Best snake for a child?

John Griffin

I have been visiting a friend with my son who is almost 6. He has fallen in love with my friends pet snake and just loves handling it and is very good with it. I think it is some sort of cornsnake? Are snakes good pets for kids? They are pretty low maintenance from what i can see. Right or wrong? Is there a risk of them biting or causing harm? Is there a particular type of snake recommended?
He says he wants a friendly one:D.
What are the pitfalls basically?

LisaO

What a great photo.

Don't know too much about keeping snakes as a child's pet, other than my daughter would love one (she's 10) & I keep telling her she isn't old enough & that you need to be a teenager to own one. TBH it depends a lot on the child & how responsible they are & also how much you are prepared to take on the responsibility. I would highly recommend a visit to the Reptile Village in Gowran, Co Kilkenny if you haven't been there. They don't sell snakes or reptiles but have a small zoo (for want of a better word) & they guys who work there have a huge amount of knowledge that they are very happy to share. Also give you lots of "hands on" with a range of snakes, spiders, etc which your son would probably enjoy by the sound of things.

Our man in Havana

Its a corn snake & they are the one snake I reconmend for kids to handle - they are reletively cheap & easy to keep - but you would need to feed & clean the snake & play time should always be supervised by you & your partner. Is the wife ok with a snake in the house?? This needs to be a family pet!

Always keep the cage locked to prevent your son accidently leaving the door open a bit - snakes are very good escape artist.

miss no stars

From experience I'd say he's too young. Maybe you can arrange visitation with your friend? The reason I'd say he's too young is that a child of that age is prone to dropping things. I know a very responsible 6 year old who is very animal friendly (has tonnes of dogs and rodents and now has a bearded dragon) and well experienced (from birth) dealing with animals who very unfortunately dropped the snake causing the snake to die. It's something you need to consider. No matter how responsible your son is, he is only six and could potentially cause harm to the snake, even with the best of intentions.

Demonique

The snake in the picture is some sort of kingsnake, I can't remember the species, but I saw a picture of it in a book on king and milksnakes in the Reptile Haven today.

Best snake is a cornsnake or perhaps a royal python (if you get a royal python just be sure to get one that's feeding on its own) which is a small quiet species of python

Our man in Havana

I really thought that was a corn snake - kings are deffo not what I would say is good for a beginner. I really would go with a corn snake.

Podge2k7

LisaO wrote: »

I would highly recommend a visit to the Reptile Village in Gowran, Co Kilkenny if you haven't been there.

+1

I would deffo recommend a visit to there!!

Run_to_da_hills

Corn and Grass snakes are good with kids,




Only in India...............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oh0v_DHFrw

LolaLuv

Holy ****e, that was terrible! Who would put their child in that position?

carwash_2006

I'm presuming that that snake is defanged! I don't think the kid would have continued after the first strike otherwise, it would have been screaming in pain. The snake is the victim in that video, defanging is a horrible thing to do to a snake and no true herp lover would do such a thing.

Mods I'm not really sure that video is really suitable for this forum. It depicts cruelty in the form of defanging and really serves no purpose. Shame on Run_to_da_hills for putting that up here, why would you do that? It's not funny and that sort of thing should not be encouraged!

rainbowtrout

The other thing you would probably need to consider is the life span of the snake. It's not like a goldfish or a hamster that is not going to be around for too long in the general scheme of things. The corn snake could live for 15-20 years, is your son going to be interested in looking after the snake for this long? At the end of the day he is 6 and a lot of 6 year olds have an interest in something they've seen, but rapidly lose interest when the novelty wears off or change their mind.... are you willing to take on the responsibility of the snake if your son loses interest?

Run_to_da_hills

PillyPen wrote: »

Holy ****e, that was terrible! Who would put their child in that position?

Cobra is de fanged and its poison sacks removed, It would be harmless except for the danger of strangulation, note at the end of the clip it starts to wrap its self around the kid, adults are standing by ready to remove it and they cut the film at this point. I believe sick stunts like this are quite common in India to raise cash. It wouldn’t go down too well doing the same stunt on Grafton St.

LolaLuv

Even if the snake is defanged, that would have to be scary for the poor child. I guess people do strange things out of desperation sometimes, but exploiting a baby is really too much.

Hellrazer

Have to get my say in on this.

I wouldnt recommend a snake for any 6 year old.They get bored too easily with animals and if they snake has an off day and strikes or is grumpy then the kid wont go near it again.

Ive taken more snakes in from people who have bought their kids snakes and then the snake strikes at them due to whatever reason and the kid never touches it again and the snake needs rehoming.

Also that pic shows a snake around the childs neck which is a big no-no.
No snake should ever be placed around anyones neck especially a childs.
I know you see it all over the place but any snake keeper should know that its downright dangerous.

John Griffin

Hellrazer wrote: »

Have to get my say in on this.

I wouldnt recommend a snake for any 6 year old.They get bored too easily with animals and if they snake has an off day and strikes or is grumpy then the kid wont go near it again.

Ive taken more snakes in from people who have bought their kids snakes and then the snake strikes at them due to whatever reason and the kid never touches it again and the snake needs rehoming.

Also that pic shows a snake around the childs neck which is a big no-no.
No snake should ever be placed around anyones neck especially a childs.
I know you see it all over the place but any snake keeper should know that its downright dangerous.

Thanks for the advice. Its a pretty small snake in fairness, I was holding the snake with him at all times and would never let him handle it on his own. , I've seen far bigger put around peoples necks, up to 12ft Boa. Certainly don't agree with that!! Are strikes common? How dangerous is a snake of this size (the one in the picture) in real terms?

@ Run to da hills, thanks for the advice but that video was totally inappropriate, unnecessary and off topic.:rolleyes:

@ Rainbowtrout
Its actually a bit of an excuse for me to get a snake too. :)Of course i would be looking after it. But I will be giving it alot more consideration before i get one, i won't be rushing into anything.

Thanks to all that replied.

Hellrazer

John,

To be totally honest the chance of harm from a snake that small is minimal but I never let my kids put my corns around their necks--its more that I dont want a snake of any size to constrict around their necks if it thought it was falling or something and tried to hold on.

The only time Ive ever seen a corn strike is if its hungry and you have a smell of mouse of your hands.Ive only ever been struck at once and thats because I was hungover and totally forgot to wash my hands after feeding one and put my hand into the second ones tank to clean it out---"Stupid feeding errors" is what they call it.

You never mentioned in your first post that you`ll be looking after it so in that case go for it.

miss no stars

If it's more your pet then it's less of a worry but don't turn your head EVER when your son is handling a snake and I'm surprised more people haven't said it. Snakes are fragile creatures really, a simple drop from a few inches onto a hard surface can kill them so out of concern for the welfare of all involved, be ultra careful with a child around a snake.

gversey

Garter snake, feeds on slugs,worms and goldfish, great snake

Package

picking up a baby corn snake on friday.. what do you feed them.. what lighting do you use, heating ect.. any help welcome

Hellrazer

Depending on the size of the baby corn it`ll probably take pinkie mice or maybe even fuzzies if its big enough.
Heat wise use a heat mat.They dont require extra lighting.

Make sure you have an escape proof cage though--baby corns are great "Houdinis"

lostinnappies

i have a 3 year old, a 10 month old and a 1 year old corn snake. They really are the "kittens" of the snake world.

lostinnappies

http://www.icon.co.za/~mvdmerwe/care.htm
care sheet for corn snakes