Ball Pythons vs Corn Snakes, what are the differences? matinence, handling, illness?

Question

I am new to owning reptiles but have had to take care of an exotic pet many times before, i owned a chinchilla at one point, which turned out to be a nightmare, it was timid and w a pain to take care of. Im looking for a pet (the reason i look for a snake is because i think they are completely amazing and fun as hell to handle) that does not involve as much matinence as so many exotic animals do, not that i mind taking care of a pet, since i have owned several cats in the past. The question im really asking though is about corn snakes vs ball pythons, i know i want one of the two, but im not quite sure which one. I have heard that ball pythons, while handled stay much more coiled wheras corn snakes are much more active and often move about, if this is the case has anyone found that aspect of the corn snakes attitude annoying? id much prefer a snake that coiled and stayed around me over one that constantly roamed. Also how are each on matinence? is one more difficult than the other?

Answer 1

Both are good snakes, ball pythons can be shy & go off food but handling them & giving them good hiding places helps, snakes can go for long times inbetween feedings wo harm...even a coupla months...am going to include a very good site with very knowledgable & helpful people who know Reptiles...check it out, am sure it'll help you, they deal in only Captive Bred, it's not good to buy reptiles @ places like PerSmarts, etc ...the reptile site is also on my profile if you should lose it...Take Care & Be Well

Answer 2

We have a Ball and a California King Snake (which are similar to corn snakes). The Ball is definitely more docile. Our King is very active all the time and the Ball just sits there, unless he's hungry.



Both our snakes are very tame, although neither was when we got them. If you get a baby snake, they will be jumpy and tend to bite, but like ANY animal, with handling, they will grow out of that.



We find both snakes require the same maintenance. The Ball would be more apt to sit in your lap for long periods of time as the corn snake would like to roam.



We have not had any problems with our Ball with regards to illnesses. I would do some serious searching on the web. Do lots of reading. Different people have different views and experiences. Visit lots of sites about snakes, not just one or two. Go to the library and see if they have any books on snakes. Go to the pet store and read any books they might have.



Definiately get a small snake, one that won't get any bigger than you. So, King snake, Rat snake, Corn snake, some boas, like the Ball or Sand boa are a good start.



Good Luck

Answer 3

I have two corn snakes and two ball pythons, and I must say that, while the corn snakes are much more hyper (corn snakes are colubrids and all colubrids are active hunters, while pythons are ambush predators) they are also easier to care for. They eat heartily, don't require such high heat or humidity and don't require as large an enclosure as do ball pythons. My pythons have to have larger terrariums and special substrate (bedding) or they get ticky and go off their food or get stressed and end up with bad sheds and upper respiratory infections. BUT, despite all this, my favorite snake is my male ball python, Lance. He's gentle and affectionate (yes, reptiles can be affectionate) and will sit on the couch with me and watch TV, whereas I have to constantly supervise both my corn snakes, who have the attention span of a fly. Not saying I don't love them all, lol, but if you want easy, get a cornsnake; if you want personality, get a ball python. Whatever you decide, buy some books and do lots of research about them both. They're both great snakes and very worth keeping, but are as different as night and day. Good luck!

Answer 4

Ball pythons are best for intermediate keepers because they know what expect from them behavior wise. Ball pythons are known to go off food from time to time and first time keepers stress out thinking that their ball python is going to die because it has temporarily stopped eating. Fasting is a part of natural ball python behavior. They are very docile and hardy snakes. Corn snakes are also docile, hardy and easy to care for. Corn snakes are regular feeders. Corn snakes are native snakes. They are not tropical snakes like ball pythons so, this means that their cage life support requirements are easier to meet. I recommend a corn snake for the first time. Corn snakes and ball pythons eat appropriate sized rodents all of their lives. Their life spans are, 15-20 years for corns and, 15-30 years for ball pythons. Ball pythons are the longest living snake species with some specimens living into their 40's.

Answer 5

Corn, rat, king snakes etc. make good first snakes. They are a little more active, but are very forgiving of 'husbandry' errors.

(husbandry is the way you take care of them, temperatures, humidity, general keeping, etc)



Ball Pythons, while often sold as a beginner snake, due to their shy tempermant, are anything but that. They are easily stressed by simple husbandry mistakes.



And Corn snakes can be found in an array of beautiful morphs and colors for a cheap price.



Consider joining www.redtailboa.net. It is an online reptile forum with many helpful members who are great at giving you advice. And they have lots of pictures of animals, as well as information on them there as well.

Answer 6

My brother used to keep ball pythons, and they are not as hardy as other species of snake. They tend to go off their food easily, contract upper respiratory infections and pneumonia more easily, and are just harder to keep healthy than other species. You're right, though, corn snakes do move around more when being handled than balls, sometimes people mistake their activity level for aggressiveness and become afraid of them. If you want a good beginner snake that is calm, easy to handle, and hardy, check out Kenyan sand boas. They're pretty, they stay fairly small so their cage requirements will never get extremely expensive, they're very hardy, and they're extremely laid-back. Great snakes. I have one.

***EDITED TO ADD***

They're also a lot of fun because they spend a lot of their time hiding under the sand in their tank, waiting for prey to walk by.. so people come over, look in the snake tank and say, "Hey.. what's in here?" "My snake." "Um.. I don't see a snake." "Sure, it's in there.." "No.. I don't think it is.." And then they start to get nervous thinking it escaped until I go over and pull her up out of the sand. LOL.

Answer 7

Ive owned a corn snake be4 but never a ball python. I cant remember what kind of corn snake it was but it had real bright awsome colors. It was a very playful snake. They dont coil up though. It may stay around your neck for a few minutes but it wont stay long.



They are easy to maintain. I cant remember exctly how we fed him. But definatly take it out oh its cage to feed. That goes for ALL snakes. But basically just make sure its water stays clean. Make sure it has somewhere to go hid also. Mine like to hide under a half log. They will curl up in their water dish also.



Hope I helped!!! Good luck!!!!





P.S.-Make sure you report back when you decide what your getting!!

Answer 8

my dad breeds snakes...i like the pythons better myself...he uses pythons in snake shows that he gives...they r very timid..i love them