Snakes
It smells with its tongue, delivering scent to a pair of pits in the roof of the mouth. The jaw does not unhinge: the two halves are joined by stretching ligament.
Overview
Snakes are the easiest reptiles to keep well and the easiest to keep badly, because their needs are few and specific. A gradient of temperature, a hide at each end, water, the right humidity, and whole prey at the right interval covers most species kept as pets.
What separates them is size and disposition. A corn snake and a reticulated python are the same animal in outline and a completely different proposition in a house, and the honest question before buying any of them is what the adult is like rather than what the hatchling is like.
Temperament
By species, and much less variable than people expect. The species usually recommended to beginners, corn snakes, ball pythons and kingsnakes, are calm animals that tolerate handling well.
A defensive snake is nearly always telling you something specific: it is in shed, it is hungry, it is cold, or it has nowhere to hide. Musking, tail vibration and balling up are all bluffs. Genuine aggression in a captive bred pet snake is rare and usually has a cause worth finding.
Care and grooming
Whole prey, frozen and thawed. Thawing is done under refrigeration and the prey is offered at room temperature or warmer rather than cold.
Live prey is the risk that is easiest to avoid. A live rodent that is not eaten will bite, and veterinary sources describe wounds from superficial to deep punctures needing surgery, with untreated bites leading to systemic infection and death. The nutrition is identical either way, because the snake eats the same tissues.
Living and exercise
At least as long as the snake, by species, and escape proof as a specification rather than an aspiration. Screen tops that snap in place at several points, or sliding glass doors with a pin or a lock, are what escape proof actually means.
Never release a captive snake. It is illegal in many places and it is how established invasive populations start. An unwanted snake goes back to the point of sale, or to another responsible keeper, and an exotic animal amnesty programme is the last resort rather than the first.
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