Garter vs. Corn (round 2 ;)

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

CORN CORN CORN CORN CORN Pantherophis guttatus guttatus!!!!!

Did I mention CORN?

Steve

[zooplan]

Waynes view seems to be "normal" to me.

Reed and Shanley, you are special persons and you found this place to share your hobby,
where is no difference if you are 14 or 104 when you share your experiences (and PHOTOS)

To all those how started at about ten years of age,
are you sure you had no parental guidence?

Maybe it was hard to get permissions...
Maybe family holidays were planed with hidden meanings...
Maybe there were a lot of friendly questions about you critters...

There are a lot of ways hidden guidance can be performed.

BTW: my nephew got a garter snake when he was twelve.
He bought a book, watched, my keeping, and had to fight hard for his wish,
all before permission to require the snake,
but it took less than a year and the snake went back to me

[GartersRock]

To all those how started at about ten years of age,
are you sure you had no parental guidence?

Maybe it was hard to get permissions...
Maybe family holidays were planed with hidden meanings...
Maybe there were a lot of friendly questions about you critters...

There are a lot of ways hidden guidance can be performed.

Well this is certainly true for a lot I am sure. But I can tell you I fought tooth and nail the whole way, no friendly questions. BUT. For them to finally give in and put up with my animals there was support in that. Even if I did have to constantly fight it. In the end, it was "allowed".

[E&Asmom]

I have a 3 and a 6 year old. My six year old has his own corn snake that he takes care of with supervison!!! I have to remind him to feed it and I have to tell him to come into the reptile room to play with him and change his paper. The 3 year old does not have a snake of his own yet.
My vote would be corn snake 100%. Just make sure you play with it first and pick one that is a little more laid back. Not all corn snakes are mellow!

[Seere121]

My first snake was a BP after a year of experience with my roommates corns and a solid month of research before I got Her. Then I found a Garter, then another garter, then another BP, then another garter, then adopted my moms corn snakes, then adopted another BP from a coworker, then found a pair of baby coastal carpet pythons at an expo.... Yea... Be careful, Snakes can be addicting. Oh, and my vote is for corn snake as long as its an adult and ANY interaction with children is supervised. I have several Corns at various ages and the adults are by far the most calm and forgiving. The babys can be nippy and defensive.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i am fully responsible for all my snakes and my fish and turtle.... i got a job outside of the house to pay for them, i feed them clean cages ect. my parents have no part whatsoever in their care....... and i'm 15....... and i've had snakes like this since i was ten with no parental guidence.... i ask my parents if i can keep them in the house and that's about it....

[Cobra Kai]

Sorry if I wasn’t very clear on how this was going down. I too, am totally against irresponsible pet owners who impulse buy do to a whim or fad and dump it in their kid’s laps. This is precisely why there is such a dilemma in animal shelters today. If I could I would have my own animal rescue/sanctuary and the first on my crusade list would be the American pit bull terrier.

Of course the kids that young don't actually participate in the care of the animals. They are too young at 5 or 6. The snake is the responsibility of the parent, even at 13 or 14.

I got my daughter a snake when she was 2. I take care of him, and I use him for breeding, but when she is old enough to move out of the house, if she wants to take Sammy Snake with her, she is welcome to...it's her snake. If she doesn't want to, of course I will continue to care for him, but she at least has the option.

Thank you tyflier…that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I believe you’ve got to expose children at an early age and it’s up to them if they dig it or not. At the very least they will see how to care for a living creature. It’s a good life lesson. And no matter what happens, it will always be my responsibility. My wife will make sure of that.

i am fully responsible for all my snakes and my fish and turtle.... i got a job outside of the house to pay for them, i feed them clean cages ect. my parents have no part whatsoever in their care....... and i'm 15....... and i've had snakes like this since i was ten with no parental guidence.... i ask my parents if i can keep them in the house and that's about it....

I grew up much like you Snake lover 3-25. My parents let me have my first pet when I was 10 years old too. I rescued a three-toed box turtle from a fish market in San Francisco Chinatown. Poor little guy was going to be turtle soup. So we bought him and I packed him up in a picnic basket and brought him home on the plane back to Boston. And that’s how it all started. Teddy The Turtle is no longer with us. But after 25 years, I still have two of his old roommates. A Florida (Terrapene carolina bauri) & a Tree-toed (Terrapene carolina triunguis). Granted…I wasn’t your average 10 year old. But maybe one of my boys will be like me. Isn’t that the wishes of every parent? If they are into pets or not it’s ok. And if my boys want to take the the turtles when they move out, it is totally up to them. If not, that’s cool too. They’ll always be MY turtles. Maybe someday my boys can give these turtles to their kids.

[GartersRock]

I have had snakes since I was 10. I caught my first checkered garter. And like Shanley, I had no parental guidance. But I learned then through mostly trail and error and I admit some snakes may have suffered from that. (Not badly, I was very responsible) But all in all I took rather good care of my animals. But that is the exception to the rule for 10 year olds. So honestly, it's not a good idea to leave snakes in kids care until they are much, much older. And even then depending on the individual I would still make sure they where taking care of them.

And Shanley. Most kids aren't as responsible as you are at your age. Definantly the exception to the rule.

[Lori P]

I'm so impressed with your research and thought into this, too!!!! I'm going to agree on the cornsnake because it best suits your needs at this time. And big kudos to you for being such a responsible parent and pet owner!!!!!!

[Cobra Kai]

Thanks Lori. Doing research is one of my hobbies. Pretty nerdy...huh? But seriously, I'm having a blast learning from you guys. This is wicked fun! And the parent thing I’m still learning about too.