There are a lot of myths about snakes. Most of these myths are far from the truth. Snakes are always portrayed as the most dangerous predators in movies. But not all snakes are dangerous. A great number of snake species are not venomous, which means their bite cannot kill you.

Most of the time when you come across a snake in your backyard or on your porch, there’s a high chance that it will be a nonvenomous snake.

Are All Snakes Dangerous?

Due to people’s misconception about snakes, they end up attacking the reptiles. When attacked, any snake, whether it is venomous or nonvenomous, is going to retaliate. Even a nonvenomous snake’s bite can hurt a lot. So, it is best not to attack a snake if you have spotted one on your property.

Most snakes that you come across will just go away on their own if left alone and are not really dangerous. The venomous ones are usually found in the wild or on properties such as farms which have animals that attract them.

Are Snakes Important?

When people think that all snakes should be killed, they forget biodiversity and how important it is for humans and the earth. Snakes play an integral part in our ecosystem. If snakes are eliminated from the ecosystem, their prey species will increase to an unnatural amount. The predators who eat snakes will have no food left if snakes are eliminated.

Although venomous snakes can be dangerous, even they won’t harm humans unprovoked. Humans should learn to respect snakes as they do a lot for our ecosystem. Without them, maintaining a high level of biodiversity would be impossible.

What Are Some Types of Cute Snakes?

If you are thinking of keeping snakes as pets, then you would be happy to know that there are a bunch of options to choose from. There are quite a few types of cute snake that can make for the best pet. Not only are such snakes not venomous, they also don’t bite others. So, they can be held by children too.

But when keeping a pet snake, you should make sure that the environment is suitable for them. There are snakes that can only survive in a humid environment. Some of them like to dig through sand. If you are not mindful of these things, you won’t be able to provide a good environment to your pets.

So, before you bring a pet snake home, learn everything about it so you can take care of it in the best way possible. There are some cute snakes that you can keep as pets too.

Corn Snakes

Corn snakes make the best pets for beginners. They are low maintenance so if it is your first time getting a snake, you won’t have to worry too much. There are different morphs of corn snakes so you have a number of options to choose from when you are buying your first pet snake.

Corn snake bites do not carry any venom. But what’s even better about corn snakes is that they are very mild mannered, which means they don’t mind being handled by humans. So, if you want to play with them, you won’t have to worry about bites.

They often eat rats and mice. Since mice cause diseases, having a corn snake around can be very helpful. Normally, corn snakes don’t live longer than seven years. But if they are well taken care of, they can live up to 25 years.

Hognose Snakes

Hognose snakes also make for ideal pets. They are very low maintenance and don’t require a large enclosure. Hognose snakes have a shiny face and a flat head. These reptiles have one of the largest eyes of all snakes. Their upturned noses also make them popular among pet owners.

Although the favorite food of Hognose snakes is toads, they can eat mice in captivity. They like to dig through the earth to find toads. So, keep this in mind when setting up the enclosure for your pet Hognose snake. Although they may hiss if they feel threatened, they never bite. Like corn snakes, they also don’t mind being handled.

African Ball Python

As the name suggests, the African ball python curls into a ball. They also curl into a ball to escape from predators. Although it is a unique method of avoiding predators, it does work in the favor of the ball python.

African ball python is also known as a shy species of snakes because they try to avoid conflict by turning into a ball. Since they are so defensive, they don’t attack others. This quality of African ball pythons also makes them ideal pets.

The African ball python kills small birds and frogs in the wild. But as pets, you can feed pre-killed mice or even raw chicken to the ball python.

Carpet Pythons

Speaking of pythons, if you are looking for a traditional snake, a carpet python is the perfect idea. They are a little on the bigger side and can eat small mammals. If you have other pets such as cats or puppies in your home, you must keep them away from your carpet python.

Although a carpet python has that scary snake look, it is still pretty cute. However, you will have to feed rice to this snake to keep it fed as it has a bigger stomach than the other snakes on this list.

Kenyan Sand Boa

The Kenyan Sand Boa has a tiny head and a little grin, which is why people find it so cute. It also has a habit of sand-digging and burrowing. Although the Kenyan Sand Boa can be kept as a pet, feeding it is not easy. For its mental well-being, it must be fed in its enclosure.

For the mental fulfillment of the snake, you must dangle the frozen mice in front of it so it can “fight” the prey. Otherwise, the boa will not feel satisfied with the food. The Kenyan Sand Boa is very expensive. So, if you have no experience with pet snakes, you should probably go for a less expensive option.

Final Thoughts

If you like reptiles and want to keep one as a pet, getting a snake can be a good idea. Snakes make for very unique pets. But even the low maintenance snakes require a lot of effort from you. Keeping any one of the types of cute snake as a pet means that you will have to bring them prey as they cannot eat vegetables. So, if you are comfortable with that, you should definitely get it. They can be pretty good companions and live with you for a long time.