I have a first snake of the year too!

[Loren]

Well, this is actually my second, the first was a desert glossy that I forgot to photograph. From a trip to the Mojave Desert last week.

Mojave Rattlesnake,about 2 feet long, found on the road at night. It was quite "spunky".
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Mojave_Rattlesnake.JPG

[count dewclaw]

That's a pretty neat snake, but I'm glad you found it and not me :D.

[adamanteus]

.....Very nice!:D

[Snaky]

Nice find! :)

[GarterGuy]

Very nice shot....yeh, just a little bit spunky...LOL.

[Lori P]

Wow. Love seeing them! In pictures!!! :-) Very beautiful, no doubt!!

[anji1971]

Very cool, but he looks just spunky enough that I would have been too scared to take his picture!:D

[reptileparadise]

Beautifull snake! Love the caramel tone...

[Bay_area]

Kewl Loren!
That other one will only eat Hamsters still...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2569.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2576.jpg

[Snake lover 3-25]

That's a pretty neat snake, but I'm glad you found it and not me :D.

I agree 100% they scare me... :o

[Loren]

Mojaves absolutely facinate me. I think about them often.

Glad that doesnt make me weird.

Jerry, She is looking great!

Do they normally get much bigger than her, or is that about normal full-grown?

[Lori P]

Wow! Look at his "eyebrows"-- they give him so much expression!! What a gorgeous snake.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_2576.jpg

[anji1971]

Wow! Look at his "eyebrows"-- they give him so much expression!! What a gorgeous snake.



Yes, I believe that expression is......
"Don't #@*!$ with me or I'll eat you.":D
But he is a beauty, and the 'eyebrows' are very cool!

[Lori P]

OK, hamster-eating snake... here's the flip side to your lunch!!

Baby Hamster Eats Brocolli on Yahoo! Video (http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2253641/7101161&cache=1)

Sorry, couldn't resist... he is awfully terribly cute!!!! :D

[Loren]

Yes, hes very cute, Lori. Hopefully he keeps eating good like that, so he can grow nice and big for Jerry's snake.:D

[Bay_area]

Yes, hes very cute, Lori. Hopefully he keeps eating good like that, so he can grow nice and big for Jerry's snake.:D


That was mean, twisted evil. Sorry Lori, if the pic offended you.
It is easy to get attached to the "snake food". That is why I never hold my rats or anything else that is meant to be food. Too easy to get attached.

[Squeaky10199]

today april 6th i went outside and it was very beautiful outside here in wisconsin milwaukee. well i went on a little scout to see if any snakes came out of hibernation and sure enough i found a little mating ball consisting of like 4-6 garters together. it was a very neat sight to see. but when i got to close they scattered like crazy. i caught one just a little bit ago that i found on the railroad tracks crossing by itself so i thought i might as well make one more addition to my collection of garters and he or she is in with spot my other garter in a 15 gallon tank. hopefully everything goes well... they are chilling together on the basking bark. so hopefully they like it. plenty of stuff to climb on too.. hahaha anyone else encountering snakes now?

[Loren]

i thought i might as well make one more addition to my collection of garters and he or she is in with spot my other garter hahaha
anyone else encountering snakes now?
Havent been out lately, but the weathers just starting to get right around here, so hopefully pretty soon.
My only suggestion with getting new wild caught snakes would be to keep it caged separately from your other snakes for at least a few weeks, if not 2 months or more, to make sure its good and healthy, and internal and external parasite free.
Post a pic of your new snake sometime.

[Lori P]

That was mean, twisted evil. Sorry Lori, if the pic offended you.
It is easy to get attached to the "snake food". That is why I never hold my rats or anything else that is meant to be food. Too easy to get attached.

No no Jerry, no offence-- snake has to eat what snake has to eat, right? If I got easily offended, I wouldn't be a snake owner on a snake site... I totally respect that you feed your snake what he likes. Tho I'm sure you remember how hard it was for me the first time I had to feed live... I swear, I not only needed a good stiff drink, I never thought I'd get used to it!!

I just thought it was a good slot to slip in that adorable video. This may be weird, but... while I find myself not getting attached to the mice, I really do enjoy having them and spoiling them while they're here.

Sorry if I made you think you had to be sorry for offending me. LOLOLOL!!!!

[Loren]

I just thought it was a good slot to slip in that adorable video. This may be weird, but... while I find myself not getting attached to the mice, I really do enjoy having them and spoiling them while they're here.

Sorry if I made you think you had to be sorry for offending me. LOLOLOL!!!!

Lori, that just means you have found the perfect view on how our nature works. Treat animals well, but understand and accept (and often be facinated by)how nature works.

[Zephyr]

So, my friend Johnny and I are at Henry Ford's Rose garden pond netting goldfish. After 3 hours and 9 fish later, 2 little girls and their baby sitter come by and hang out with us for a bit. Somehow, she gets on the topic of snakes and says she saw one. The little girls chime in and say that they saw two. Immediately I'm rushing 1/2 mile to get to where they were. The area has many cliff along the rouge river, but even though they snakes were supposedly in abundance I saw none. However, two girls ahead of us stopped and pointed at something, and I asked what it was.
Snake number one, caught after 1/2 minute of plowing through brush. He looks JUST LIKE A maritime! Seeing that at the time I was somehow convinced it WAS a maritime, I kept him! Pics at the end. Further down the trail and at the falls I'm holding the snake and decide to head back to fishing. About 10 feet away was another snake! Grabbed it, a very fine specimen of T. s. s. with light brown-red coloration. Let'im go. A few more feet back down the trail and another garter! Another male with chocolate coloring and a vague stripe. Took me a moment to catch this one. Let'im go. A few minutes later and we're waiting to leave when a guy and his kids come up and ask me about the snakes. So a few seconds into the convo I hear a rustling behind me and turn to find ANOTHER garter, a skinny dark-brown specimen! So my day was incredibly productive! LEt that one go as well. I didn't have a camera, so I only got pics of Archibald after I got him home. :P
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/269/img0041pv4.jpg
Kinda blurry but shows his colors. :P
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9229/img0040yu8.jpg
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6923/img0039xd2.jpg

[Zephyr]

And now he's trying to mate with one of my females. lol

[adamanteus]

Kyle.... aren't you going to quarantine him for a while?:eek:

[Loren]

very nice looking snake.

[Zephyr]

James, to tell the truth, I never quarantine wild snakes. Of course there's the chance of parasites due to fecal contact, but I keep the cage sparkling clean. Also, if you're a sick snake in the wild, you're not going to be out and about: You're going to be hiding or dead.

[Zephyr]

Also, I'm heading back tomorrow to find the damn den! D<

[anji1971]

Hmmm..... Kyle's day sounds kind of like mine. Went on a nature walk, mentioned snakes within earshot of a man and his little girl, and they pointed me in the direction of a snake lover's paradise! Of course I had to pick them all up and cuddle for a moment, but I only kept one, 'cause he looked so much prettier than all the others.
Isn't springtime wonderful??:)

[anji1971]

By the way, that is an interesting looking garter you've got there, Kyle!

[ssssnakeluvr]

Nice looking garter...not sure it's a maritime...don't think they get clear over to Michigan.....

[Zephyr]

I should be heading back today just for pics. :P
Hoping I'll find the den, and hence, the females. :O

[Bay_area]

Tho I'm sure you remember how hard it was for me the first time I had to feed live

Yes, it was a wild caught gophersnake back when I was in the 6th grade (1975 I think) I bought 2 white mice @ the pet store & dropped them in with the snake. The snake hit the first one on the side & coiled it. He missed the head & the mouse started squeeking.:eek: I do not like seeing animals suffer & it was pretty hard to watch. I ended up letting the snake go before I had to feed it again.

On the other hand, that next summer I went to the East Bay Vivarium for my first time. This was way back when they were on MacArther Blvd in Oakland & owned by Ron Cobble still (he now owns the Bone Room in Albany, CA). There was an aquarium in the back of the store that was about 5ft long & had a clay vase lying on its side @ one end of the cage. I couldn't see anything in the cage & I asked the person working there what was in the cage. He walked over with a chick in his hand & told me to watch as he dropped in the chick. An Indigo snake shot out of the vase hitting the chick pushing it across the cage til it hit the glass @ the opposite end of the aquarium:eek: Blood squirted out all over the glass. It was over in seconds. I turned to my mother & said, "I want this snake!" We ended up getting 2 box turtles that day because the snake was about $200 @ that time. I finally got my first indigo snake 2 years ago from a friend for $700 & I bought another one last year. It took me 30 years but I never forgot that day.
Sorry for rambling, Jerry

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_0662.jpg

[jules]

would have been very wary taking pics. im new to snakes and have found i really like them. i have normally stuck with dogs but they are so amazing.

[anji1971]

That indigo is really nice, Jerry! How are they for handling? Are they aggressive all around or just when feeding?

[Sid]

Loren,
So far this year I have found 8 different species of snakes. Brown Snake- Storeria Dekayi, Redbelly Snake- Storeria occipitomaculata, Eastern King snake- Lamporpeltis gigetula, Eastern Worm Snake- Carphophis a amoenus, Northern Water Snake- Neordia s sipedon, Black Rat Snake- Elaphe obsolete, Red-belly Water Snake- Neorida f fasicata and Southern Ringneck Snake- Diadaphis p punctatus, but no Garters! Tons of Slimy Salamanders, Green Anoles, Five Lined Skink, and Ground Skinks.

[Snake lover 3-25]

I finally got my first indigo snake 2 years ago from a friend for $700 & I bought another one last year.


$700 is that a typo???? (neat story!!!):):):):)

[Loren]

Loren,
So far this year I have found 8 different species of snakes. Brown Snake- Storeria Dekayi, Redbelly Snake- Storeria occipitomaculata, Eastern King snake- Lamporpeltis gigetula, Eastern Worm Snake- Carphophis a amoenus, Northern Water Snake- Neordia s sipedon, Black Rat Snake- Elaphe obsolete, Red-belly Water Snake- Neorida f fasicata and Southern Ringneck Snake- Diadaphis p punctatus, but no Garters! Tons of Slimy Salamanders, Green Anoles, Five Lined Skink, and Ground Skinks.

Wow, you are off to a good start though. I would like to get a black rat someday, just to through some variety in the mix. I like some of the nicer colored nerodias, but they are illegal here- considered potentially harmful to our ecosystem or whatever.
I've really only been out the one time- to the desert, but I just bought a fuel efficient vehicle, so I can leave town alot easier now.

[Loren]

$700 is that a typo???? (neat story!!!):):):):)

No, its correct, Jerry actually got a good deal, Shanley. Indigoes often go for 800-1200, last time I checked.
I will have one someday too. (hopefully).:)

[adamanteus]

Indigos are rarely available in the UK, when they are they're mega-bucks!

[Snake lover 3-25]

wow that's alot!!! the only snakes that i ever bought died within 6 months... i REALLY want to but another..... but i'm scared.... :(:(:(:(:(

[Bay_area]

No, its correct, Jerry actually got a good deal, Shanley. Indigoes often go for 800-1200, last time I checked.
I will have one someday too. (hopefully).:)

Yeah, it was a good deal & probly the most I would ever pay for a snake. I worked alot of overtime & 3 holidays @ triple time in November to buy them. That way my wife could not say "no" to me for buying them. The person I got them from is a personal friend of Loren & I. Otherwise, I would of had to pay the $1000 minimum like everyone else.


How are they for handling? Are they aggressive all around or just when feeding? they are like puppy dogs! a really intellegent snake & fun to take out! They never strike @ me. Good feeders once you get them eating. Juveniles are kind of tricky to get them to start eating rodents. WORTH EVERY PENNY!!! The only problem with Indigos is when they go to the bathroom. It is like a granade explosion.:eek: You can actually hear them from the next room, sounds like a whoopie cushion...LOL! If you do not clean it out right away, they smear it all over the cage.