Is your son or daughter asking for a pet snake? You may be finding yourself identifying with Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark when he said, “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”
Why couldn’t they be asking for a hamster? You want to teach your child responsibility but a snake? You may be thinking we can’t have a pet snake. Snakes are dangerous.
I was the little boy asking my parents for a pet snake. Now 40 years later I have learned a thing or two about keeping snakes as pets. I still have a lot to learn so rather than rely only on my own experience I decided to do some research.
So, are pet snakes dangerous? Here’s what I found.
The majority of all snakes kept as pets pose very little to no threat of danger to their owners or their neighbors. Even if these snakes escaped, there would be no danger to the community. They are generally small, nonvenomous, and would likely die before they were ever seen. Some large constrictor pet snakes are dangerous, but you are more likely to die from a bee sting or dog attack than a large python.
Dangerous means “likely to cause harm or injury”. So, anything that can cause you the slightest bit of harm is dangerous. Ants are dangerous because they can bite, sting, or spray formic acid on you. And it can hurt.
The question is, just how dangerous are pet snakes? And what degree of danger are you comfortable with?
How Dangerous Are Common Pet Snakes?
The term “pet snakes” is very general. There are many different species of snakes that are kept as pets. Each is a little bit different. Here are a few of the most popular pet snakes. All of these snakes are considered harmless to humans. Let’s take a closer look at each.
- Corn snake
- Kingsnake
- Milk snake
- Ball python
- Hognose snake
Corn Snake
Corn snakes are one of the most popular pet snakes. They were probably the most popular pet snake until the ball python craze really caught steam. They are calm, friendly, docile snakes that reach about 4-5 feet in length.
They rarely bite even if they feel threatened or are injured. Even when they do bite, the bite from a hatchling is so minimal you may not even know it’s happening. Bites from adults may draw a little blood like tiny little pinpricks.
Kingsnake
Kingsnakes are one of the widest spread snakes in North America and have been popular pet snakes since before most of us were born. They average about 3-4 feet and are usually very docile and easy to handle.
They also sometimes bite and probably more than any other snake on this list. This is usually because they are often hungry and mistake your hand for food. Especially if you smell like another snake or like something good to eat.
The good thing is they are nonvenomous and their bite is considered one of the least problematic bites you can receive from a medium-sized snake. This is true for all of the snakes on our list.
Milk Snake
Milk snakes are very popular pet snakes and have been for many years. They make great pet snakes, especially for beginners. They are easy to take care of, non-venomous, tame and easy to handle even for children.
Milk snakes usually don’t get much longer than 4 feet and are considered one of the safest pet snakes a person can own. Bites are rare and do very little damage if any.
Hognose Snake
Hognose snakes are often recommended for beginners. They are not very big averaging only about 2-3 feet in length, are very hardy, easy to handle, and easy to take care of. These snakes are usually very tame and rarely bite but did you know that hognose snakes are actually venomous?
Yep, that’s right, a snake recommended for beginners is venomous. So why are they even sold as pets? Their venom is considered harmless to humans. So harmless in fact, that they are often listed as “nonvenomous”.
Ball Python
The ball python is by far one of the most popular, if not the most popular, pet snakes. Just the term “python” strikes fear into people’s hearts. Most people don’t realize there are 41 different species of python. Some are large and some are small.
The ball python is a smaller sized constrictor that rarely gets longer than 5 feet. They can bite and sometimes do, but their bite is insignificant. They are typically very docile and easy to handle. When they are stressed for feel threatened, they usually just curl up into a “ball” and hide.
Fear of Snakes
Dr. Indiana Jones had ophidiophobia. A fear of snakes. This is a subcategory of herpetophobia which is the fear of reptiles. Of the top 10 phobias including social phobias, the fear of open spaces, fear of heights, and so forth, the fear of snakes is number 5.
According to the Verywell Mind, an online resource that provides guidance for mental health, researchers believe the fear of snakes is a learned fear rather an innate.
In other words, many people have an irrational fear of snakes though they don’t necessarily have ophidiophobia. They have been taught to fair snakes.
The fear of snakes is fairly common. This will probably never change but the media doesn’t help. They know that fear sells content and they try to capitalize on it as much as possible to increase their readership.
Snake related articles are therefore sensationalized to stoke those fears like pouring gasoline on a fire. Thus, the fear of snakes amplified lends itself to the belief that pet snakes are more dangerous than they actually are.
When it comes to pet snakes it seems the popular media would define “dangerous” as the very likely risk of serious injury or death. This is very far from the truth.
The majority of pet snakes are not very dangerous at all. The following video will help illustrate this point.
What Happens When Snakes Bite?
How Dangerous Are Snakes in General?
According to National Geographic, there are over 3,000 species of snakes on the planet. About 600 species are venomous, and only about 200 or 7% of them are able to kill or significantly wound a human.
According to the University of Florida, the odds of dying from a venomous snakebite are 1 in 50 million. In the United States, the odds are nearly zero because of the availability of quality medical care.
Nearly all snakes commonly kept as pets are nonvenomous or considered nonvenomous to humans. There are some very rare exceptions for individuals who have a special permit to keep venomous reptiles.
What Pet Snakes Are Dangerous?
While most pet snakes are not dangerous there are some that are. The most dangerous pet snakes are very large constrictor species such as green anacondas, reticulated pythons, and Burmese pythons.
These snakes are also nonvenomous but can become very large and powerful. Unlike our bite video above a bite from a large constrictor can cause deep lacerations and easily send you to the hospital for stitches. This doesn’t always happen but it can.
It’s also important to remember that large constrictors represent a very small percentage of all pet snakes. Relatively few people own them.
If you are thinking of buying a large snake as a pet and are wondering if they are dangerous the answer is yes. Very large snakes are dangerous.
Researchers say, between 1978 and 2009, large snakes killed 16 people in the United States. This is sobering. If you want to own a large snake you need to know that snake has the power to harm or even kill you.
What About Other Dangerous Pets?
Let’s compare our data to a much more popular pet animal. Dogs. According to dogsbite.org between 2005 and 2018, dogs killed 471 Americans. Wow. If dogs where a neighboring country, we would surely be going to war.
I actually love dogs, (don’t tell my family) but that’s more than 30 people a year! Compare that to 16 people in 31 years for very large snakes.
Further research shows that around 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs every year, and between 6,000 to 13,000 of those result in hospitalizing. Dogs are dangerous. Perhaps more people should be afraid of dogs.
To be fair, if people owned very large snakes like people own dogs, then the number of snake related injuries and deaths would be higher.
Regardless, you are more likely to be injured by a dog than a pet snake.
More Dangerous Than Dogs and Snakes?
I developed a healthy, let’s call it respect, for bees when I was about 17 years old and was attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets. I received over 100 stings on my arms, shoulders, legs, and head. I was lucky I didn’t have a strong reaction to their stings.
It turns out that we don’t need to fear snakes and dogs nearly as much as we need to fear bees. According to the CDC, from 2000 to 2017, stings from bees and wasps were responsible for 1,109 deaths, or roughly 62 fatalities each year.
You are much more likely to die from a swarm of bees than a large pet snake. You are even more likely to die from an ant attack. (If you live in Africa).
It turns out that ants are dangerous. Ants kill 30 people per year. The fire ant and Siafu ants of Africa live in colonies of up to 20 million. Once they attack the colony swarms their prey.
Most attacks that result in death are due to people falling asleep near an anthill. They die from anaphylactic shock due to countless ant bites.
Most Dangerous Creature on the Planet
There aren’t very many things that are as unnerving or annoying as the high-pitched buzzing of a mosquito in your ear. The nearly invisible, flying, vampiric, insect whose sole intent is to literally suck your blood.
Snakes, dogs, bees, and ants really aren’t very dangerous compared to mosquitos.
Mosquitos are the most dangerous creature on the planet – According to the World Health Organization, 1 million people die every year from mosquito bites. It’s not the actual bite that kills but what it can carry. Most of these deaths are due to malaria.
Are Pet Snakes Dangerous?
So, are pet snakes dangerous? Though the fear of snakes is common, most pose little to no danger to their owners and those around them. They are wonderful, low maintenance pets, that are a joy to own and very safe to keep.
Some are dangerous, but not as dangerous as the media may lead people to believe. There are many other things all around you that are more dangerous than a pet snake. You are more likely to be injured by a dog or swarm of bees than pet snakes.
Other Dangers
Speaking of other dangers. Here is a list of common things that are more dangerous that pet snakes. Some may surprise you.
- High School and College Football claim an average of 12 lives each year. We had to pull our son out of high school football due to a very severe concussion. The doctor said he was lucky it wasn’t much worse.
- Vending machines fall over and kill 13 people per year. That’s each year! More people die from vending machines than large snakes.
- Cows kill 20 people in America each year.
- Horses also kill 20 people in the U.S annually.
- Flying champagne corks kill nearly 24 people each year.
- Falling Icicles are responsible for more than 100 deaths every year. Yikes! Talk about a cold death.
- Falling coconuts kill 150 people annually. Ouch!
- Falls from ladders cause more than 350 deaths each year. Be careful when putting up those Christmas lights!
- The CDC says Falling out of bed kills 450 people annually and results in 1.8 million emergency room visits and more than 400 thousand hospitalizations each year. Apparently sleeping is dangerous.
- Hippos kill 2,900 people every year. They are considered the most dangerous animal in Africa.
- About 3,000 people die from choking on their own food annually. Eating is dangerous.
- Nearly 6,000 people die from tripping each year. This gives new meaning to the phrase, watch your step.
- Texting while driving kills 6,000 people each year in the U.S. alone. Is Texting dangerous? It depends on when you are doing it. I wonder if people trip because they are texting?
- About 24,000 people die from being struck by lightning worldwide each year.
- 1.25 million people die in road crashes and 20-50 million people are injured or disabled each year globally. Cars are dangerous.