new wild caught eastern...

[kerensa]

Well today (this morning) I was heading out. Near the end of my road right there in the middle of my street was a snake. stopped the car and waited, there is lay. Got out figuring I'd herd it off the road, there it lay. Walked over to it, and there it lay. bend down and picked it up. no venting, no struggle, no attempt to escape. weird.

very weird. so I looked it over very carefully and decided it was a female. very steady even taper to the tail. A young one. maybe two feet long. and calm. she wrapped around my wrist and fingers and sat there. didn't even try to get away. weird.

looked her over more carefully. lovely white stripe down her back, a deep olive green, butter yellow stripes on the sides, golden tan belly. The little red spots some garters have, well they are a deep chestnut brown. very pretty girl. decided to turn around and take her home. put her into an empty enclosure and decided to get her some fish, pinkies, and nightcrawlers. she seems thin, lots of loose skin. No signs of mites.
No signs of anything wrong except a puncture wound. on the area between the side and the belly that spot where the colors meet... and its just up from her vent. a couple of scales are gone and its not a horrible deep puncture, about 1/4 of an inch deep. treated her with an antibiotic ointment and left for the day.

Got home just a while ago, she again did not object to being held, only jumped a bit when I went to check her wound. wrapped about my hand and wrist and just traveled around my hand. had to unwrap her to put her back. weird.

I am wondering if she is maybe an escapee or a released snake? I've NEVER had a garter just sit there when I walk over and pick it up. then do the garter equivalent of snuggling, and not even really objecting to having a wound inspected. Seems WEIRD.

wish I could post a pic of her. (I keep finding reasons to figure out my camera-without actually being able to figure it out)

K.

[guidofatherof5]

I would keep this snake away from the others and be sure to wash your hands after handling her.
It doesn't sound right that the snake didn't make an attempt to get away and I'm concerned she is sick or injured.
Keep her quarantined while she is evaluated.
Looking forward to seeing some photos.
Best of luck.
Thanks for being concerned for her.

[kerensa]

she is active, she quite frankly is acting like she was someones pet. she eats worms, takes them from the hand. she looks like she is in great condition other than that one puncture. there is a boy at that end of the street that likes snakes and catches them to keep for the summer. I'm wondering if she is an escapee of his or a recently released.

she is quarantined, and of course I am washing my hands and using an alcohol wipe. I will not take the chance with my babies.

Other half also thinks she is someones escaped pet. have to stop and ask on my way by tonight.

K.

[setfree]

I don't know what to think. It might just be that she likes to be around people.

She's in good hands though.;)

[kerensa]

Well, I had the neighbor boy show me where the kid who catches the snakes lives. surprise surprise, caught the girl almost in front of his house. He released her Friday because he was told it was time to clear out the garage and is only allowed one snake inside over the winter. She has been his favorite since he caught her as a scrub in the fall of 2010. This year he decided to keep a scrub. Explains the friendly. doesn't explain the wound, and he doesn't know what happened to her. :( he played with her a bit and told me she'll take worms and tilapia from your fingers. yeah I had discovered that when I went to put the nightcrawlers in and she came up and took them from me. I'm not sure she was so happy to be released, she sure didn't go far. Probably only went down to the road because its been very cold at night.

hope to get some pics soon.

K.

[guidofatherof5]

Glad she is back in the care of someone.

[kerensa]

l had to have the neighbor take a pic and e-mail it to me. Why can't I manage to get a camera to talk to my computer????

here is the newly caught girl. this is her "cuddle" mode.

6723
K.

edit to add:

boy her colors look drab in a pic. she is very bright in person.

[setfree]

Glad there isn't anything wrong with her!

[kerensa]

well she does have a small wound, but other than that she is active, freindly and generally a nice little snake. She seems small to me for her reported age however, and thinner than I would expect.

K.

[Invisible Snake]

Are you planing on keeping her?

[guidofatherof5]

Maybe she just needs a little of your home cookin';)

[ProXimuS]

What a cool story! Glad you found her....Should keep her:)

[guidofatherof5]

If she's been a captive snake for 2 years I would not return her to the wild.
Just my opinion.

[kerensa]

I don't think I'll return her to the wild. It is like she had decided being out in the big wild world just wasn't all that fun and was waiting to be picked up again. I was so tempted to have a rant about catching babies, getting them used to being taken care of and then tossing them back out as adults.

[kueluck]

Yeah for you and your new friend. My local reptile rescue told me that snakes kept 2 winters or more in captivity can loss their ability to hibernate and die over the winter. If you choose NOT to keep her please post on this site for a new home.

[kerensa]

As I said I do not think I would return her to the wild in any case. there is just two large a list of reasons not to- not the least is my belief that animals kept in captivity have a much harder time surviving in the wild.

She simply does not act like a wild snake should. She never should have sat still while something huge walked over and picked her up. It does not look to me like she really had enough to eat, and when I found her. She has been eating like a piggy snake. Today was live guppy day (everyone got as many as they wanted first thing this AM) she got some just as everyone else did even though she ate yesterday and she was not interested, but readily took a night crawler and was looking for more. As readily as she eats she should be much heavier than she is.

I am not impressed (ok it did make an impression-just not a good one) with the set up they were kept in. The boy is only 12 or so, and there is a limit to how much he can manage alone, but that should mean he doesn't catch more then 1 or 2 at most. They were kept in the clearish sort of totes, on shelves in a corner of the garage no where near windows. The totes had that green fake grass type of out door carpeting in them, a bowl and some branches etc. No method I could see of heat for cold times, and only a bowl of water for hot periods- and I am sure that garage gets plenty hot. If you can not provide what I consider the very minimum for reptiles you should not have them, and have no excuse for catching them.

I don't agree with catching wild snakes as a general rule. If she had acted normal I would have simply have stopped long enough for her to move out of the road. I've never had a wild caught snake before. However when she was acting so strange I couldn't just drop her in the grass and go. It was just too weird.

I could have been catching garters all summer. I've seen enough of them around here. I waited till I could buy captive bred ones for a long list of reasons- not the least of which there is no shortage of captive bred snakes!

[guidofatherof5]

Sounds like she's come to a good home.
Monitor her feces for awhile. Make sure everything is passing along.
You might also print off a care sheet for that young man or suggest he look into this website. Maybe make the suggestion to his parents.;)

[kerensa]

Already watching. Trying to get a sample for a smear.

I've thought of doing so. Am going to wait till I'm not at a boil, as no one wants to listen to me when I'm a hair away from full rant. His brain dead mother was there, and telling me what a wonderful set up he had, and how knowledgeable he is. *sigh* idiot.

[guidofatherof5]

Break it to her gently.:D

[Mommy2many]

I am so happy to read that you are keeping her. It's just not fair to take a wild caught animal, feed and care for it for two years and set it free to fend on it's own for winter. I don't know about there but here, the past few nights have been in the 40's. My snakes (indoors) are under ground till the room warms up. Poor thing. I'm glad you found her. She needs you. Thank you for committing to her care.

[kerensa]

I'm not sure even where to start on listing the attrocities involved in this situation. Not the least of which is someone playing garter collector all summer, feeding an inadequte diet, and tossing them back out as soon as cold weather hits...

and yes the past week or so has had very cold nights and some nasty cold days as well. :(

K.

[norcalj]

Not to get all corny or anything, but I think it was your destiny to find her. I'm pretty sure that you saved her from certain death.... be it from getting ran over, exposure to the elements or becoming another animal's lunch. I'm now going to have to refer to you as "Mr.Allstate" cause she's in good hands!:D

[kerensa]

well Bellefleu (new name for the new girl) had her morning nightcrawler. I am chopping them now, intending to try her on a mix of chopped nightcrawlers and pinkies, then try her on sented pinkies etc. I am worried about the lack of calcium in her diet so far, but she won't eat the live guppies (not great calcium but better than nothing) although she will soak with them. She did not touch the chopped trout that I give the others. (again some calcium there) she is still looking for her food by hand, which is rather nice in a way. I may have to try calcium powder with her, even though I prefer natural balanced diet.

As far as behavior goes she is calming down even more. Its sort of like having a legless dog. Can't walk by her enclosure without her looking for some time out.

the looseness of her skin has almost gone away, I think it was dehydration since there is a lot of water missing and no way to account for it, and she is heavier.

[kerensa]

Not to get all corny or anything, but I think it was your destiny to find her.

I think it has more to do with an Idiot doing stupid crap than destiny. Destiny would imply all the others were destined to be kept in poor, dark, cramped conditions, fed inadequately on a substandard diet, and released unprepared for winter just in time for the cold weather. That doesn't sound to me like something I would want to think of as their destiny. That is arguably the results of idiocy however.

edit to add: destiny would also imply that the others he has caught and released this way were not meant to be found and given a safe home after his interferance.

[kerensa]

Break it to her gently.:D

I am seriously considering calling wildlife officials next summer if it continues. Is that breaking it to her gently enough? There are so many laws being broken there that it boggles the mind.

edit to add: besides its simply a horrible practice-

[Lisa4john]

Sad situation. Glad at least the one is safe and cared for now.

[kerensa]

Yes it appears to be a very sad situation.

well at this point I'm simply glad she looks to be in great condition other than the wound, and seeming small (underweight) for her age. Yeah I'm worried about the restricted diet for two years, and am concerned that she seemed dehydrated when she got her initial vet visit. But considering everything that could be wrong, the fact so much is right seems a blessing.

Does not excuse the poor conditions, the poor diet and removal of more than could be adequately cared for from the wild. Either what I was shown and told is inaccurate, or its simply luck that she is otherwise healthy at this point. I will go see them again with research in hand, maybe a couple of good books... and check back again next summer. For all I know from what was said those tiny little totes could be for transport, or feeding. (yes I am trying not to be furious) I was after all given very general conversation, mostly about the girl I found, and bragging by mom to go on. It sounds (and looked) appalling- but may not be. I'm certainly not going to go back over until I can do so with out sounding accusatory and hostile.

edit to add: its good to have a place to vent about this.

[guidofatherof5]

Sounds good. What was he feeding them?

[kerensa]

Sounds good. What was he feeding them?

worms he caught and frozen tilapia once a week. I did ask about other food, and he said that was all he fed.

[snake man]

Have you tried educating them on how to do it properly?

[kerensa]

Have you tried educating them on how to do it properly?

I tried explaining and was told how wonderful and well he was doing. I did say I would drop a care sheet off (and was told they didn't need it by mom), and did put one in an envelope on the door. I have not stopped by to actually talk again, because quite frankly I'm still a bit too pissed to be diplomatic.

[snake man]

understandible.

[kerensa]

understandible.

see, that is why this is a good place to rant. No one has told me "you have to put things in the proper perspective, they after all are just garter snakes" or some other patronizing piece of codwallup.

[setfree]

You could show the boy your setup... maybe he would think it was "cool" and try it the same way.

[kerensa]

You could show the boy your setup... maybe he would think it was "cool" and try it the same way.

Unfortunately until he is old enough to have a job, its the parents who will make those choices. Ultimately he is a child and they are also responsible for not telling him "No you do not need to bring home every reptile you catch"

[setfree]

I thought the mom was saying what a great job HE was doing. so anything concerning his snakes his mom might let him do it. It's worth a try...

[snake man]

Honestly I would call wild life services if it continues I have no sympathy for people that are clueless like that. Let me know if im being to harsh.

[setfree]

Honestly I would call wild life services if it continues I have no sympathy for people that are clueless like that. Let me know if im being to harsh.

First get your composure and talk with them and really stress what they are doing... or really not doing and if that doesn't work tell them you are thinking about calling wildlife services. Then you can chose whether or not to call

[kerensa]

I thought the mom was saying what a great job HE was doing. so anything concerning his snakes his mom might let him do it. It's worth a try...

I think she is happy to let him do what ever he wants as long as its not in the house and costs her nothing. Quite frankly he hasn't done to bad for a kid... and I'd say fine if he was keeping some mice... they'ld have food, water, safety- no expensive heat source needed... but quite frankly for what he is doing he needs some under tank heaters some basking lights etc. Maybe the thing to do is hire him to mow my lawn next summer so he can work off a couple new lights and such, and calcium powder...

[kerensa]

Honestly I would call wild life services if it continues I have no sympathy for people that are clueless like that. Let me know if im being to harsh.

I think the mother is willfully ignorant. I think the son thinks he is doing well enough. I think he would like a better/healthier set up. He is not mean or purposely cruel- he does like and care about them. I think his is honest mistake. She on the other hand is willfully ignorant, and talks over her son like he's not there. the chance of getting her to listen is about the same as my chance of getting rain to fall up. I'm thinking through ways to fix the situation without having to crush his interest...

Ok, I'd likely not be upset if I never saw her again...

[setfree]

I think she is happy to let him do what ever he wants as long as its not in the house and costs her nothing. Quite frankly he hasn't done to bad for a kid... and I'd say fine if he was keeping some mice... they'ld have food, water, safety- no expensive heat source needed... but quite frankly for what he is doing he needs some under tank heaters some basking lights etc. Maybe the thing to do is hire him to mow my lawn next summer so he can work off a couple new lights and such, and calcium powder...

Good idea. Maybe that can also help with getting an aquarium or something that is bigger than what he has. Hopefully your idea works and the snakes are helped.

[kerensa]

Good idea. Maybe that can also help with getting an aquarium or something that is bigger than what he has. Hopefully your idea works and the snakes are helped.

Yes. the More I think about it, the more I like the idea. He could shovel this winter also and have quite a bit of what he should have by spring. I think I should ask for a promise not to endlessly catch and keep for the summer also. to only keep the ones he plans on keeping permanently.

Just seems like a plan where everyone wins.

[Light of Dae]

What about a really cheap digital camera that he can use to take pictures of the snakes he finds and then release them? Maybe get him inspired to become a photographer lol or a naturalist. haha. I say digital cause then he doesn't pay for film. or the horrendously ignorant mother will not have to buy film.