My Story: Storeria dekayi

[Herp Derp]

Found it July 5th, 2014, 13" under a sunny rock along with a larger S occipitomaculata(which I first thought was a dekayi until i saw the underside, this one got away though.. I was too excited). I arrived at home, quickly emptied a 20g fish tank wash it added some cactus mix soil and a small plastic potted aloe plant. I later added a clump of natural ground cover(clover, dandelion, sorel, grass etc) into a plastic bbq chicken container) and aplastic container of water. My research was fast and i caught a few slugs but it did not eat. I read this was normal. The snake did eat the next day though and everyday about 4-6slgs(maybe 1-2cm stretched mode)/day. This was awesome because I was reading up other ppls experiences of weeks with no eating. I became concerned when I read that dull colours could mean it was dehydrated... on the 10th an unexpected thing happened, it shed and I was fortunate enough to see it happen in 5mins. The skin was all in one piece it was cool and soft/moist to the touch. Two days after that I've fed slugs off my finger to it, usually I use a small thin stick or drop some down on the grassy area. I believe it's female from the diagrams I have found on this site about sexing them, since there seems to be a tapering of the tail right after the cloaca. For the most part she has been diurnal however just recently she seems to be hiding more during the day and sticks her head out from under her rock a lot, maybe she was out a lot more because she was about to shed.

Would anyone know if copper it toxic to these snakes or snakes in general. Since these snakes eat slugs I'm trying to find other ways to keep them in the tank... the dry cactus soil seems to keep them in the grassy area, and Ive read they don't like to go over copper. I would like to try and make a "slug habitat" inside the enclosure surrounded by pennies or copper tape so there would be a steady amount of food during winter. Which brings me to my other question... do snakes have to brumate or can I just keep them year round in the same conditions and lighting? How many slugs should she be eating .. is it per day or week? For the more experienced dekayi owners how small are the neonates? If they are really tiny would they eat white worms? I have read adults eat snails and beetles(not sure what kind)... I have yet to see this and does anyone know the full spectrum of their diet. I would like to give it a variety.

[slipknot711]

Brown snakes can live in almost any substrate. i have seen an 80/20 soil/sand mix working well if you like the more natural look. This allows these snakes to burrow as they would naturally. You may wish to use peat moss or leaves to simulate the forest floor. Provide a small dish for water, and you may wish to mist the cage on occasion. id like to see a picture of yours. sorry i do not know much about the penny thing. dekays like worms too! and as far as the babies they are soooo tiny. i know someone on here has kept and bred them before so im sure others will chime in. dekay.jpg

[Saji]

I was going to recommend talking with Ashley but she has aready given her two cents:-)

[slipknot711]

I have one but it stays with my garters. No special treatment

[Herp Derp]

That's great Ashley, I've read they'll hibernate with garters and northern red bellys. Do you think 2 dekayis would be too crowded for a 20g tank(high not long)? Do they do better alone or with company? What I like about this species is that it stays small and seems pretty easy to take care of. I haven't quite figured out how I want to set up the tank yet. I'll probably do 1/4th cactus soil with an aloe plant and a flat rock hide, maybe 1/2 grass/vegetation, and the last 1/4 water dish and maybe loose substrate for it to burrow . I think i have a pic in my profile or gallery thing, it looks a lot smaller in the pic, I'll try and get a better pic 016.jpg018.jpg018.jpg018.jpg018.jpg

[Herp Derp]

not sure why it did copies of the same pic doh!!

[guidofatherof5]

Did you load your photos from the forum gallery?

[Herp Derp]

Um I did load some photos up through the gallery, but I didnt know how to get them into a post so I ended up just uploading them from comp to post. Does that make sense?

[joeysgreen]

Why are you using cactus soil and an aloe plant? Consider replicating the habitat where you found it. Skip the copper, you don't want to add a potential risk factor. Copper is toxic to any animal if in high enough concentrations. This could simply be from eating a tonne of slugs that kissed the pennies before turning around. The food chain has a habit of magnifying toxins; think of DDT in rapters.

Brumation isn't necessary and can poke holes in imperfect husbandry. What may work for summer foraging behavior in a healthy snake may not suffice in a snake going through the rigors of winter - the season that kills animals of all sorts. Unless breeding is the goal, stick with normal summer perimeters.

For food, offer what you find in your back yard. Then create breeding colonies to become self reliant during droughts, winter, pet store shortages etc. Both worms and slugs are super easy to culture.

I'm no expert on Storeria but I hope this advice proves useful.

Ian

[slipknot711]

also two should be fine in that size tank, i always like to go bigger but its fine. brownies like to climb so if you can add some height to the tank thatd be great. i wouldnt suggest breeding them, i have read alot (some on here) that the babies are very very tiny and can be difficult to feed... or atleast hold off for a couple years until you know what works best.