Best and Worst Pet Snake for Your Child

When I was a child, my father brought home a variety of unusual animals. At one point, we had over 22 different birds in large cages in an atrium area of our den. We had a couple of cute, fluffy rabbits, one name Mr. Rabbit and the other named Mr. Bunny, and we had a Mr. and Mrs. Duck (we weren't great with names). Yes, we even had a 'normal' pet: Blackie, our black poodle. However, none of these animals sparked as much conversation and eyebrow raises as our pet boa constrictor, yes, a snake, whom we named Bal Boa.

When my father brought him home, he was about the size of a large worm, not much bigger around then an adult's index finger, and was rather cute, believe it or not. Within a couple of years though, Bal, our pet snake, was as big around in the center as an average dinner plate and stretched out to about six feet long!

It's things such as size like this that people should consider when purchasing a snake as a pet, and particularly when purchasing a snake as a pet for a child. A four foot child is no match for a six foot snake! There are a wide variety of snakes from which to choose, but owning an exotic pet such as a pet snake, is not quite the same as buying a puppy.

Is a Pet Snake Right for My Family?

When my father purchased the small pet snake, a constrictor class snake, the man at the pet store was very adamant that he should not purchase a pet snake that constricts if we had small dogs, gerbils, hamsters, or small children under the age of about five years old.

Constrictor snakes move slowly, wrap themselves around their prey (especially sleeping prey), and then slowly squeeze the life out of them before attempting to digest the prey. A gerbil, hamster or other small rodent or even a small dog, could easily become prey to a 6 foot plus long pet snake, and that would be devastating to anyone, but especially a child.