Ive decided to get and exotic pet after 3 hamsters and some fish.

Ive narrowed it down to 2, and I just cant pick. So I want you guys to help me out.

Ive chosen the Corn Snake, or the Chile Rose Tarantula.

I cant get both, and I was wondering which is best for a beginner? Considering handeling, feeding, care, cost etc


(If this is in the wrong place im sorry. I didnt see any other places =])

I would suggest a corn snake as a starter they are meant to be a good starter snake. I would suggest visiting a reptile hobbies or reptile store and discuse with them your interests they will be able to give you some advice. There is also the reptile magazine which can be ordered from most news agents which give good advice also.

Tarantula's are very easy to keep and food doesn't cost that much as most of there food you can breed yourself.

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Thanks guys, i decided on a corn snake after some research

Hi there sharko, i got some pictures of most of the stuff you/your dad would most likely need...(although i have added what I use, you can change stuff around, THAT'S WHY ITS FUN TO OWN A TARANTULA)....



These do best as they hold all water inside (and look professional)

exo-terra terrarium:




Did you know that tarantula's drink? Well its true they do, and you must always have water on supply...(also keeps humidity up).

water bowl:




For you to know all the time when things are getting too hot/cold, humidity getting too high/low then invest on these 2 gauges, called a hygrometer and thermometer...everyone uses them!

thermometer/hygrometer:




Now here's the tricky bit.....what substrate?(basically a thick carpet in the tank). I personally use Vermiculite which is cheap, holds alot of water, don't dry out and don't harbour mould or mites. Or you could use peat moss or cocoa husk (havent used the other ones, but i would stick to vermiculite).

vermiculite:




Now that we got most stuff out of the way, what are you going to do for heating? Well the most popular thing to do, is to put the heat mat underneath the total tank (exo terra tanks are made for this to be done, IT JUST SLIDES UNDER). I leave half of the underside tank with heat mat under and other half with no heat mat at all(just put the heat mat bearing from the left or right,(this is so that when the tarantula gets too hot on the heat mat side, it will go to other side and cool down, and vice versa!

heat mat:




Ok, now you got the heat ma sorted, you will need some way of keeping temperature controlled, (if you leave it on all the time, the tarantula will dehydrate and dry out), and when your out about and you leave it off and the tarantula gets cold, what are you going to do? Well most people use thermostats(go-ahead and buy one if you want but these are pricey), so i thought about using a normal plug timer!, basically set time on adapter, set times to start and finish, and there go!.......much simpler and extremely cheaper then a thermostat!

plug timer:




Ok, so that's everything done with housing and stuff, but what about feeding? well you can get loads of different foods for a tarantula (they prefer live food....and also U.K law is that live mice cannot be used as food, only frozen, SO THEY OUT THE WINDOW).....The food i use for my tarantula are crickets(funny things and they do chirp if u get black ones....SO IF U DON'T WANT CHIRPING CRICKETS, GET SILENT BROWN CRICKETS). I am thinking about culturing dubia cockroaches(no more buying food, just put these in a larger tub (or toy box lol) and let them multiply!

crickets:




Ok, finally you will want to know what's the best tarantula to keep. Well i only own some Chile rose, so i recommend them for begginers. They are extremely cheap, docile and calm, and love being handled(make sure you don't drop it otherwise it will die)

chile rose tarantula:





Hope it helps!

corns are the best first choice. my first snakes were 2 3ft reticulated pythons, my friend had them, but she did some research and found out that they could kill a person, this may happen in the wild but unlikely in captivity. so i told her that i would take the snakes off her for no fee so i sort of rescued them. she had never handled them at all so u could imagine what they were lyk. i was a bit weary at first, but started working in a petshop and got to know all the does and donts of handling. snakes are a pleasure to work with if u know what u are doing lol. corn snakes rarely reach 6ft and are the most docile snake that is kept by millions of people. chilie roses are the easiest trantula to keep as most docile, even emporer scorpions are great, i love watching mine run around there viv, they are comical.

You dont need all that expensive stuff for a G.Rosea

All you need Is a plastic tank ,

With 4 to 6 inchs of peat , "Make sure its not wet or moist substrate as Grammys Hate Water ,

But make sure you have a full warter bowl with a pice of slate in there so the tarantula cant drown ,

Feed once a week ,

A pice of cork bark , or some sort of hide ,

Room Temps are fine for them keep maby keep them near the radeator as summer is hot anuf for them ,

But In winter you will need a heat mat .

And Bingo your set ,

P.S Send me a P.M If you want to know more .

There Are Better species to own for begginers Then These ,

Thanks Jon Armstrong .

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