This is a rather dumb Question....

[Ambrose-Sulidae]

WELL as you can surmise, im very new..:o and i wish to add pictures to my profile/avatar and such and also (the best part) i just now lost my snake.... its tiny and i dont know how to find him, i havent gotten him/her to eat yet and today is my second day with it... i have no idea as to breed or gender and im hoping you lovely people could help me with these questions
this first one is to show you the coloring.. the belly is a black and white alternation...

4412 well thanks !4413

[Stefan-A]

I could be wrong, but it looks like a sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis) to me.

[Ambrose-Sulidae]

thanks that was really helpful and i strongly agree with you.. sadly this only makes my job of finding it before my cat harder.. apparently they love to hide..:(

[GarterGuy17]

You have a cat ? this is a serious problem now ! where did you lose him/her ?

[EasternGirl]

What kind of enclosure are you keeping the snake in? It's important to make sure that once you find the snake, it does not get out again.

[guidofatherof5]

I think you are right on that species Stefan. Good call.
Contia tenuis - Sharp-tailed Snake (http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.tenuis.html)

[mikem]

good luck finding it, keep us updated!

[katach]

Beautiful little one! Hope you find him/her.

[ConcinusMan]

I think you are right on that species Stefan. Good call.
Contia tenuis - Sharp-tailed Snake (http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.tenuis.html)

Yes, I agree. We have these in the Pacific Northwest / Willamette Valley (two different species, one of which was only recently discovered to be a "new" species) but they are plain brown or slate gray. Very secretive. Rarely found out on the surface or in the open. Mostly live underground or under dense cover such as logs, boards, etc. More common than finds suggest. Very hard to find. In western Oregon they can be very common in certain localities found under cover in late spring. Very tiny snakes and in the northwest, red is not very common. They're mostly brown or gray. Not so sure about them being good captives, but a very nice find. Great pics too.

As small as that snake is, it looks like you have an adult there. Great find. A person can herp for years and never find one. Others find multiple individuals under cover, sometimes accompanied by ringneck snakes, in moist woodland clearings.

[snakehill]

They eat slugs and salamanders but do they eat earthworms? They may be a problem to feed. I've actually never even seen these before. :confused: Very pretty snakes!

[ConcinusMan]

This is interesting... It occurs in Canada only on Vancouver Island and is considered critically imperiled and is on the provincial Red List (the highest risk category).

I know that their habitat requirements are very specific and they do not occur in the northwest in any areas of altered habitat. We only find them in pristine intact habitats. They spend a lot of time underground or under debris where they eat slugs and slug eggs. I do believe they are difficult to feed, and will quickly perish if they do not find moist, cool habitats and water. They'll dehydrate and die rather quickly. I hope you find the little guy.

[chris-uk]

This is interesting... It occurs in Canada only on Vancouver Island and is considered critically imperiled and is on the provincial Red List (the highest risk category).

I know that their habitat requirements are very specific and they do not occur in the northwest in any areas of altered habitat. We only find them in pristine intact habitats. They spend a lot of time underground or under debris where they eat slugs and slug eggs. I do believe they are difficult to feed, and will quickly perish if they do not find moist, cool habitats and water. They'll dehydrate and die rather quickly. I hope you find the little guy.

Based on the underlined bits, I hope the little guy is found and put back where he came from.