How To Properly Care For Snakes

Looking into buying a pet snake? Searching for a few useful reptile care tips? You reached the right place. To some, it might be peculiar for one to have a pet snake as they’re widely perceived as an instant threat to humans. We know that most snakes are dangerously equipped with venom that can definitely kill us. Moreover, compared to the usual four-legged furry pets, like dogs and cats, their appearance isn’t really the ideal cute for everybody. 

However, some people do like snakes as pets and you can’t question them for that because snakes also have their good points, such as the following:

    • They’re silent: For those who want to have a pet but aren’t fans of animal noises, such as barking and meowing, the snake is the perfect fit for them. These reptiles live silently and although they do make sounds by hissing, it’s too soft that you’d rarely even notice it. 
    • They aren’t high maintenance: Dogs as pets require a lot of extra caring. You need to bathe them, brush their hair, cut their toenails, etc. It could get a hand full. However, with snakes, you don’t really need to do as much work. As long as they’re fed well and their houses are kept clean or habitable, you’re good to go. 

If you’re someone who’s planning to get a pet snake anytime soon, you need to equip yourself with enough knowledge on how to properly care for them. Why? Because snakes are reptiles and they’re very different from mammal pets in terms of lifestyle, diet, and habitat.

Here are 3 important Reptile Care Tips on how to properly take care of snakes:

1. Provide Adequate and Proper Food

If you’re truly planning on getting a pet snake, then you should prepare yourself with its diet and food of choice. To have adequate knowledge about the type of reptile you have and what food they eat, it’s best to check out reputable websites, such as Reptile Direct

reptile care tips
or those who want to have a pet but aren’t fans of animal noises, such as barking and meowing, the snake is the perfect fit for them.

Take note that you shouldn’t be faint-hearted if you wish to become a pet snake owner. Unlike dogs and cats where you can buy ready-made pet food in pellets, snakes need to eat food that’s fresh, raw, and alive. Their food could be mice, rabbits, chicks, etc., depending on your type of snake. 

It may be gruesome but that’s the natural cycle of life and how snakes nourish themselves. So, to properly care for your pet snake, you must already have a place in mind that supplies you with their food needs. 

Moreover, always provide your pet snake water and change it regularly too to keep it clean.

2. Know Your Snake’s Type

This is probably one of the most important reptile care tips. There are a lot of different types of pet snakes out there that you can bring home. As long as you can manage it or it’s legal for you to have it around as a pet, then you have the freedom to do so. However, to properly take care of your snake pet of choice, you need to know it well first. 

Questions you should definitely think about are:

  • How big can it grow?
  • What does it eat?
  • How much can it eat?
  • What type of environment should it live in?
Reptile Care For Beginners
Know your snake’s type.

3. Provide a Proper Home

With pet snakes, you can’t have it roam around your house or let it sleep with you next to your bed because they’ll probably decide to leave your house and never come back. As such, these reptiles need to have their own enclosed space. Besides, you’ll probably scare your visitors if you have your snake greeting them by the doorstep. 

A home for pet snakes is called a vivarium. It’s an enclosed space similar to an aquarium but is specially made for snakes. A vivarium is usually made of glass and is transparent, allowing you to see your pet snake. These vivariums are also very helpful for snakes since it provides the proper temperature they need to live comfortably.

Moreover, your pet snake’s habitat must mimic that of the wild. So, you need to have extra things in the vivarium, such as:

  • Plants
  • Rocks
  • A ‘bedding,’ which is where your snake can burrow itself in as it does in the wild
  • Water
  • Lighting and heating to maintain a warm temperature 

Conclusion

I hope you learned a few valuable things from these reptile care tips. Snakes may not be your conventional house pets. However, this doesn’t mean they can’t be good companions, like dogs or cats. To some people, caring for pet snakes gives them a sense of happiness because these reptiles probably match their lifestyle and personality. 

You can say snakes are scary or dangerous, which is somehow true. However, if cared for properly by someone, they can be good pets. What’s important is owners take full responsibility to love and treat pet snakes well.

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