The snake I have is half rat and half corn. I have had it for 15 months now and it has almost trebled in size since I bought it. It is a green/brown colour mostly but also has yellow and orange on its side. It has lovely markings like small rings on its back.

The only major disadvantage is that it eats mice which are bought frozen and defrosted when needed. I have a special place in the frrezer for its food far away from anything we eat.

When I first bought it it ate 2 pinkies per week and then gradually increased in its consumption. We then went to three pinkies twice a week and this was the time to make the food a lot larger. We put the snake on 1 fluff which is a mouse with fur that is quite small (pinkies have no fur). She is now having three fluffs once a week. When she has these twice a week which is quite soon, she will move onto small mice, then medium mice and then large mice. Once she eats large mice she can then go onto rats, small birds or even small rabbits.

It sounds very gruesome but the food is captive bred and when the mice etc are killed they are done so humanely which is straight away so they feel no pain. I hate feeding mice to the snake but this is the only way to feed her. I think she will grow to around 6 foot but she won't be too thick, around 4-5 inches.

We call her 'Speedy,' because when she moves she is very fast. She lives in a vivarium but only needs a heat mat not a lamp or reptile light which makes looking after her a lot easier. She just needs to be warm. She has got loose occasionally and is quite cold but when she gets cold she just slows down and doesn't move very well. She has got loose a few times but we have managed to find her quickly because she crawl into the toy box which is what the vivarium is resting on.

At the bottom of her cage is small wooden chippings which are good for her bed because they keep warm and she can crawl over them easily. She has a large bowl around 3 inch deep with water inside. If she gets too hot she crawls inside to cool off and she also drinks from here too. We have a few logs for her to hide under and a large kind of branch which she crawls onto. We also have an imitation tree which shelters her too.

Snakes like to hide a lot. She has often crawled right under the wooden chippings and we then think she has escaped but shes just hiding there. Snakes can't close their eyes so to sleep they go into a trance and so you need to be careful not to frighten them. They will go for you if you make sudden movements but ours is tame now. Every 6-8 weeks she shed her skin to grow. Speedy has just shed and the skin was left in the cage in one long sausage like bit. Her eyes go white when she sheds and she's off her food for the time until she's totally shed.

A great pet which is unusual. Snakes are very sweet and when you hold them they curls around your hands. They have a lot of muscle so can hold on very well. Well worth the cost. My snake was £90 with the tank but was only 4 weeks old when purchased. I have put her into a bigger tank which cost £125 with all the bits needed. Snake are easy to look after and food costs cheaper than a cat would cost to feed. Fluffs cost £3 for 10 and as she's eating three per week lasts almost a month.