Another little Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)

[vernzimm]

Hi all :D,

First time here... I'll properly introduce myself in a bit, but I need to hijack this thread first. Right now I have one brown snake that the neighbor girls found out back. He seems to be getting on well, but I need to get the feeding down asap. I grab a few slugs out back and keep them in tupperware, but I'd like to have a permanent set-up. I've seen a dozen mentions of slug colony on here, but haven't been able to find the actual way to do it. Might want to start a new thread for others?

He/She's about 8-10" long right now... can it eat a full sized slug (2-3" extended)? I tried cutting one up, and plan to never have to do that again... blehhhh.

He has several places where scales are jumbled looking (gaps like he was cut or something). Overall he looks healthy, but I'm wondering what those spots are from? I'll post pics in a new thread when I get enough good ones.

Thanks in advance for all your help... any suggestions are welcome!

Vernon.

[drache]

welcome to the forum
your little buddy may have some old injuries
someone else will have to tell you about the slugs

[infernalis]

I had a slug colony going in my basement and found it much easier to get them switched over to worms and cut up night crawlers...

Later when I have some time I will detail what I did for my slug colony...

Welcome!

[Tyrel26]

QUOTE: "I tried cutting one up, and plan to never have to do that again... blehhhh."

LOL !! I have never even seen a brown snake but i had to comment cause that was just too funny

[infernalis]

I have cut up many a big slug for my little browns, not a big deal to me at all.

I constantly am cutting up pinkie mice and worms anyways, once you get used to it, it's nothing.

Kinda like a medical examiner, most people get woozy at the mere concept of cutting into a decaying corpse, but the doc just sees it as "another day at the office"

[Tyrel26]

Well I have never had a reason to cut them up but I have used them for fishing.

As for cutting things up; doing a necropsy on an animal thats been dead for several days can be interesting lol. I have done a few and though it doesn't bother me, I don't think Ill ever get accustomed to the smell.

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Vernon :)

[vernzimm]

Thanks for all the replies everyone :D. As for cutting them up... I just didn't expect them to be so HARD inside. I guess it's muscles or something, but I was expecting them to be a bit more like butter. That and the knife wasn't exceptionally sharp, so it involved some sawing. Then the front half went all zombie-crawly with it's guts hanging out like that android in Aliens :eek:...

Perhaps it would be better to switch to nightcrawlers... I've not got any real preference. What is the protocol for feeding? How big a worm can he/she eat? How do i know when he/she's hungry?

[infernalis]

They are almost always hungry!

I prefer to cut a night crawler into a minimum of 4 chunks.

One worm is plenty per feeding, 2-3 day intervals.

[ConcinusMan]

Well I have never had a reason to cut them up but I have used them for fishing.

As for cutting things up; doing a necropsy on an animal thats been dead for several days can be interesting lol. I have done a few and though it doesn't bother me, I don't think Ill ever get accustomed to the smell.

Yeah, I got used to the smell of dead human beings (not going into that story). You never enjoy it but it gets to a point where you get used to it enough that it doesn't nauseate you anymore. Dead animals still make me gag, but not dead people.:cool:

When I first started trying to cut up pinkies, it nauseated me in spite of trying to think of it as just meat. Those little whiskered noses and little feet remind me to much of a puppy. But, you do what you gotta do for the love of your snakes and now it doesn't bother me. Neither does gutting and butchering a frog. Got a huge bullfrog today! yay! after some butchering, it'll feed all of my snakes for a couple of weeks. Freezing it first makes it easier but you can't do that with slugs!

{EDIT] except for amy. No wild food for her. Only clean sources.

[infernalis]

little baby night crawlers (often found under rocks or rotting logs) are a real treat to Dekayi.

[vernzimm]

Hi everyone,

Well, thanks for all the info, I'm getting along w/ worms now, they love them :D. I also took some cute pictures of them fighting over a slug. Oh, the neighbor kids found another one, a bit smaller, and more brown rather than tan. They live in an upside down tiny flower pot and pop their heads out the hole at the top (bottom) when it's food time :).

[infernalis]

Just be careful with that, I have seen them fight really bad over food.

[guidofatherof5]

I love watching them eat. They are so intent but in slow motion. They attack even the smallest slug like it's going to fight back.
I love S.dekayi. Great little snakes.