Non-venomous snakes/snakes that don't bite

[Kristen87]

Hi All!

I'm new to the forum; and new to the world of herpetology (so please forgive me if I have a bunch of annoying noob questions here! Still learning). I don't have any reptiles at the moment, just a 3foot aquarium that I currently breed fish in. When I move house in around a year I'm planning on selling all my fish and turning my aquarium into a terrarium (or selling the aquarium and buying a terrarium). I've been looking at various gecko species and may end up going that way as I'd love to get 3 females and a male and breed them! But I also LOVE the idea of a pet snake! My only deterrent would be the risk of getting bitten...

So I was wondering what small snakes people would recommend that are non-venomous and tend to be fairly docile/tend not to bite? I've read that the corn snake and milk snake fit that description, any others? I'll obviously do my research before purchasing to make sure I have everything I need to look after it (UV light, heat lamp/heat mat, mister, big enough terrarium etc etc) and I have a year-ish to do so. Just gathering ideas still at the moment.

I've read that the rough green snake from north america has no teeth (is that true or is someone pulling my leg?), do we have aussie snakes without teeth?

And the last question, I read that the rule of thumb for terrarium size is for the terrarium to be a minimum of 3/4 of the length of the snake. Is that good advice? Or just rubbish?? (i.e. does it need to be bigger than the snake)

Thanks in advance,
Kristen

 

[J-A-X]

You havent listed where you're from. If you live in Australia you can only keep australian native species, and even then it depends on which state you're in as to what species. Biting is an individual snake thing but all our pythons have teeth so the risk of a bite is always there

 

[Kristen87]

Yeah I know we can only have natives, otherwise I would have decided on either a rough green snake or leopard geckos hehe. I'm in Melbourne, sorry didn't think about the availability differences between states.
EDIT: woops I just re-read what you wrote... Didn't think of mentioning that I live in Australia haha.

Biting is an individual snake thing but all our pythons have teeth so the risk of a bite is always there

Do we only have pythons in Aust? (sorry I know that would be the most annoying question lol).
I was under the impression that some species are known to be more agressive than others while some like the milk snake are more docile?

 

[Mace699]

I would say stick to geckoes if you dont want to get bit by a snake. No gaurantee it wont bite you though. I would steer claer of breeding for a few years to gain experience and get your husbandry down pat make sure you can properly care for the babies when they do arrive. It sounds as if though you have put some thought into it but i would say there is a lot more research into the proper care of the animals that you would need to do.

 

[sher_khan13]

cats and dogs bite, and in most cases the bites would probably worse from them, than a python. trust me, you want a snake.

 

[Kristen87]

I would say stick to geckoes if you dont want to get bit by a snake. No gaurantee it wont bite you though. I would steer claer of breeding for a few years to gain experience and get your husbandry down pat make sure you can properly care for the babies when they do arrive. It sounds as if though you have put some thought into it but i would say there is a lot more research into the proper care of the animals that you would need to do.

You're probably right... Might stick to the lizards, as awesome as a snake would be haha.

Yeah would definately have to do a lot more research once I can narrow it down... how to handle and how often they can be handled, how to feed them, getting the low and high temp areas right, sicknesses to look out for etc... All part of the fun though!
Keeping them a while before breeding - that's a good point... Might buy some juvies and hope for females, then wait until they grow up and I've had some experience with them before adding a prospective male down the track.

Still curious about the terrarium size to snake ratio question, is that rule of thumb accurate? I just always thought they would need much more space than that.

cats and dogs bite, and in most cases the bites would probably worse from them, than a python. trust me, you want a snake.

Hahaha I hadn't even thought of that!!! Interesting....

 

[user 16324]

Books are great resources. If you go to any good pet store or reptile store they will have an abundance of reptile books which will help you immensely. The Terrarium question seems fine. but it all depends on the python you end up getting. im not sure about in melbourne what good reptile stores there are but if there is one head to it and talk to the people there. they will most likely introduce you to some different pythons and let you handle them before you chose. we dont have milk or corn snakes in Aus. a possible first choice may be a childrens python, or spotted python. i chose mine based on the fact that when i picked him up he was very calm and relaxed and has been every since. Oh, and Welcome!

 

[StellaDoore]

Hey! I'm only new to the Herp world (I have one lovely BHP) so won't give too much advice on snake types, etc (although I have heard spotteds, childrens and stimson pythons are fairly friendly). I just wanted to give you a list of decent reptile shops around the joint. There's Upmarket pets near the Queen Vic market and the guys there really know their stuff. I'd also highly recommend Totally Reptiles in Rosanna; the guy there will often pull the snakes out of enclosures so you can see how they behave, although he won't necessarily let you handle it. And lastly there's Mentone aquarium, which is a bit out of the way but the staff are great. Coburg aquarium I don't recommend for reptiles and Bunarong in Frankston is a bit far off, although they did let me handle their beautiful 6ft Olive =D
But best of luck with whatever you do, I love the look of geckos, you should definitely get some!

 

[MathewB]

You'll never get an animal that won't bite

 

[longqi]

You'll never get an animal that won't bite

Please dont believe that for one second^^^^^

If you visit a breeder rather than a pet shop you will find hundreds of animals that will not bite
Same as with any pet the only thing that matters is called trust
As soon as any animal trusts you it will not bite unless you virtually force it to

 

[Jen]

No, we don't only have pythons in Australia, we have elapids and colubrids as well (vens). You keep mentioning corns and milk snakes - these are illegal as they are exotic. Small snakes in Australia include Stimsons, Childrens and Maccies - all grow to around 1.5 meters. Any snake within a species can bite, the same as any dog within a given species may bite. Some snakes within a clutch can be docile and its brothers/sisters can be snappy, they are individuals.

 

[Jesse_H]

Hey Kristen, It's Jesse Hibbs from ATF! I'm stalking you! LOL! I did about 6 solid months of researching getting a python before I decided it's not the pet for me. I'm SO glad I did the reading, and not buy something I'd regret later. Text me if you want some books, I have a few great ones I'm not using now, Like Keeping & Breeding Australia Pythons by Mike Swan.

 

[MathewB]

Please dont believe that for one second^^^^^

Let me rephrase that. You'll never get an animal that doesn't have the ability to bite or snap at you. There are heaps of species that are very well behaved but it could still happen.

 

[K3nny]

i have to mention this, get a snake cause trust me a bite from a cunninghams skink or a blue tongue hurt way worse than a snake bite but then again i sometimes let mine bite me for fun, lol at least they bite me not my my daughter, ( pardon the joke, you won't get it lol )

you got one heck of a bluey thar
yep their bite hurts, but i've yet to have mine draw any blood
snakes on the other hand, lets say theres a few photos going around

 

[Kristen87]

I realize that all snakes would have the ability to bite just like a cat or dog does, but was just curious about particular species that might be more docile than others so the bite-risk could be at a minimum (like the difference between a pitbull and a... I don't know, labrador? lol).


hurcorh - thanks, yeah figured it would be somewhat dependant on the demands of each particular species. I hadn't heard that rule before and was wondering if it was one of those "commonly believed myths" that made herp keepers' skin crawl. Thanks for verifying


Stella - thanks for the shop lists! I love going to reptile shops just to take a look once in a while but only knew about Amazing Amazon and Upmarket Pets. Will definately have to take a look at the others you mentioned!


Thanks for clearing up the python question Jen Woops didn't realize corns and milks weren't aussie, should have looked a bit further into that!


Hi Jesse lol! I just said hi to you in another thread on here (a turtle thread lol) hahaha. Thanks, I might just take you up on that offer! I think I'm leaning towards lizard over snake though, got anything on lizards?


Thanks everyone for your responses. I think lizard will probably be the way for me to go because I wouldn't want to end up being afraid of it if I got a snake. Maybe I'll look into snakes again after I've had some reptile experience with lizards first... I know lizards can bite too, but its not so much the pain that I'm afraid of. Its probably more of a psychological thing with the idea of snakes teeth piercing my skin over the blunt bite of a lizard. I've kept lizards in the past (or rather, lived near a bush so played with lizards like blue tongues/bob tails a lot as a kid) and their bites are painful but not scary to me.


So now I'm thinking either a few geckos, or maybe a couple of angle headed dragons! Would probably have to buy a new terrarium if I went for the angles though but that's okay. I'd love to breed whatever I get down the track, not so much for the money (since breeding obviously has costs and effort involved) but more for the sense of accomplishment. Anyone have opinions on breeding either geckos or angle headed dragons? Don't worry, this isn't my extent of research lol! Once I decide I'll spend the next year researching the ins and outs and reading other peoples mistakes and problems, I just made this thread so I can gather people's personal experineces/opinions.

 

[Jesse_H]

Hey Kristen!

I'm looking at getting a lace monitor (hopefully....) so all my books are on goannas or snakes!

Here is a great .pdf magazine by Vic Herp Society called Odatria, this issue has a great article on Angle Heads...

Victorian Herpetological Society ? Blog Archive ? Odatria Issue 8

 

[Kristen87]

Ahhhh how exciting, laceys get HUGE!! Are you going to buy a young one and raise it or a full grown one? Take it the moving-house situation is under way? I remember you saying your house mate didn't want any more reptiles haha I'd love to come round and check it out once you get it!


Thanks for the link! I've just downloaded it and I'm guessing I'm not going to get much work done today hehehe.

 

[Jesse_H]

I knew of this link because I was researching SAH for a while, but decided they were too boring! They are known to sit utterly motionless for 2-3 days! LOL! May as well get a plastic one and save money on crickets! I move to Mt Waverley early September, will let u know if I end up pulling off the great lacey scam... search for a thread of mine "Jedi tricks for landlords"!
What about getting a taller terrarium, getting advanced license and getting a Boyds? There's heaps of info on them here and they are cool as!

 

[Kristen87]

Hahaha I just read in the link you sent me that they sit motionless for hours at a time waiting to ambush crickets and I thought... that doesn't sound very interesting, why not get up and chase the cricket for a bit you lazy bums... but they're still pretty cool so I kept reading. DAYS at a time though? That is a little bit intense lol.

Yeah Boyd's are pretty cool too! Oh there's just too many options, can't I have them all? hahaha. I love the bulky dragons like beardies (but don't want a beardy, prefer arborial I think) they seem to have so much more personality than longer monitors/goannas. No offense, I'm sure your lacey will be charming in his own special way lol! They're still awesome, just not quite as awesome hehe

 

[SYNeR]

Go for something that has less of a tendency to bite.

My Stimson Python, for instance, is the most placid animal I've come across. He has mistaken me for food and bitten me, but it feels like velcro
and only just breaks the skin.

Any snake may bite, it comes down to looking at the individual snake..

The most painful bite I've had is from my rats.. Far more painful..