Hatching Black Racers??????

[mustang]

awsome now heres your first job...name em all hahahahaha

[Mom2Four]

Ok, so this morning we have 5 out and about, (one that hatched from the wrong side of his egg.. His name shall be Snappy.. he crawls around mouth open striking at everything.. LoL) 2 more peepers.. and 7 eggs still just sitting.

Ok so here are my questions??

I have to keep them a few days because different teachers at the schools want a show and tell.. (I do this regularly with snakes we catch before we release them and frogs, toads, turtles, etc..) I give a little lecture, teach them snake facts about our local snakes, dispel some snake myths (like there are giant king cobras in east TN ) etc.. soooo

1. Should I separate them into individual containers or is one large container sufficient?

2. I placed some fresh caught baby crickets and earth worms in there but none seem interested? Should I keep trying? What should I try?

3. What should I put at the bottom of their container? Right now there is the sand the eggs were sitting on, BUT I realize that can grow bacteria and I don't want the snakes living on it...


Ok, I probably have more questions, I have to think about it..

[Brewster320]

Thats the first picture I've seen of some one holding a racer without it trying to kill them!? Was that one just mellow or did we you just caught the picture at the right moment lol! Beautiful snakes any ways though! You planning on keeping any of them?

[Mom2Four]

Nope not keeping any, for one, black racers are kind of hateful and from what I have been told by park rangers that have tried, they are almost un-tamable. Also, in the state of TN it is illegal to keep wild caught snakes or any wild caught animal as a pet. I am not sure of the rest of the snake keeping laws in Tennessee, but my hubby was a Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences graduate and so we know the wildlife laws. LoL I did inform a TWRA officer of my intent to keep and hatch the eggs unless they wanted them and he told me they didn't want them because they were not endangered, just to be sure to release them after they hatched. I think part of the reason they didn't want them was because the didn't think the eggs would hatch. More than one told me they would be "biologically dead" .. Guess they didn't realize I had help from all you great folks here and that I knew enough to mark and place the eggs like we found them. (we also found them as Mama Snake was laying them so the embryos hadn't attached yet) . Anyway, we are talking about getting my daughter a corn snake for a beginner snake, we will see. I am studying up on different species and how hard they are to keep, etc...

This one in the picture is a very docile baby, most of them are. There are two that hatched from the wrong side of their eggs and they are HATEFUL.. they bite me every time I try to change the water or put worms or do anything with the box. LoL Of course they are so small the bite is rather humorous. I even talked the kiddos into letting the babies bite them just to get them over their fears. My 3 year old son has no fears, he LUBS DA NAKIES... He always has, he tried to take a 4.5ft black rat snake out of his Daddy's hands a few months ago..(caught that sucker eating my eggs so he got released a few miles down the road.. ;o) )

Anyway, I am taking the still pipping eggs, the snakes, a snake skin, a poster and some other info to the Elementary school today, to the middle school and high schools next week to do my famous snake lessons. I am trying to dispel myths among this generation so that they won't grow up saying "the only good snake is a dead snake", even though I am in East Tennessee and we only have 2 venomous snakes in this area, (copperhead and timber rattler) people around here still kill EVERY snake they see. I watched a man back up just to spin out over a baby black rat snake in the road the other day. Unfortunately I didn't realize what he was doing quick enough to make a save.

So anyway, that is our goal, to save a few good snakes if we can. We have established some habitats around our five acres of land, with decaying wood piles, pieces of tin, etc.. to try and keep them here. Praying that once our barn is finished a couple will decide it is a good place to live, and keep rodents out of our feeds.

These babies are absolutely beautiful. I have 3 pipping this morning.. one that pipped sometime last night but died, 7 out and about snaking around, and 3 eggs left still unhatched.. so over all I would say successful rescue. However, I would have said successful rescue if only 1 had survived, because if we hadn't been here to get the eggs at the neighbors house they would have ALL been destroyed.

[Mom2Four]

Thats the first picture I've seen of some one holding a racer without it trying to kill them!? Was that one just mellow or did we you just caught the picture at the right moment lol! Beautiful snakes any ways though! You planning on keeping any of them?

If their faces weren't in them I would post pictures of my 3 year old son and 7 year old daughter holding this one. One of my snake hating friends saw the pictures told me I wasn't playing fair because my 3 year old would make the devil look cute and my daughter would make godzilla look gentle.

But so far all but 2 have been very docile... We are not holding them much because I don't want to stress or contaminate them. We mainly just watch them through the box.

[Mom2Four]

TWWISSSSSSTER ANYONE????????

[Mom2Four]

Soon to shed.. look at those eyes

[Mom2Four]

DINNER!!!!!!!!!!

[Mom2Four]

OUR MOST RECENT RESCUE.. SNAKES AND TURTLES TO BE RELEASED IN AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION LATER THIS WEEK....

[Snake lover 3-25]

very neat!