Beware Of Live Rodents
I highly recommend that you feed your rodent-eating snakes frozen/thawed food animals. If you must feed your snake live food animals, don't leave a rodent running around in the snake's cage unattended, especially if the snake isn't showing interest in eating. Rodents quickly realize when a snake isn't in a feeding mood or condition (like if a snake is sick, too cold, stressed, shedding), and they will take advantage of that. Very serious damage, even death of the snake, can result because debilitated snakes often aren't able to adequately defend themselves against a hungry rodent. At the very least, you should put some rodent chow into the snake cage for the rodent to eat if you are planning to leave a rodent and a snake together unattended.

Even though you may be right there watching the feeding process, it only takes a fraction of a second for a rodent to inflict a painful bite or scratch on your snake, and that can cause serious problems. Most pet snakes take to eating frozen/thawed rodents easily, but it's well worth the effort to get even stubborn snakes started on eating dead food.

There are other reasons to use frozen/thawed rodents for snake food instead of feeding pet snakes live animals. For one, frozen/thawed food is much less likely to transmit parasites to your pet snake. I wrote extensively about how and why to use frozen/thawed rodents in my snake-keeping book, so I'm not going to attempt to duplicate that information here.

Big Snakes Require Special Care
When handling any heavy-bodied constrictor over 8 feet long, you should have another person nearby in case you need help controlling the snake. A snake of that size could overpower most adults if it wanted to, and even calm snakes can surprise you with unexpected aggression. Three or more people should be present when handling a snake over about 14 feet long. The last thing you (or the "herp community") needs is to have you be the subject of a news story about a careless snake keeper that was killed by the family python.

You should plan ahead when purchasing a baby snake of any species that gets large. First, you should handle some full-grown adults of the same species so you know what the new snake would be like as an adult. Some baby snakes can grow to over 10 feet long in just one year, so you should know how you will cage and feed a snake of that size before you buy it. You need enough space for a large cage, money for food & heat, and you need to be ready to spend a significant amount of time cleaning the cage of a large constricting snake. Remember, large meals mean large cage waste to clean up. Keeping a big snake is much more work than keeping a small snake.

Large snakes should only be fed within the confines of a cage. Letting a large constrictor roam around the house and then bringing food into its presence is a receipe for disaster.

Keep Maintenance Records
You should keep a written record of the routine cage maintenance and any special occurrences that happen in the life of each snake you own. Since you don't feed a snake every day, it's easy to lose track of when the last meal was or when you last washed the water bowl, especially if you own more than one snake.

Also, if you write down unusual behavior or observances when they happen, that information can be useful to you. It may turn out that what you saw were symptoms of a worsening health problem with your pet snake, and that information would help you determine when the problem started. Your records don't need to be anything fancy, but the closer you observe and document your reptilian captives, the more in touch with their needs you will be.

Use Smoke Detectors
Most people use electricity to heat snake cages, so a little about fire safety is in order. Even though we are dealing with low levels of heat (usually under 100°F), if electrical connections are made improperly or heating units get damaged, that can cause a dangerous situation. So, please, inspect your equipment periodically and think about what you can do to enhance fire safety for you and the rest of your family. Use smoke detectors!

Leave It Alone After It Eats
After your snake eats, you should let it rest undisturbed in its cage and avoid handling it for a full day. This will give it a chance to begin digesting the meal, which will greatly reduce any possibility of regurgitation. Don't reach into your snake's cage right after it has eaten. A snake's feeding process is driven on an instinctual level. If a snake is still in "feeding mode" and you put yourself within reach, you may not like what you get!

Wash Your Hands
You should wash your hands with soap and warm water after handling a snake or food animal, and also between handling different snakes. This helps prevent the spreading of any parasites that may be present but you don't know about yet. It's no more necessary with snakes than with other animals, but good hygienic practices can prevent a whole host of problems. It's just common sense.

Obviously, don't handle rodents and then attempt to handle your snake without washing your hands in between. Snakes have a great sense of smell, and you never want your pet to mistake you for its food.

Be Careful With Your Neck
When I was a kid, I used to walk around with my kingsnake wrapped around my neck because I didn't know any better. Since then I've learned that even a small snake can cut off the flow of blood to a human's brain in this situation and possibly cause unconsciousness, resulting in a dangerous fall. The snake is just trying to hang on so it feels safe, and it doesn't mean any harm to you, but they are just so strong for their size that you should be aware of the possible consequences. I recommend that you never let a snake of any size form a complete loop around your neck.