Five Snake Care Tips For Beginners
By V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D., Fri Dec 9th

If you’re looking for an unusual, eye-catching pet, it’s hard togo wrong with a snake. They’re exotic enough to catch people’sinterest, yet hardy enough to require minimal care.Nevertheless, uninformed first-time owners tend to make somebasic mistakes, some of which can be quite costly. Here are somesimple tips that can help ensure the health of the snake andprevent a lot of aggravation as well.

1.First, take note of how large your snake can grow to be. MostNorth American varieties only grown to be about four feet long,which is a reasonable size. Don’t let a pet store employee talkyou into buying a Burmese python, since these critters can growto be over thirty feet long, and will require huge cages andtremendous amounts of food. (And before you ask… No, most zooswill not accept these as donations.) 2.Don’t scrimp on cagesize. A cage that is too small can be very stressful andunhealthy to your pet. Pet store clerks will sometimes try tosell you caging that is inadequate in size, so don’t fall intothis trap. For adequate comfort, the combined length and widthof the cage should at least match the snake’s length. cangrow fairly quickly, so don’t forget to take that into accountas well! 3.Do find out how docile that particular specimen is.Most non-venomous North American are fairly docile, butif you’re a first-time keeper, you should probably make surethat your prospective pet can be handled easily. 4.Make surethat you select a pet with a hearty appetite. Ball pythons, forexample, make great pets—but they are notoriously finickyeaters. Corn make great starter pets because they areexceedingly docile and aren’t picky about what they eat.5.Snakes—indeed, any reptile—can potentially spread salmonella.The risk involved is very small, but one should still play safe.This is especially true when young children or people withcompromised immune systems are involved. Do read up on reptilehygiene and salmonella before purchasing your pet. Obviously,these tips only constitute some basic advice. I recommend thatall prospective owners should read up on snake care in general,as well as the specific needs of the species that they plan topurchase. A little bit of basic research can prevent a greatdeal of aggravation in the future.

About the author:V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D. is a senior electrical and softwareengineer at CellularTechnology Ltd, a provider of ELISPOT assayservices and ELISPOTexpertise).