Snakes : The crawling pets

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When thinking about a household pet what are the cute faces that come to your mind? May be a cat or a sniffing puppy. It may even be that of few birds. But would you ever love to fondle a crawling snake as your pet? Would you allow a python to sleep on your bed and play with your kids? I imagine your eyebrows bend with astonishment and wonder, when thinking about a snake crawling in your house, how cute it may be. But in fact snakes make wonderful household pets and are better companions of human beings. Of course I am not at all speaking about the venomous wild snakes, that carry death in their fangs, but the colourful nonpoisonous household pet snakes.

A large number of people love to have pet snakes. Snakes are more dynamic than dogs and cats. It is a misconception that snakes are wild by nature and could never be tamed.If at all you want to have a pet snake in your house, learn properly how to handle a snake. Just like a pet owner does research on dog and cat breeds when considering a new pet, families and individuals who want to consider a snake as a pet must do the proper research and learn about the different types of reptiles and their needs before making a choice. As far as pets go, there are types of snakes that make fine companions. A snake won't come when you call it, or fetch a ball for you, but watching it explore, eat and sleep has a strange, soothing effect.

Snakes are fascinating, and with regular handling can be quite tame. However, snakes are obviously not for everyone. They have unique care and handling requirements and should only be kept by those with the commitment to understand and meet their needs. Also, some grow very large and can be dangerous.

A snake needs special consideration as a pet, however. When you bring a snake into your house as a pet, make sure that everyone in your family, and any frequent guests that you plan on keepings as friends have at least an attitude of acceptance towards snakes.

How to choose?

There are wide verities of pet snakes to choose from. Before buying one, decide if it is the best suitable for your house. The types kept range from the common garter snake to huge pythons. Different species have different diet and environment requirements. No matter which type of snake, a secure escape proof enclosure will be necessary. For new owners who are inexperienced with snake, corn snakes, king snakes, or ball pythons are the best choice for pet snakes. These types of snakes tend to be gentle, and meeting their diet and environmental needs is not as difficult as for some other species. These are relatively small snakes, ranging from 4-5 feet adult length. Snakes that are huge, have poor temperaments, and are potentially dangerous include anacondas and reticulated pythons. These snakes aren't recommended as pets. Also, venomous snakes are poor pet choices, not only for the obvious risk to the owner but for the danger to others.

What snakes eat

Most snakes eat rodents, frogs, insects, or other snakes. Make sure that you will be comfortable with this. It is necessary that you provide this natural food for your snake instead making them to eat the homemade food meant for human beings only. Some snakes will refuse to eat anything but live food. Make sure that you will be comfortable feeding live mice to your snake if the need arises. Some larger snakes may even be fed rabbits, and a select few can be fed other items such as fish or insects. With any snake, feeding pre-killed prey is recommended. A live rodent can inflict some serious wounds on a snake in self defense.

Playing with a snake

You might have seen people with a snake around his/neck, at least on TV screens. While playing with your pet never try to imitate this. This is incredibly foolish because if the snake decides to tighten it's grip, it can cut off the blood flow to the brain and render you unconscious, or even dead. The worst part of it is that the snake is covering such a large area of the neck that the pressure is hardly felt. Snakes are amazingly strong. Never make your pet snake to obey all your commands like a dog. Always allow your pet to live comfortably and securely.