pet snake

July 25th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

pet snake
What is the smallest pet snake i can adopt?

I always wanted a snake but most snakes eat mice or poor baby mice and it makes me wanna cry and choke the darn snake to let go of the mouse! lol So is there any small pet snake out there that eats something like crickets only or something? Please help Thanx, Kate. And if there is can you give me some info on how to care for it, that would be helpful, Thanx.

I would recommend a Garter Snake. Apart from the Giant Garter Snake (thamnophis gigas) they very rarely grow more than 3 feet in length. Garters will eat whole fish but you have to be careful of what type you give them. I would recommend Lance fish (small fish that can be swallowed whole) or cut up pieces of trout (raw and bones included). They will also eat chunks of filleted coley, but a vitamin and calcium supplement is essential if this is the only food.
Apart from fish they will also eat earthworms and slugs but you must make sure they are collected from areas without pesticides.
I know you don't want to feed mice but the occasional pinkie (newborn) mouse bought frozen then thawed, maybe just once a month (if you can bare it) will do your Garter Snake the world of good, and give it a well balanced diet.
The only cricket eating snakes i can think of that are kept as pets are Rough and Smooth Green Snakes, although they are considerably harder than Garter Snakes to look after. They need lots of foliage and need feeding every other day. The Rough Green Snake also needs a tall vivarium as it is strongly arboreal. Both of these snakes are very nervous and can be problematic feeders.
I noticed someone had posted an answer saying Garter Snakes eat crickets. They don't. Even if they did it wouldn't keep them alive for long.