Please help with my snake

[OCMotoDad]

Hi Guys! I found this site while searching the internet on Garter Snake info about how to identify and take care of them. Im pretty darn certain that this is a Garter (not the same shaped head like a rattler) and my kids walked in the house with him saying that they caught him. After my initial shock, and seeing them holding this docile creature, they begged me to keep it.

Im normally a fish guy and don't know much about snakes. So we went out and bought a snake kit, but this guy doesn't seem to want to eat, maybe it hasn't been long enough since his last meal. Ive offered him fish as well as frozen mice (heated up in hot water).

Can anyone tell me what type of Garter this is? We live in Orange County, which is in Southern California, and back up to a wilderness area that has lots of mountain lions and rattle snakes and deer.

Any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated. I did attach some pics. We have also only had him for 2 days.

Thank You!

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[infernalis]

seems that your attached images did not upload.

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome. Have you tried night crawlers?
Here's a link to the forum care sheet. Check out the other link. Maybe you can identify your snake from there.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

Identifying California Gartersnakes (http://www.californiaherps.com/identification/snakesid/gartersnakes.id.html)

[Mommy2many]

Welcome! Cannot see your pictures. Please try uploading again.

[OCMotoDad]

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Hopefully these ones work. I did finally get her to eat last night. She polished off 2 of the small mice from the frozen mice packages at PetSmart (box of 6, so they were small mice). But I definitely am still very interested in trying to positively identify her.

[infernalis]

That looks like a pine snake to me.

sSnakeSs.com (http://www.ssnakess.com) - our sister forum.

[indigoman]

Looks like a California king snake to me, very nice.

[OCMotoDad]

So I joined the other forum as well, and I did have someone else tell me that it was a king as well. Is there a way to positively identify this thing? I want to make sure that I take care of it correctly, and actually know what I have.

[indigoman]

California king snake striped morph , coastal color phase.

[OCMotoDad]

Indigoman....so when you saw morph, is that why there is the solid yellow line on top, but she has a more camoflauge style pattern on the side? Does morph mean that there was inter species breeding? Please forgive my questions if they sound dumb, but I'm 100% new to this. I also want to make sure that everything is ok to have with my kids and for handling her, as well as providing the right living environment.

[OCMotoDad]

And I just found a perfect replica picture of the morph. It is actually a California King Morph Coastal Newport-Long Beach.

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[indigoman]

No problem what so ever! I looked into my reference books and the California snake has a variable pattern and color phase which can make identification difficult for people not familiar to kingsnakes. That's why I wasn't positive on first look. The pattern is normal just not common and is desirable to the people who keep kingsnakes. The color is normally black and white banded pattern, but the book states the coastal Calif. king do have a more stripe pattern and a brown and yellow color. They eat mice, rats and other snakes to include rattlers.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

100% california king snake! Keep in mind that if it ever gets defensive it may make a rattle noise by wiggling it's tail up against something, but it is harmless and they are very docile snakes most of the time. Congrats it is a very nice looking snake!

[EKS56]

Pretty laid back to be wild caught.:)

[Natrix]

Looks like what I would describe as a 'Banana' Californian Kingsnake and a nice looking specimen too. Didn't realise they occured in the wild though? This colour phase has a cream background with Chocolate brown markings. :)

[OCMotoDad]

This was definitely found in the wild......I have thousands invested in Fish, and taking on another critter was not my first choice, until my kids walked in with him. We do back up to a wilderness area that has all sorts of snakes (mostly rattlers), deer, bobcats & Mountain Lions. Now I just have to figure out the right feeding schedule and how to keep this guy tame and calm so he doesn't bite me or my kids. And if he does bite......what do you do? I apologize if this should be kept in the other sister site, and posted questions there. Im just new, nervous, and want to treat this animal right.

[Martinz21]

Bites from kingsnakes don't pose any issue. All you should do is wash it after it happens but they are harmless. That is a really good lookin' snake... Enjoy it :D

[Natrix]

This was definitely found in the wild......I have thousands invested in Fish, and taking on another critter was not my first choice, until my kids walked in with him. We do back up to a wilderness area that has all sorts of snakes (mostly rattlers), deer, bobcats & Mountain Lions. Now I just have to figure out the right feeding schedule and how to keep this guy tame and calm so he doesn't bite me or my kids. And if he does bite......what do you do? I apologize if this should be kept in the other sister site, and posted questions there. Im just new, nervous, and want to treat this animal right.. Never be afraid to ask questions.
If you don't ask you'll never know.

[gibble888]

Ive never seen those colors....nice

[Ruth]

This may be an ignorant question but is it really that easy to catch a snake in the wild. Might it be an escaped or released pet. We don't get many snakes here in the UK but when I have come across them there's no way you'd easily be able to catch one. We have had pet owners release things like terrapins in our rivers and they survive and I'm sure if we didn't have such cold winters and miserable summers we would start seeing released snakes too.

[RedSidedSPR]

is it really that easy to catch a snake in the wild.

Yes.

[Natrix]

This may be an ignorant question but is it really that easy to catch a snake in the wild. Might it be an escaped or released pet. We don't get many snakes here in the UK but when I have come across them there's no way you'd easily be able to catch one. We have had pet owners release things like terrapins in our rivers and they survive and I'm sure if we didn't have such cold winters and miserable summers we would start seeing released snakes too.
Hi, Ruth, We have 3 native species and one none native established species here in the UK. The Adder is our only venomous snake and it is our most common, The Grass Snake is our largest native snake and is common in some places and rare in others and The Smooth snake again common in some areas and is mainly confined to the southern counties.The Esculapian Rat snake is none native and the largest of all. I believe there is a population in the London area and another somewhere in wales.

[drumcrush]

I wish I could find some kingsnakes where I live -_-

[EasternGirl]

It's never a problem to ask questions...this forum is the right place to ask :) I am glad you care enough to ask and want to take good care of that lovely snake.