Hellow and a few questions please.

[RZL36]

I give my long term captive king snake a kiss every once-in-awhile. I know it is gross, but she is so adorable. Probably not the best thing to do.

It's really cool that he is so into the snake. It serves as a great way to get the kid to be interested in reading and science.

I remember when I was about 9 (24 now)I got a ball python. I read so much about him and was fascinated by biology ever since. Yet, it was all that reading that probably compelled me to write for a living years later. In any event, it's an excellent hobby and one that promotes knowledge gathering. Welcome to the forum and enjoy the new snake.

[Lulu Bennett]

hi joy and welcome to the forum.
it already sounds like you have got alot of good advice off everyone. i assure you that a snake bite doesn't hurt.
when i was 4 my dad bought my older brother a snake (he was 10) whilst he was at school. i had gotten it out before he saw it for the first time and it bit my lip and hung there for a min. at this point my bro walked in and freeked because he saw it hanging and i was laughing. i am now addicted to snakes and my brother hates them lol work that one out lol. you need to be aware that it will bite him atleast once in his life, they are wild animals still. please dont let this put you off as this is normally an accident on the snakes behalf.

[BabelaJoy]

Welcome Joy!! You sound like such a wonderful, responsible pet family. :-) Your snake is just beautiful!!!! You'll love this forum, and you'll learn a lot. :-)

One thing you might consider is the pre-frozen feeder mice... having had rescued pet mice and rats myself, that was a hard concept for me to deal with but I also wanted my snakes to have the best nutrition for them (it's not their fault they're snakes, you know?) So I did a lot of research and found a company that talked about the health, comfort and welfare of their feeder mice, and also described the euthanasia method. It's not so hard to feed these frozen mice when you know they were bred exactly for this reason and treated humanely.

But I think if your comfort level is the fish, your snake will still be fine. Do you have an established fish tank you can keep feeder fish in? Then you could buy more at a time...

Keep us posted! :-)

Hi. Sorry, I was away and just now got to reading this, but would you be willing to share the name of the place where you get your feeder mice? Is it online, or a place local to you?

I went in to get more fish today and explained to the store guy that half the feeders were dying before I can feed the snake and he won't eat the dead ones, and what can they suggest. They suggested we try goldfish as they are hardier, but I read that there is something in the goldfish that can hurt the snake, and I was suprised that he suggested them because every snake site I have found has told me about whatever it is in the goldfish that can make the snake sick. So, he sold me something to treat my water, which is city water, and I plan to upgrade to a bigger tank in the near future, but for now we will have to just keep making all those trips to the pet shop. It kind of works out because I needed to get some toys for my chinchilla and more substrate for the snake anyway today, and I might as well admit, I love seeing all the animals there.

Thanks for the welcome!!!

Joy

[BabelaJoy]

Hey again Joy ... Looks like you found the forum without me. Good job !!! You'll find tons of stuff here ... all you could ever need. As for biting that's usually out of fear (your snake looks pretty docile) or a mistake as in a feeding response. Garters have little teeth kind of like velcro not what you would think in regards to a snake. Fearing a bite is just that ... the fear thing. Most often a garter will musk (poop) on you while trying to escape rather then bite .

Best of Luck & WELCOME

Yeah, I had found this forum and have been reading, reading, reading.

Thanks again,

Joy

[BabelaJoy]

Welcome to the forum! definitely a red sided garter. nice looking snake too!! at that size he or she will eat a ton of rosies. you can save a bit of money by buying fresh trout and cutting it into small chunks and freezing them separately. you can thaw what you need for a feeding. once or twice a week will be fine. frozen/thawed mice are better nutritionally, but aren't necessary.

How do you think I can get her to eat fresh trout if she won't eat a dead rosie that is in her bowl? I tend to think she is used to moving food, LOL. I said to my son before, why can't she just eat a bowl of cereal, would be nice wouldn't it?

How bout my hubby had an idea of buying some of those worms that the 7-11's sell for bait, would think a garter would eat them? Is it healthy?

Thanks,
Joy

[BabelaJoy]

Welcome here Joy,
You bought your son a very beautiful snake. This red sided gartesnake is very suited for a beginner.

Thanks, she is very clear clean snake, and I am surprised I am not more freaked out by her. She has a heck of an apetite, and when I go to check on her, she actually comes out from under her rock and it's like she knows who I am.

Pretty Neat!!

Thanks for the welcome.

Joy

[BabelaJoy]

Welcome aboard, Joy.

Thanks so much for the welcome and having a site like this for people like me.

[BabelaJoy]

Hi, from Oregon, Joy
I think you got a girl there

Three people told me she is a girl, and my son was a bit upset, I guess he wanted a boy, but to me, what is the difference? He loves her all the same.

Thanks and Hi back!

[BabelaJoy]

welcome to the forum...............

Thanks everybody. I am so thankful to all of you and all the advice I am getting.

[BabelaJoy]

hi joy what a nice thing to do for your child, my kids wanted a pet for eons but we rent so dog/cat is not an option, so a snake is great, remember to clean the tank often and always have fresh water on hand other than that please no huggin or kissing... heeeeeheeee bye
michelle

Well, we have no shortage of pets here. My mom was a pain in the butt with pets, never could have any, so I guess I go overboard. We have plenty to go around.

Is once a week a good timeframe to clean the cage, or should it be more often than that?

Don't worry, I won't be hugging or kissing the snake, my son kisses it but I told him to stop doing that.