Hey guys, how's it goin'?
I first off feel paler than ever
I've never felt so white in my life
It's been a while since I've filmed
I know I kind of went missing in action
It feels like it's been forever, but it's really only been like a week
which really isn't that big of a deal.
And this isn't the first time I've done this, every once in a while I just get in this weird funk
and I need to take a break, and that's perfectly fine.
No reason to have to explain myself.
So yes, there's gonna be some opening little intro to this, if you're just here for the snakes, I'm sorry I talk so much
I just can't shut up
Why did you dye your hair Taylor? It looks so bad
Ya see, this is pretty much my natural hair color, it's like one shade darker
The blonde hair was so much fun but it was also about $200 every other week to upkeep.
So, ya know, I'm good.
Anyway, my play button finally arrived for my 100,000 subscribers
which happened a little bit ago, but...
So we're gonna be talking about three different kinds of snakes today.
We're gonna be talking about Kenyan sand boa, ball python, hog nose.
Western hog nose to be exact.
Now, of course there's other great snakes out there
like corn snakes are great for beginners and all of that junk
but we're just gonna be talking about the three snakes I have
and out of those three, which snake is best for you.
If you don't follow my Twitter or Instagram, I highly suggest you do that
If you don't follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have missed the fact that I got a third snake.
This is the final snake that I've always wanted which is a ball python.
It's a boy, his name is Maui, and he is a pastel pied ball python, and I love him!
These are the three snakes I've always been heavily interested in
ever since I was like 13 I think is when I started looking into ball pythons
and then it kind of just went from there
So I've always been interested in these 3 kinds of snakes
and now I have these 3 types of snakes
So that's awesome.
It's kind of funny because, a month ago I had 0 snakes and now I have 3.
Basically we're gonna go through the 3 snakes and I'm gonna tell you
just some generic care info about them and that'll help you determine which snake is best for you.
So let's get started
So this first snake here is a ball python
these are the classic first-time snake
also just the classic pet snake
I believe more people have ball pythons as pet snakes more than any other kind of pet snake
Ball pythons are notorious for being extremely laid back
They're not known to bite much, and they're not quick or fast-moving
so I mean they literally just -- they literally just chill
Now people call them ball pythons because they ball up
curling up, being balled up, they are naturally very timid animals
they're not going to be fast or quick to strike
unless it's feeding time, then ya know, watch out for your hands
So as you can see Maui is still opening up
not quite there yet, but once he gets out he's pretty chill
We are comparing hog noses, Kenyan sand boas, and ball pythons
Ball pythons get big
this is a baby
and so are my hognose and Kenyan sand boa
If you like bigger snakes, out of these 3, this is the one to go for
Now if you're squeamish, and you don't really feel comfortable about feeding mice
right now at this age, he's already eating rat pups which is bigger than a mouse.
So if you're already uncomfortable with mice, it may be a little more uncomfortable for you to be feeding rats
Now the good news is, is I highly recommend feeding frozen food throughout the live's of all of these snakes
I don't like live food
not just because "Oh my God, the poor mouse" or whatever
Of course yes I do have pet mice, so if I can avoid, I'm gonna avoid it
but also, the bigger the prey, such as you know, adult mice
the more likely that they're gonna bite back at the snake
so when the snake goes to eat, the mice can turn around, bite at the snake, hurt the snake, etcetera
Now the good thing about ball pythons is they're pretty easy to train to be on frozen
even if they were eating live before you bought them
it's very likely you're gonna be able to switch them over to frozen
some people are gonna disagree because yes,
there are gonna be those cases where if it's already eating live it's just not gonna switch
This snake right here was eating live, but is now eating frozen
So what you need to look for when you're buying the snake is to ask about if it's eating live or frozen
just so you know what to prepare for and make sure that you get one that's a good eater of course.
Now the cool thing about ball pythons is there's a lot of different morphs
your options are pretty much limitless when it comes to how what kind of pattern and morph you want
and ball pythons certainly have so much to offer.
When they're babies, they like enclosed spaces
they like to feel safe
they basically just need one side where they can get heat, like a basking spot
a heat lamp, and then another side where they can be cool
and then a soaking dish/water bowl
Babies like enclosed spaces, they don't need a lot of space.
I recommend that when they get to about this size to put them in about a 20 -- at least a 20 gallon tank.
And then when they are adults they need at least a 40 gallon in my opinion.
I would even recommend bigger
But 40 will do its job
So ball pythons do live to be at least 30, they live a very long life.
They are very good for beginners because they normally eat really well
they're very docile, they don't have a lot of issues
they're really basically your good first snake overall, but if you're looking for something smaller
I do have some other snakes of course
The reason I'm doing the comparison between these 3 snakes
and these 3 snakes only, is because people constantly ask me about my snakes
like are they good beginner snakes
which one out of the ones you have should I get, basically
So I'm comparing the 3 I have
and helping you make that decision
He's wrapped around my hair right now
I have yet to have this guy strike at me, at all
So next up out of my three
is my hognose- oops, sorry baby.
*silence*
Unlike the ball python, which will wrap itself around you,
these guys are pretty "ploop"
They'll just plop right off
You're gonna have to kinda hold onto them
Right now she's doing a pretty good job, she's keeping her grip
Now, the cool thing about these guys is that they are rear fanged.
Which means their fangs are actually located in the rear of their mouth,
rather than the front of their mouth.
So, they're less likely to really nip at you they do a lot of false strikes
Things like that where they pretend to bite, but aren't really going to.
The thing about these guys, is they are pretty feisty.
They do have an attitude, uh, they actually play dead when they feel threatened.
More so then actually biting and hurting.
Just to be completely clear, so no one is surprised,
these guys are considered venomous.
But, in the wild they don't even eat rats or mice they eat amphibians and that's it.
Why are you hissing at me?
*snake hissing* Yeah, she's grumpy.
So, I'm not going to keep her out too long.
So, their venom is really potent to amphibians and you know like frogs, salamanders, newts, things like that
Not necessarily to humans, but the reason they still have to be listed as venomous is some people do have reactions.
But, nothing deadly at all of course.
And they just don't bite that much.
So, that just has to be out in the open, but they really don't do anything.
Like, I'm not scared of this snake.
*silence*
Only one problem with hog noses is in the wild they do eat amphibians.
They don't eat mice.
So, it can be hard to get them to eat sometimes, but its normally not too much of an issue.
I've had her for a few weeks now and she did eat fine for me.
She's going to be about 3 feet long max, she is a female and the males get to be 2 feet long.
These guys are just super interesting, they are very active at least mine is.
She's super active, it's fun to watch her you know, go around the tank.
If you're looking for a snake that does stuff, from my experiences hog noses do stuff.
Ball pythons just kinda sit there.
Like when my ball python was out he just sat there, while my hog nose is moving around and exploring.
The other cute thing, of course, about hog noses is their hog nose.
They have a little nose.
Adult hog noses can be kept in a 20, I prefer a 30 at least.
But 20 gallons will suffice.
They need a spot where they can get heat, um, you want the heating area to be around 90 degrees (F).
And then they need a cool side, where they can get cool.
And a water dish and those are their main necessities.
Now she's an albino.
*music*
Now, these guys wouldn't be my first choice for a beginner.
But I think if you know like, this is my second snake and she's doing fine.
So, as long as you do your research you should be fine.
Of course, but just know that they are harder to come by just because they aren't the easiest pets,
just because of their feeding habits.
You normally shouldn't have in my opinion, too much of a problem.
Right now at this size, she is happily taking frozen pinkies.
*music*
Hog noses are known of course to have a little bit of an attitude prior to picking them up.
But once you get them in your hands, they pretty much just chill out.
Celia is just a brat when I put my hand in the tank, she just starts hissing and hissing and hissing, but the second I pick her up, she's fine.
She's just like whatever.
As you can probably tell by now, this isn't an in depth, how to care for them tutorial.
This is just, how big they get, what they eat, what size tank they need.
Just so you can compare the basics of the three snakes and kinda decide what kind of requirements sound best for you.
So, my last snake is a Kenyan sand boa.
Now although the word sand is in their name, they don't necessarily need to live on sand.
I'm personally going to switch mine over to sand, but when I bought my Kenyan,
they were just like, no you don't need sand were going to sell you aspen.
No matter if you use aspen or sand those are both good, just don't give them anything with cedar.
No reptiles should be on anything cedar based its really dangerous for them.
The hog nose does good on apsen and as for the ball python, I highly recommend a mix of,
forest floor substrate with eco-earth. It is a great combination for a ball python.
It helps keep the humidity up and of course its a lot more comfortable on the snake.
Here's Toast, he's my Kenyan sand boa.
These guys will literally not grip on at all when they're babies, like theyre just gonna slide right off my hand.
So, you have to be really careful when handling these guys, cause they can just flop on over.
So, here's Toast. He is a baby Kenyan sand boa and he is going to get to be about 20 inches long as an adult.
A female Kenyan sand boa will get about 24 inches while a male with get 20.
So these guys are definitely very small.
If you live in a house with someone who's scared of big snakes, this is a great small snake to get them warmed up to snakes.
Cause this literally just looks like a worm, come on.
To give you an idea, 20 inches does sound small. Here's a picture of an adult.
So, they still are kinda chunky, uh, they do weigh a lot.
Cause they are very thick, yeah..
Kenyan sand boa's like to dig, they like to bury themselves, theyre always looking for a spot to bury and dig.
Right now, he's kinda trying to figure out my hand and if he can bury in it.
These guys as adult will eat hoppers, large hopper, um, you can feed them adult mice, but hopper are normally about the size that they can get.
A 20 gallon tank should suffice as an adult, but I do really recommend a 30 again.
I don't think 20 is the best for a 2 foot long creature.
Since these aren't the most active creatures in the world, people do it successfully all the time.
I do feed my snakes in their own enclosure.
I just monitor it to make sure they aren't ingesting anything like the aspen or anything while eating.
But I have found no research that really does prove that feeding them in a different enclosure
makes them less aggressive