More and more people are deciding to get such an exotic pet as a snake. The composure, calmness and at the same time a certain amount of danger are fascinating. For keeping at home, you can select several varieties of snakes that are not fussy in the conditions of keeping and are easily tamed.

When choosing a snake, you should pay attention to several criteria:

character and behavior;
average size of an adult snake;
grip strength and toxicity;
food addictions.

Here are some types of pet snakes that are suitable for keeping at home.

Patterned runner

Very obedient, unpretentious. The beautiful color makes the patterned snake a favorite of many. An adult reaches a length of 60-120 cm.

In captivity, it lives up to 10 years. It feeds on mice, hamsters, lizards, fish, quails and their eggs. Feeding frequency is once every five days. The snake strangles the caught prey and then swallows it whole. The temperature is 22-280C, the humidity is high. Leads a diurnal terrestrial lifestyle. They are kept in a horizontal terrarium, the minimum size of which is 50x40x40 cm. It is necessary to install a pool and shelters of any shape. Kept alone.

King snake

This is a bright snake, painted with stripes of various colors. There are many subspecies of the king snake. It can be colored red, black and white stripes, or maybe completely white and thin yellow stripe. You will undoubtedly be able to choose a snake of the color that you like. The conditions for keeping and breeding them are varied. It grows up to 100 cm in length.

It is recommended to keep them in separate terrariums, since in captivity these snakes often exhibit cases of cannibalism. Life expectancy is 8-10 years. The size of a horizontal terrarium for one individual is 50x40x40 cm. The terrarium is equipped with a pool or drinking bowl and several shelters. They feed on mice; for large individuals, rats are suitable.

Royal python or ball python

Pythons are gentle and curious non-venomous snakes. Long life, inexpensive price, docile and non-aggressive nature have made the python the best-selling snake. Now several varieties of python with unusual colors have been bred. The python leads a semi-arboreal lifestyle. He swims well, and if he senses danger, he curls up into a very tight ball, hiding his head inside. Comfortable temperature content 20-230C.
An adult reaches a length of 1-1.4 m.

For maintenance, you need a horizontal terrarium measuring 100x50x60 cm. Inside you need to place a spacious pool, driftwood, and a couple of shelters. One shelter is placed in a warm corner, the other in a cold corner. Air humidity should be at least 80%. If the air is too dry, the python may refuse to eat. The ball python is fed mice and rats.
If you have chosen as pet snake, you need to make sure that you do not experience difficulties in communicating with it, that you can easily pick up the snake in your hands and at the same time feel comfortable. And also make sure that you can feed the snake another living creature.

The most unpretentious look

Perfect for the faint of heart garter snakes or garden snakes. They can be fed not with mice, but with fish, worms and insects, the main thing is to accustom them to this when they are still young. They are unpretentious. Usually snakes require an additional heating system in winter time years, but this species can do without artificial heat. It is quite difficult to recognize garter snakes by the color of their scales, because there are a great many color options; only a specialist serpentologist can do this. The length of representatives of this variety can range from 50 to 150 cm.

The most popular variety

Climbing snakes are another type of snake with which experts recommend starting to tame reptiles. There are more than 11 species in total, but they are best suited for living at home corn snake, or corn snake, and patterned snake. Snakes are called differently rat snakes, since their main diet consists of rodents. This is the most popular type of snake to keep at home. Snakes are easy to tame and easy to care for. The colors of such reptiles are very diverse.

Thanks to genetic abnormalities, it is possible to cross species and produce baby snakes of incredible colors. Mutations can also cause albinism in these snakes, which looks amazing, although it has a negative impact on the health of the reptile. Natural color corn snake– bright red, the scales of the patterned snake have a greenish and white tint. All other colors are the results of crossings. Snakes feed on small animals, birds, amphibians, and swallow eggs whole. Cannibalism occurs among patterned snakes. Average length such snakes are approximately 120 cm.

For home improvement, you can highlight the main points, such as:

A drinking bowl with water will simultaneously serve as a source of water and a pool where you can lie down in the water.
Branches - especially needed for arboreal snakes. She will be able to crawl along them, thereby stretching her body and resting.
Stones - you can fill the entire bottom of the terrarium with them, the main thing is that all the stones are smooth and without sharp edges, which could cause injury to the animal.
Shelter - even at home, a snake needs a place where it can hide from prying eyes and lie quietly. Such a place can be either a house or a shelf hidden behind the branches.

Do you want to have an exotic pet and are faced with the question of how to choose your first pet snake? Choosing a snake for a beginner can be a nerve-wracking and troublesome process. Ignorance of the characteristics of snake species and the conditions of their maintenance leads to disappointment in these reptiles.

Choosing the right type of snake for a beginner

Size matters. Snakes come in small, medium or large sizes. Depending on the size of the cold-blooded animal, it is necessary to select the volume of the future serpentarium. The larger the snake, the more space You will need to allocate a space in the house for her cage. If your living space is not conducive to installing a large serpentarium, opt for small-sized reptiles. In addition, large snakes eat more than their fellow tribesmen of more modest size;
Nutrition issue. Most snakes eat live mice. Really evaluate your capabilities: can you feed your pet live mice every day? If you are not inclined to such extreme things in your life and are still determined to purchase a snake, give preference to those types of reptiles that can be fed with fish or meat;
Hand snakes. Think carefully about how often you want to handle your pet. The fact is that some snakes are absolutely untamable. In this case, you can only admire the snakes;
Poisonous or not. It is highly undesirable for novice snake owners to own poisonous reptiles. Because they require special care in caring for them. One careless move and you will become a victim poisonous bite snakes;
Features of care. When choosing a snake for the first time, give preference to those reptiles whose care will not be burdensome for you. For example, the corn snake, California king snake and royal python have a balanced temperament, relatively small size, are easy to care for and affordable;
Compatible with children. If you are getting a snake for your child, consider the fact that the minimum acceptable age of the child is 5 years;
Where to buy? Take this issue responsibly. When purchasing a snake from an unreliable seller, you risk buying the wrong type of reptile that you expected. Only a veterinarian or an experienced herpetologist (amphibian specialist) can recognize a forgery. In addition, they may sell you a sick or old snake which will lead to disappointment. Quite often, unscrupulous sellers offer smuggled snakes imported illegally from other countries. Such reptiles can be carriers of dangerous diseases.
It is best to buy a snake from breeders or at cold-blooded shows. Experts will help you choose a snake and give recommendations on their care. You can also adopt a snake from the nursery for free. Often people, without calculating their capabilities, give their pets into “good hands”. When choosing a snake, give preference to those that were born in captivity. Such reptiles are accustomed to people and the conditions of detention in the serpentarium and are guaranteed to be healthy;
Lifespan of a snake. Find out how long the species of reptile you have chosen lives. Some snakes live up to 30 years. You must be 100% sure that you are ready for such a long-term proximity with an exotic creature;
Consider the opinions of your household members. Not all people are delighted with the grace and charm of snakes. If your family cannot share your enthusiasm for the idea of having a snake, perhaps you should think about it and give preference to more familiar pets.

Video: pets - snakes

The snake can rightfully be called an ideal pet, because caring for it is quite simple, and special attention she doesn't demand it. In addition, if you plan to leave home for several days or even weeks, you will not have to look for somewhere to place your pet while you are away.

In addition, a beautifully decorated terrarium with a snake will become a real decoration of your home, and guests and friends will admire your pet no less than a purebred dog or a talking parrot. We propose to consider the types of snakes that are most often kept by lovers of these reptiles.

Boas and pythons

Representatives of these species of reptiles can most often be found as pets. And this is no coincidence, because pythons and boas are non-venomous, and therefore you can safely pick them up and not be afraid of being bitten.

The only difficulty that owners of such snakes may encounter is that the half-meter snake you purchased can after some time grow to two or three meters. In this connection, it will be necessary to build a terrarium for it of appropriate size.

Milk snake

If you want to become the owner of a shocking animal, then opt for a milk snake, which is a representative of the genus Lampropeltis. It has a bright color that is very reminiscent of a poisonous adder.

However, it should be noted that it is recommended to keep these snakes exclusively alone, since in nature they eat both snakes of other species and their own relatives. Therefore, a smaller snake runs the risk of becoming dinner for a larger individual.

The same applies to the situation if your snake is accustomed to frozen food: you should not treat it to mice or chickens, after which it will most likely flatly refuse to return to its usual diet. You should also keep in mind that Lampropeltis species can be a bit aggressive, so they should be handled with care.

Corn snake

Another fairly popular and common pet snake is the red (or corn) snake. Thus, in the United States alone, about 50,000 representatives of this species are sold annually. European snake lovers are also keeping up with their American counterparts.

There are many amateur clubs corn snakes, and specialists are constantly working on breeding new species of these reptiles. Therefore, today you can buy corn snake in both standard red and white or black colors with various patterns.

One of the advantages of this type of reptile is that its representatives rarely grow more than one and a half meters, and therefore do not require a terrarium to keep them large sizes. They easily get used to your hands, and their bite is completely harmless and practically painless (and they bite extremely rarely).

Another advantage of the corn snake is that representatives of this species are relatively easy to adapt to frozen food, which eliminates the need to feed them live rodents or chickens.

In addition to the above types, today, if you wish, you can become the owner of non-venomous snakes original colors, as well as interspecific hybrids, which cannot be found in nature. Therefore, a snake lover always has the opportunity to become the owner of an original animal that will decorate your home and be a source of pride.

Keeping a snake at home is not for the faint of heart, however, there are more and more exotic lovers who want to amaze their friends and acquaintances. Some even claim that interacting with snakes is calming and enjoyable. Be that as it may, first you need to prepare everything for this unusual pet, these are not your usual cats and dogs, so the conditions for keeping a snake at home are specific.

Equipment for a terrarium for a snake

Small snakes are kept in terrariums measuring approximately 80x60x60 cm; as the reptile grows, the dimensions of the “dwelling” increase. The terrarium should have a shallow drinking pool; heating should be built into the ceiling or floor. Ventilation is carried out using small holes in the ceiling and walls of the terrarium, lighting is provided by fluorescent lamps.

Don’t forget about shelters - snags, caves, branches, roots, plants are perfect. For snakes, it is not recommended to use soil with sharp fragments; these can be flat stones, sawdust, peat, or artificial turf. You can put a shelter in the form of a box, closed with a movable gate - this will make it easier to isolate the reptile, for example, during cleaning. You're not going to put her away all the time, are you?

“Warm floor” or ceiling heating should be in one part of the terrarium, while the other should be cooler. As for the temperature regime, tropical snakes for normal life need 27-35 degrees, reptiles living in subtropical and temperate latitudes– 25-30 degrees. At night the temperature is lowered by 4-5 degrees. It is better to place two or three thermometers in different corners to know the temperature in the cold and warm zones. Humidity is maintained by spraying: its frequency depends on the needs of the snake, for example, for a dog-headed boa, the tank is sprayed twice a day, and rarely for a reticulated python. Humidity should be 80-90%.

Snake care

You also need to be careful when picking up your pet; movements should be calm. With one hand, grab it by the upper third of the body, with the other by the lower third, and you need to support it from the side, not from above. If the snake appears restless, place it back in the terrarium. Gradually she will get used to your company and will be held in your arms longer.

Reptiles can be aggressive when molting or laying eggs, so you need to be careful not to act against her will. By the way, the approaching moult is also easy to notice: the snake becomes inactive, apathetic, and curls up into a ball. Her skin becomes dull, dries out, wrinkles and folds appear on it, but very soon the reptile will regain its former beauty.

Feeding the snake

Not the most pleasant procedure, because snakes prefer live food. You need to select the amount of food depending on the age, health status of the snake, and time of year. There is no need to overfeed the reptile, especially since digestion of food takes from 5 to 15 days. Snakes eat live rodents (rats, mice), frogs, birds, and pieces of fish. Some species love quail or chicken eggs. During the molting period, snakes do not eat at all.

Often, young individuals are fed once every 3 days (they begin to eat immediately after the end of the first molt), adults - once a week. If the snake does not digest, but regurgitates food, it means that the terrarium is not warm enough.

In winter, many snakes hibernate; they can sleep for 2-3 months if the conditions are suitable. The temperature in the terrarium is gradually lowered and the light is dimmed. Like any cold-blooded animal, for snakes this is a signal to go to winter. After hibernation, reptiles become more active.

For all times fans and lovers of content exotic pets there was enough in my house. However, in lately, the number of those who simply enjoy the company of a fluffy cat, a smart dog (learn about) and a Djungarian hamster, canary or aquarium fish is rapidly declining. These people are being replaced by fans of collectible insects, house spiders, piranhas and even snakes. The latter are candidates for the role of pets and are not for the faint of heart. Agree, it is much more pleasant to hold a kitten in your arms, rather than a cold and writhing snake, however, there is no arguing about tastes. We won't do this either. It's better to just tell you about the peculiarities of keeping snakes at home and what better than reptiles start so as not to fear for your life and for the lives of your household members…

What kind of snakes can you keep at home?

First of all, let's decide which reptiles would be appropriate to keep at home. In fact, not only comfortable coexistence with this pet, but also the safety of you and your loved ones will depend on the correctness of your choice. Since, in situations when a cat runs away from home (how to find a lost cat - read about it) or a dog, the owners are at a loss, but when your snake, which is also poisonous and aggressive, runs away - it’s time panic.

It is precisely because people keep the wrong reptiles in their homes that we periodically hear reports from television screens that poisonous snakes have escaped from the sewer system and caused harm to human health and life. So far, more such messages are being registered in America and other countries. European countries, but given that the fashion for exotics has already reached us, it is quite obvious that messages about escaped cobras and pythons will soon be heard on our airwaves.

Therefore, since you are inspired by a snake, its cold beauty, as well as its graceful and deadly calm, start a terrarium and choose such a pet. That's just it at home from the content of poisonous and dangerous, as well as, too large snakes it's better to refuse. If you so want, you can give preference to the beautiful ones, but not poisonous species snakes, boa constrictors, brindle or royal python or an albino python. However, even with such poisonous snakes you should behave carefully and remain vigilant, and especially not allow your pet to escape...

Where to keep a snake at home

Just in order to reduce the likelihood of escape, and so that you can provide your exotic reptile with comfortable living conditions, you will need a special, reliable and durable terrarium. The choice of its shape and size, as well as the material from which it will be made, should all depend on the type of snake you are keeping, as well as its size. The terrarium should not be crowded, and the snake should be able to move freely around its space. It is also worth taking care of a reliable terrarium lid that would allow air to pass through, but would not release the snake.

Comfortable conditions for a snake

In order for the snake to feel comfortable in the terrarium and not get sick, you will need to take care to create an optimal living environment for it. That is, choose the appropriate air temperature, the required humidity levels and the desired brightness of lighting.

As for the temperature, it should be 26-28 degrees above zero Celsius during the day and up to 23 degrees above zero Celsius at night. At the same time, it is better to place the heating source in such a way that, if necessary, the snake can crawl under it and warm itself. Maximum temperature is 35 degrees above zero. You should not heat the air above it, as this threatens to overheat the reptile and cause its death. By the way,

It is worth asking the seller of the snake for more details regarding the temperature preferences of the reptile, since depending on its species, it has its own temperature preferences. So, for example, for tropical snakes, 25-30 degrees will be comfortable, and for snakes living in the subtropics and temperate latitudes, a temperature range of 20-30 degrees above zero is suitable.

As for humidity indicators, snakes love high humidity - up to 90%, and in order to maintain it in the terrarium, you will have to additionally humidify the air in it. This can be done using a sprayer or a special humidifier.

Well, regarding the brightness of the lighting - here, by the way, everything is much simpler - during the day you should imitate a bright sunny day - using an ultraviolet lamp, thereby you will stimulate the activity of the snake, and at night the light can be removed or dimmed.

Accessories for terrarium

In addition to the fact that you will need to purchase a terrarium of the appropriate size for your snake, as well as take care of a heating and lighting lamp, a humidifier, you will also need special accessories that will make the life of the reptile more comfortable. First of all, these are 2 fairly spacious tanks that will contain warm and fresh water in which the snake can bathe and drink. If you have an arboreal reptile, you will need to decorate the terrarium with fragments of trees, artificial branches and rocks on which your pet will crawl (in this case, the walls of the terrarium should be high). If you have a snake that likes to rummage in the ground, then When filling the bottom, you cannot use gravel with sharp edges, which could injure her. You will also additionally need to place stones, branches, tree roots and plants on the bottom of the terrarium, under which your pet can hide...

Cleaning the terrarium

In order for your terrarium to look well-groomed, the snake to feel comfortable in it and not get sick, you will need to monitor the hygiene of its home and clean it regularly. While cleaning the terrarium, it is better to place your pet in a container with a lid with holes for ventilation. It will be necessary to change the drinking water every day, remove leftover food after feeding, and change the water in the bathing tank as soon as reptile excrement appears there. The soil should also be changed periodically, and all decorative accessories - stones, tree roots, branches - all this should be periodically disinfected or replaced with new accessories, which you first scald with boiling water.

What to feed snakes at home

In case you forgot, reptiles are predators that hunt and kill small animals in Nature. Therefore, you will need to provide your pet snake with an appropriate diet, which will include live mice, rats, frogs, fish... Think in advance about where you will get all these “dishes” and whether you can feed a live mouse to a hungry snake . As for the frequency of feeding, adult snakes eat once every 5 days, but can live without food for several months.

There are cases where reptiles were on a diet for up to 2 years, however, we would not recommend that you conduct such gastronomic experiments on your pet.

But, during the molting period, your snake may refuse food completely - this is a natural phenomenon and you should not worry about it. She will also refuse food during hibernation, which lasts for 2-4 months at a temperature of 2-15 degrees (more precisely temperature regime must be specified for each reptile species). Whereas the fact that the snake does not digest food, but regurgitates it, should alert you. A little hint for you in this case - check the temperature in the terrarium, most likely it is not warm enough for your pet.

As for vitamins, first of all, snakes need calcium. In order for your reptile to receive it, you will need to add this vitamin to its food or include foods that contain it in its diet.

The reptile should always have access to clean drinking water. Even if she doesn't eat, she drinks water.