Keeping a snake in the house

Being a lover of reptiles, I'm thinking of getting a snake. Can anyone give me some sound advice, what size tank, where is the best place to get one, which type, cost, what to avoid and some good tips?


What do you do with the snake once it reaches a hard to manage size? Is there such a thing?

And then there is the question of feeding them. Most usually like rats.

My son has a 5 month old Ball Python, the tank is still very small at this age. Ball Pythons are ideal as pet snakes as they only grow to a maximum of about 4 ft. The best place to go is Urban Jungle, Tung Choi st, Mong Kok. Its on the first floor so you have to look up for the sign. Very knowledgable, have been there years. There is also Reptile Paradise, 2 doors down but the staff are not so nice in there. They sell baby rats and mice, but don't always have them every week, but snakes can go for quite a long time without feeding, its not a problem for them to miss a week or two. Baby ball pythons cost around $600, baby corn snakes $800, more for larger ones. I'm sure I remember from a snake book that the tank only needs to be a 1/3 the length of a snake.