what kid of snake?

[repman01]

what would be a better snake, a king snake or corn snake? I want a snake that is relatively cheap and is active during the day. So what would be a better choice? if none of these what are some other snakes that meet these criteria?

[beckdg]

more info repman... you know better. where are you housing one and what can you do for it. what's the overall idea. you may be planning something completely unsuitable for either of them and without knowing i'm not willing to make a suggestion. sorry.

just to give you an idea i have absolutely no faith whatsoever that you could find a single source of information with correct adequate information on corn care since it seems every idiot has one and every idiot who does thinks they can write a care sheet. i've even seen college papers and scientific studies as well as zookeeper writeups that leave a lot to be desired but to date have yet to see a single reference to one that's complete that i'd completely agree with.

sooo, tell me what your plans are.

[repman01]

sorry sorry now i have been researching ( and now that you mention it, the care sheets could be wrong) but i found out that a 29 gallon tank would be suitable for a corn or king snake. now please correct me if i am wrong.
so anyways i will be getting aspen bedding and making natural rock hides.
Also i might throw in some vines because i read that corns sometimes climb.

Again please correct me if any of this is wrong and help guide me towards a suitable snake for the explained environment that i will be making.

p.s is that enough info for you beck

[Mikey8567]

Well between my buddy and I we have both. I have a young Albino striped California king snake and his son has a full grown albino corn snake. To be honest both are kinda reclusive during the day. Mine is very young (born in 09) and that accounts for his hiding alot. But even my buddie adult likes to spend alot of time in it's hide.

Are you looking for a snake that is always out and about? How big and how long do you expect it to get as an adult?

If your narrowing it to those two choices it's hard to say. I might go with the corn. But like said above your habitat will have alot to do with it. Lots of hiding places means you won't see it alot. Big thing is as you already know 1 hide for a corn is a must. I've been told that a king really dosn't need a hide (just some thing to crawl into to feel safe while sleeping, sounds like a hide to me) my lil one spends most of it's time crawling under the newspaper I have in teh bottom of the tub.

[Mikey8567]

Yes a 29 would be fine. a adult corn will get to about 5' in lenght and that tank would be good for him/her. Aspen or Reptibark works great (aspen is far cheaper) for a substrate. As far as climbing thats really up to your snakes. Many have said Ball's don't climb.... Tell Avalon that, he loves to climg and get to the highest points at times. So like I said it's really up to the snake, each snake acts differntly.

[repman01]

Ok I will ask a new question and come back to this.

New Question: What would be a good snake that can be housed in a 29 gallon tank when fully grown

[Mikey8567]

Ok your looking for something 5' or less, not overly large. I usually stick to the rule that the enclosure should be long enough to alllow the snake to crawl from one end to the other and back with out the tail and head touching the same side (as an adult). For that size tank I'd stay away from Ball's, large boa's (an adult redtail will get 10-12'), ect. Corn's, kings, tree pythons (even though aggressive they are cool to watch and so forth), there a few more you could look up. You plan on handling it alot?

Best bet is to look at the commonly collected snakes (keeping price down), look at over all adult size and lenght, and their habits.

I currently have an adult male ball (he's in a 29gal now but building a 3'x4'x5' enclosure waterfall, ect that he'll be moved into), a young king and a young redtail. the redtail and the ball will both have custom enclosure and the king will end up going into the 29gal.

Think of it this way: If you were your pet what would you like to be stuck in for the rest of your life?

[beckdg]

i am going to have to disagree mikey. an adult corn snake can get to just over 6' long. being that they're basically land dwellers that leads us to the 1/3 - 2/3 rule. so the length and width of the tank should be at least 2' x 4' for one that may reach 6'. a 30 or 40 gallon snake breeder will have better dimensions for a land snake than just about any other common tank. rack systems and snake specific enclosures will be even better suited. at any rate the snake breeders both have the same footprint (18" x 36") so would be ideal for any ground dwelling snake 4.5' or under.

a 29 gallon should be about 30" x 12.5" x 18" so for a ground dweller you're looking for something between 2' and 40" full grown. i personally think 40" is pushing it due to the width of the tank... leaves no room for exploring. that rules out all pythons, anacondas and a good handful of boas and colubrids right from the gate.

bushy vs. bare has been covered quite extensively around these parts and as a community (even for snakes) the general consensus (which i truely believe in) is that more bush is more natural and provides for more exploring. therefore with many snakes they'll come out more often given the proper cover as with many other herps.

anyway... garters, rough green, hognose, rosy boa are a few that will do fine in that size tank. by all means look up what you want and post it and i'll be happy to give you my thoughts. adult redtails can and do get larger than 12' too. my guys mother was about 14'. i know because i saw her personally.

[beckdg]

for a substrate i highly recommend a layer of ceramic tiles or sand topped with coco fiber and coco croutons. i have little to no faith in the substrates sold in pet stores and refuse to pay 4-10 X's the money for a less reliable product. quite a few people have even added some organic soil and planted their snake enclosures successfully. you just have to vent it correctly and watch for ground humidity issues. (don't over water!!!)

[repman01]

i did a little bit more research and i was looking at the rough green snake.
Do you think i would be able to house a wild one successfully or would it be better to get a captive bred one.

And do you know the general price for a rough green snake?