I want a pet snake, which kind of snake should I get?

Hello; I am a Rosy boa owner, and they are absolutely amazing animals. There are several other great snakes that match your description, as well. Just to be on the safe side, I will only recommend snakes that I personally keep so I can attest to their temperament, size, looks, and ease of care. All of these snakes are wonderful for beginners, and I also included a bit of information on them including some of my observations, and a care sheet on each species. :)

I generally also recommend Corn snakes, Milk snakes, and King snakes to people; but the reason why I didn't include them this time is because many of them can be quite high strung, particularly as babies.

Rosy boa. They are small, very docile, calm, are great eaters, and are slow moving (and thus easier to handle than a lot of colubrids like King snakes and Corn snakes). They are also very hardy, come in lots of different colors and localities, and aren't prone to shedding problems. They are also one of the lowest maintenance snakes I have ever kept, and are one of those snakes that seem to truly recognize their keepers.

Care sheet: http://www.rosyboa.com/desertboas/caresheet.html

Kenyan sand boa. They have all of the good qualities of the Rosy like the gentle disposition, ease of care, small size, great feeders, etc, but the only problem that some keepers may have with them is that they spend most of their time under their substrate. For those who like to randomly walk by their snake's cage to check to see what the snake is up to and how it is doing, that could be frustrating for them.

Care sheet: http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/snakes/kenyan-s...

Childrens pythons. They are very small (the second smallest python species in the world), are low maintenance, are great eaters, and have a great temperament. While I wouldn’t classify them as slow moving, they aren’t all that fast, either. Mine are generally quick moving as babies before they get to know you, but settle down with an alacrity that surprised me when I got my first one. However while I think that they are quite beautiful; some would consider them to be ‘bland’ looking, so if one was in search of a flashy looking snake, then these guys probably wouldn’t be for them.

Care sheet: http://www.tinypythons.com/caresheet_childreni.asp

Rough-scaled sand boa. These guys are a very small, generally docile, low maintenance species of sand boa. They are hardy and easy to care for, are great feeders, and are excellent for beginners. The only problems with these guys is that they are a bit harder to find than most of the others on this list, and like the Kenyans, they spend most of their time buried under their substrate. Some of them can have jerky movements when they aren't used to being handled, but again, they settle down quite quickly.

Care Sheet: http://www.reptilia.org/care_sheets/snakes/csheets...

Ball pythons. They are a normally very sweet-tempered, medium-sized species of snake that is quite popular with beginners. They are slow moving, beautiful and exotic looking, easy to handle, and reluctant to bite. Unfortunately due to their high humidity needs, shedding problems, and notorious issues with feeding, I would only recommend them to a beginner if they had done extensive research on their care and knew how to deal with the common problems that they may have with these guys. Better yet if they had a ‘coach’ of some sort, another Ball python owner who knew how to handle this species, and could tell you the best kind of caging for them, the best sorts of substrate, and what to do when the snake goes off of feed. If the person knew how to deal with those issues, then these guys make a wonderful beginners species.

Care sheet: http://www.anapsid.org/ball.html

Western Hognose Snakes. They are a usually good-tempered, low maintenance, small, amusing species that could be mistaken for a Rattlesnake if someone wasn’t well versed in reptiles. They are generally very sweet, tame down quickly, are great feeders, and are great shedders. As babies they will often put on a tough show, but I have never had one actually offer to bite. They are mildly venomous, though not enough so that it could pose of any danger to humans. Not only are they reluctant to bite; their fangs are also located in the back of their mouth thus making it very hard for them to bite you unless you literally stick your finger in there. Even if they did manage to bite you; you’d have to let them ‘chew’ on you to get any sort of reaction at all. Generally the reaction from their venom in humans is mild irritation and swelling.

Care sheet: http://www.reptileallsorts.com/westhognose-cs.htm

I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions at all on the subject or want more information on any of the species listed, please feel free to message me and I will be more than happy to assist you. :)

Good luck on your snake search!

EDIT: How much they cost depends on the individual species, where you get it, the age, etc. Here are the average prices for a juvenile of all of the species I listed:

Rosy Boa: 60-130 dollars

Kenyan Sand boa: 40-80 dollars

Childrens python: 70-130 dollars

Rough Scaled Sand boa: 70-100 dollars

Ball python: 30-70 dollars

Western Hognose snake: 30-70 dollars.

Sand boas or the rosy boa are a good choice. Not all Corn snakes are hyper. My very first corn snake was the most laid back animal you'd ever meet. It's a good idea to handle a potential buy before you get it to assess the activity level and calmness of the snake before you get it. I handled a bunch of snakes before settling on him because he wasn't trying to scoot away at high speed, but just hung out on my hand the whole time. He pretty much stayed just like that into adulthood. I would not suggest a Ball python for a first snake due to their picky eating habits. Nothing stresses out a first time owner than a snake who won't eat...often to the point of starvation. Stick to the easier ones with good feeding responses, and you won't be disappointed.

ball pythons are great snakes especially for beginners. they are very calm and easy going and dont get to be all that big.

Get ya a rough green snake,it`s the only snake that`s never even tried to bite me...I`v had four different ones..

They eat crickets to witch are easy to get.

Handles really nice..

if i were you i would check out rosy boas or even a kenyan sand boa.

i totally agree with what MelisaB said that is n 10 point answer

The olive python is really nice, carpet snakes are nice too.

Just keep in mind that there is no such thing as a docile snake. They all bite & while the pythons are not venomous you can still get really sick even die from their bite. (They have some really bad bacteria living up under their fangs)

Ball python sounds like it would fit your lifestyle.

Here's some pictures of them:

http://www.newenglandreptile.com/nerd/index.php/ba...

And please don't pay any mind to "Warrior Princess" the word clueless comes to mind.

rattle