# Leopard Gecko Or Corn Snake



## midderzathotmail (May 18, 2008)

Hello this is my first ever post on the reptile forums and im sorry if i have posted this in the wrong sub-forum.
I was wondering because this is going to be my first reptile ever,im 12 and its for my 13 birthday which is on the 28th june i cannot wait :2thumb: and my mum said i could either have a leopard gecko or a corn snake.
Please answer my questions:
Which one:
1)Will be awake the most.
2)Is the most interesting to watch.
3)do you get more joy out of.
4)do you need to spend more money on.
5)eats the most.
6)can you feed everyday.
7)is the easiest to clean out.
8 )is more lively.
9)lives longer.
10)gets bigger.
11)will hurt more when it bites you.
12)doesnt get boring.

Sorry for all of my questions answer as many as you can please: victory:
Thankyou for all of you help!! 8D


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

1) Corn snakes and leopard geckos are both crepuscular. This means that they're awake at dawn and dusk. In my experience both will spend a lot of the day hiding - but mine also come out to see what I'm doing if I'm in the room.

2) I enjoy watching both corns and leopard geckos - I have a male leopard gecko who will "dance" at the front of his cage to get my attention (he's learned I feed him if he does this). I also have several corn snakes who are great fun to watch when they eat (I feed them frozen thawed food, but they still constrict and try to 'kill' their very dead mice!)

3) I love them both for different reasons. The leopard geckos are just so cute and full of character; the corn snakes come in such an amazing range of colours.

4) I find the leopard geckos are more expensive day to day. They eat insects, and they eat more regularly than the corn snakes do (every other day to every three days instead of once a week or once a fortnight) - and a box of crickets a week is more expensive than one or two mice a week. Both are about the same cost to get the right equipment to set up (heat mat, thermostat, enclosure, hiding spaces, water dishes). 

5) Leopard geckos eat more often, so they sorta eat more than corn snakes do.

6) I wouldn't feed either one of them every day once they get to adulthood - but even a baby corn shouldn't be fed more than once every four to five days; a baby leopard gecko should be fed daily. My adult leopard geckos are fed every two to five days (some of them get fat if I feed them more often).

7) They're about as easy as each other. Maybe geckos a little easier, because they TEND to poo in the same place every time they poo - but they poo more often than corns do, because they eat more often.

8) Both are pretty lively when they're hungry, and pretty lazy when they're not. That's normal for most kinds of reptile.

9) Both of them can live for 15-30 years if well cared for.

10) Corn snakes get a lot bigger - up to five or six feet long, although some of them do stay a bit smaller and anything from three to six feet is normal. A leopard gecko that was 12 inches long would be HUGE, and most of them are between six and nine inches long.

11) I've been bitten by both, and really they're both a bit like a papercut. Both can draw blood. A leopard gecko will pinch more if it bites, and a corn snake will leave little pin holes. As long as you wash your hands really well and use disinfectant if you're bitten neither is a bad thing (and don't jerk your hand away from either one, or you could hurt yourself worse).

12) It depends on what you call "boring". If you're expecting a pet that's all action all the time, you might get bored of BOTH easily - reptiles aren't "exciting" or "playful" pets.


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## Roewammi (Mar 23, 2008)

Ssthisto pretty much had it covered but i thought id give you my opinion!lol!


1)Will be awake the most - some of my corns wont come out until late at night, others will come out around tea time (like ssthisto said) and my leos do the same. One of my leos will come out as soon as im home in the aft and see what im doing!
2)Is the most interesting to watch - personally i think the snakes are more interesting to watch as they climb more, investigate and are always slithering about!lol! my leos do have a wonder around but tend to bask or be asleep!
3)do you get more joy out of - both. I think both are great pets to own!
4)do you need to spend more money on - leos are a bit more expensive in the long run, like ssthisto said, the set up is about the same price, depending on what you want to put in it but leos eat more often and if anything like mine, eat lots and lots
5)eats the most - leos!
6)can you feed everyday - exactly what ssthisto said!lol!
7)is the easiest to clean out - i find the corns easier to clean out as mine tend to make less mess than the leos (due to eating less often) 
8 )is more lively - depends on the reptile really, individual reps are more lively than other, just depends on their character!
9)lives longer - I'd say corns maybe live a little longer but not by much! both live on average 20 years!
10)gets bigger - corns get bigger! even if you got a giant leopard gecko it would be tiny compared to a corn!
11)will hurt more when it bites you - a corn i think but i havent been bitten by a leo yet! different types of bites but corn bites dont hurt all that much, just draw blood! looks liek you've been pricked with a needle!
12)doesnt get boring - personally id say neither but its a matter of opinion!

good luck on your search and let us know what you decide in the end!


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## Grakky (Dec 4, 2007)

Which one:
1)Will be awake the most. Probably the Leo, although it will generally be at night when you're in bed. Young corns are quite active, adults generally less so.
2)Is the most interesting to watch.Ummm.... I'd say leo, but corns can do some pretty funny stuff too.
3)do you get more joy out of. Don't make me choose! haha+
4)do you need to spend more money on. The Leo, definately
5)eats the most.By amount of food items, the leo
6)can you feed everyday. the leo yes, the corn, definitely not.
7)is the easiest to clean out. depends what substrate you use, I have my young snakes and leo on kitchen roll and that is very easy to clean, my older snakes are on aspen and that is a pain in the bum to clean out.
8 )is more lively. probably the leo.
9)lives longer. the corn.generally.
10)gets bigger.The corn lol
11)will hurt more when it bites you.Leo bites hurt about as much as getting hit with a feather, corn bites don't really hurt much either, it's just the shock of when it happens.
12)doesnt get boring. Neither, they are both wonderful to keep 

Sorry for all of my questions answer as many as you can please: victory:
Thankyou for all of you help!! 8D


Just to add, how much time have you got to spend on the animal? Or how much are you willing to spend? 

I think I spend more time and money on the leo than I do on 5 snakes! The leo needs feeding everyday, needs poop cleaning out everyday etc
The snakes get cleaned out when they have pooped, and the ones on aspen have poop cleared out and then a big clean every 3 - 4 weeks.

Money is also a factor, will you be paying with pocket money or help from parents? 
With the leo I buy 2 boxes of locusts and a box of mealworms every 2 weeks, this costs me about £7. With the corns, obviosuly it depends on size but the young ones on pinkies or fuzzies are about 60 - 80p a week, and the older ones about a £1 a week. 

Which one to get really does depend on what you prefer, as long as you do lots of research and have all the equipment you need you should be fine. Go to a local reptile shop and ask if you can handle a corn and a leo, and see which one you get a ''feel'' for most. : victory:


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## the-tick (Nov 27, 2006)

if you are having this dilemma you will probably end up with both as time goes on  

One of my corns is a recluse, one sticks his head out of his hide when there is any activity within about 2 foot of his viv (he's a right nosey so and so) and my Leo is active all times of day and night


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## LimaMikeSquared (Jan 16, 2008)

I'll try and answer some for the geckos - my brother has a corn snake but I am not fond.

1) They are mainly nocturnal but mine don't tend to use their hides when sleeping so I see them alot

2)I personally find the leos are. Especially at feeding - one missed a crickets once and it landed on its head. So the gecko walked around the tank looking for the cricket not realising it was wearing it for a hat. lol.

3)My geckos.

4)not sure - food wise i would think the geckos

5)Geckos - they eat every to every other day. But food wise you can buy it on the net at good prices and I am still on the same box of meal worms which i had when I first bought my gecko a few months ago. But i do not use them to feed them very often. Only a few of mine seem to like them

6)as above

7)depends on substrate - kitchen roll, reptile carpet and lino tiles are all easy, loose substrates are generally more difficult.

8 )I think they are just as lively as each other just in their different ways.

9)Would depend on care and medical conditions.

10)corn snake - a single gecko would only need a 2ft by 2ft tank a corn snake needs alot more space.

11)not sure - the geckos bites dont hurt when they are samller but i would like to get bitten by one of my males - the power they put into them in strong but i still dont think it would be extremly painful. Don't know what a corn snake bite feels like.

12)I wouldnt say either of them do - but it depends on what you are looking for in a reptile pet. Both can be pretty lazy.

I spend ages on my leopard geckos handleing and cleaning and feeding - not sure how long my brother spend on his snake - but it depends if you wanted something to take your time up. That's partly why i chose the geckos as my Spiders are nearly care free so i wanted something a bit more hands on.

Have a look around on the net at some care info tank sizes etc and see what takes your fancy.

Hope I helped.

LMS


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