First I would like to thank all of you who have been patient with Sean. He asks a lot of questions and has been driving us nuts at home with research on the Internet and trips to the library to find books…

This is the second round of reptiles for us. Before Sean was born, my older son had a fascination also; the only difference is this time around Sean is willing to take the responsibility for cleaning and caring for his critters. Because he is willing to take such good care of his “friends” we are willing to expand. But I have questions as to which direction we should go…

He is interested in getting a snake, what is a good beginner snake (he has been helping care for some at school).

What would be another lizard that you would recommend? We adopted a 4+ foot Iguana in August and he is doing very well.

How difficult is a Tortuous to take care of?

I don’t know of any breeders in the area (my preference) so we have to purchase from pet stores. What should be looking for when buy a new friend? How can we tell if the animal has been handled?

Once something becomes part of the family, it stays here for life….

Thanks,
Colleen

Hi Colleen and welcome to herpcenter.....He does ask questions, but thats what we are here for ....

One of the best starter snakes would be a cornsnake..easy to care for, not alot of space needed and eat well. They are a little faster than others.

My first was a ball python which are also easy to care for, grow slow and not alot of space needed. They are a little more slower that others. Only thing about BP's are they can be picky eaters....

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

For snakes, I would also recommend a cornsnake as a first snake. Their care requirements are quite easy to meet, there are LOTS of color variations to choose from and are docile tempered animals (usually). They also grow to a good length, but manageable and do not get very girthy.
Ball Pythons are often suggested too, but when they get picky about eating it can frustrate the most experienced keeper to tears!!

As far as choosing a healthy animal here are some things to look for:
First, look at the snake in it's tank: Is the cage clean or dirty? (There should not be feces, urates or old shed skins in the tanks.)
If there are other snakes in the tank too, do they look sick? (Bad signs are open-mouth breathing, wheezing, and bubbles or discharge from the nostrils.) If you see anything like that, leave the store and don't buy anything from them. DO NOT buy an unhealthy-looking animal with the idea of nursing it back to health... it's not worth it. Herp veterinarians are not the cheapest and a respiratory infection is quite contagious and can be difficult to treat.
Look closely around the eyes and along the lighter parts of the snake's skin. Tiny moving brown or black dots are mites (blood-sucking parasites that spread quickly) If your snake or the cage has a heavy white powder, it could be Sevin dust (used to treat mites.)
Mites are treatable with very strict quarantine procedures, but you'd rather not have them if you can avoid it.
Ask to hold the snake. Check again for any signs of illness and look at the underside of it's chin. The mental groove is a slit on the lower jaw and a common place for mites to hide.
The snake should crawl around in your hands, flicking its tongue. The body should be smooth and firm, with no sores, cuts or lumps. The eyes should be bright and clear and its mouth should close completely.
Ask the pet store assistant to open the snake's mouth for you. The inside of the mouth should be clean... there should be no cuts or thick cheesy material (mouth rot).
Ask the seller for as much information as they can give you. Birthdate of the snake, when it last ate (what did it eat),how often it is fed, when it last shed and when it last defecated. (If the snake is kept with other snakes or if they don't keep records of that detail, they probably can't tell you the last one.)
Make sure you find out exactly what conditions the snake needs to be kept in and have everything set up and temps/humidity tested for a few days before bringing your snake home. We have a good care sheet on cornsnakes here: http://www.herpcenter.com/f109-cornsnake.html I recommend keeping the snake in quarantine conditions for 3 months to be sure you don't have mites or other problems that could affect your other herps. I advise keeping new additions in a rubbermaid-type container (with a good tight lid!), with a human-type heat pad (no automatic shut off!)under one third of the box. You'll also need a small water dish, papertowel substrate and two hide boxes: one on the warm side of the box and one on the cool side. You'll want a good thermometer/hygrometer on each side of the box too. Make sure to get a few frozen mice of the size recommended by the seller. You'll want your snake eating frozen-thawed rodents. (Live food can attack and sometimes kill a snake!) There's info here about feeding F/T: the trick is to make sure the food is completely defrosted and then warmed up before feeding to the snake (I use a hair-dryer to warm up rats for my snakes)
(Well, that's a start... hope it helps!)
I can't answer the questions about the lizard or tortoise; but there are others on here who can.

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Andrea

we love questions here at herp center....rather have him ask then not know I have 3 chinese water dragons..and they are great lizards to have...a little bit harder then an Iguana but woth the extra work :P

Welcome Colleen, glad you joined Sean with us....and remember...there are never too many questions...researching before getting a new family member is the best way to go about it....Lyn

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Warmest Regards from Lyn

Welcome to the forums..of course feel free to question, and its good to see people asking about things before going ahead and doing them, especially where animals are concerned.

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-Amelia-
ES Tropicals

Welcome!

Sean is very inquisitive but smart for his age but the HC is all about answering questions, I know, I had plenty. LOL
Good luck finding the right snake for Sean!

Beth

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0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa (Sakura)
1.1.0 Leopard geckos (Tasuki, Sango)
2.0.0 Ball pythons (Tsume, Kenshin)

no need to apologize at all...thats what HC is here for....hope ya get that new snake figured out soon. I like corn snakes the best..very easy to care for.

-adam

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-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"

your a great mother. i wish MY mom wanted to expand.
the snake: the best beginer snake would probobly be almost any coulubrid; best is a corn snake
the lizard: I would suggest a bearded dragon or a leopord gecko. big Iguanas can be agresive and wip thier tails at you. a freind of mine's Iguana actually revolted because of too much freedom for a month (lol it was very funny).
tortous:a red footed tortous is easy to take care of (see other hc forums).
A handled reptile would be freindly and not be very nippy.

Hello and welcome! Good for you for being involved in Sean's interests!
Without a doubt the best all round beginners' snake has to be the cornsnake. They have been bred in captivity for so long that they are well on their way to being the first domesticated reptile. They are readily available, colorful, hardy, docile and easy to feed on available food items. They stay a manageable size. Ball pythons are great snakes but require a bit more in the way of care regarding humidity. They also will make a neophyte keeper crazy with their eating habits. The first time my male decided to do a winter fast he did not eat from November until the following April! Didn't bother him in the least! However me on the other hand,....
For a lizard you have 2 very good choices a leopard gecko or a bearded dragon. The dragon is considerably larger and has a bit more complicated needs than the leo such as the requirement for UVB generating lights. Also the leo is nocturnal while the Bearded Dragon is active by day. Blackjack has given you some very good pointers on how to chose a healthy snake. A captive bred snake that is used to handling will be calmer and inquisitve. However hatchling corns or any species for that matter will be extremely active and squirmy!

Different speicies of tortoise have different care requirements. What species are you interested in.

I am not sure I understand that statement. Do you mean that you would prefer not to buy from a breeder? If so why not? It is actually my preference to buy from breeders. That way you know what type of care the animal has had and its history. With petshops you can never be too sure.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!