Fell In love with a backyard snake.. looking for advice!

[Ryachanira]

Thanks again for all of the help! I already told my husband... we should set it up like he is going to make it to show some faith in him. And if he doesn't.. we will just have to get another one. I think I am hooked!

Silv is doing well enough this morning. We got his cage set up last night; I would love any input/advice on the cage. It is a tad basic right now but I think I got all the basics covered (let me know):



We went with a 15 gallon - the 10 seemed too small for when he gets bigger and the 20 was too large for where we are eventually going to put him. The lighting we got is a 50 watt "Night Glo" moonlight for night and a 60 watt "Sun Glo" sunlight for the day. Are these appropriate lights for him? Also, do the lights stay on 24 hours, and if so is it 12 and 12 for day and night? We got him a big old pond so he should be able to fully soak in it for some time, a hideaway, and then the plant and the log for basking. The substrate is reptile bark (I believe that is what they called it). How does that look for a setup?

Last night we got a box of nightcrawlers (ew ew ew, I have to say the live food is why I never got a snake before, and these were just gross... but I did it for Silv!) and a couple of ruby red minnows to stick in his water. So far the minnows have not been touched, but I am fairly sure he ate the nightcrawler... at least I can not find the darn thing, and I dug around in the substrate looking for it. So it must be gone!

He is still fairly listless in his cage, although he has moved around a bit and there was an awful lot of tongue flicking. His vet appt is in an hour so we will see what they have to say - I will let you know!



Also any ideas on what species this guy is? Or girl, haha, I have no idea. If it is a girl her name is Silvia. He was found in northeast Kansas. I think he is really gorgeous... but I might be biased.

[guidofatherof5]

Looks like a nice setup.
It's good that you see you addiction.
If the worms were eaten, that's a great sign. A lot of tongue flicking is also good.
Rosy minnows not the best choice. If guppies are available switch to them.
This is from the Care sheet:

Safe, thiaminase-free live fish- Feeder fish that are thiaminase free are rather hard to come by. (see more about thiaminase below) Fish that contain thiaminase are not an acceptable food item for snakes and should not be considered even as an occasional "treat". The main fish to be wary of is the goldfish. Aside from red wigglers, goldfish may be the worst thing you could possibly feed your snake. Rosy red minnows, also known as flathead minnows also contain thiaminase, although it is rumored to a lesser extent. If possible, they should also be avoided.
Feeder guppies and platies are thiaminase free if you find yourself needing to feed live fishes. You may also use wild caught dace minnows, bluegills, and the like. The major concern with feeding live fishes is that they may be carrying parasites that could be passed on to your snake especially if wild caught.

Let us know how the Vet. appoinment goes.

[BUSHSNAKE]

that is Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis(red-sided garter)

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Ryachanira

[Ryachanira]

So we went to the vet this morning. She said she thinks he is most likely pretty young, and that because it was very warm here for so long and then suddenly got very cold, and because he is young and doesn't have a schedule down, that he somehow missed out on brumination. She said he was malnourished, but other than that and the slight bit of retained shed on his head she says he looks fairly healthy. She thinks the cold and the lack of nutrition were making him sluggish and he should perk up soon.

I did an extensive check of the substrate this morning and that worm was definitely not there, so he must have eaten it. We put another one in. How often should I be feeding him? I do not want to overfeed, but I do not want to underfeed especially if he is malnourished right now. He still had not touched the minnows when I left this morning - I will look into finding guppies for him next time.

Overall things seem to be progressing fairly well I think, I am happy that he is eating at least and is maybe just a touch more active. The vet said he probably would not have made it without us taking him in, so that made me feel good about this decision. I will keep you all updated!

[Ryachanira]

Oh also, is there a way to tell the gender? The vet didn't think there was any easy way to do it, and I would be curious to know.

[kibakiba]

You can feed him a few pieces of form every other day, I feed my babies worm and fish every other day. As for gender, take a couple pictures of its tail and some members can help you. It's not too hard to tell. I made this picture to help another person who needed help with sexing their garter. it's not the best but it may help



Maybe some day when I'm not studying I'll remake it so it looks better... Haha

[guidofatherof5]

Here's a link to help you sex your snake:
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/bree...xing-pics.html
If you want to post a few under side tail shots we'll see if we can't help you.

[Selkielass]

That is a beautiful enclosure set up.
Lots of tongue flicking is a very good sign- eating is even better!
My snakes like to eat every day to every other day when eating worms. Fish seem to last them a little longer (2 days easy) Frozen and thawed pinky mice hold them for three days or longer. (I have fairly young snakes, they still like to eat often and are growing quickly.)

Worms are good food if the worms are well fed. You will notice that as you slowly use up a package of 12 or 20 worms, the worms left at the end are skinnier, floppier and possibly dying.
Setting up an earthworm box in a cool corner of the basement can help to keep them alive and well fed. (Finely chopped vegetable scraps, eggshells for calcium etc.) Some members here have even had luck breeding their own worms. There is lots of info online about keeping worms. Just be sure you are keeping and feeding earthworms or night crawlers, NOT red wigglers or compost worms- red worms can be toxic.

If keeping worms is too much for you, just try to be sure to get the freshest worms possible (They have a sell-by date on the package usually.) and consider occasionally dipping the worms tail in reptile vitamin supplement before feeding.

Silv is lovely! Very pretty red markings! I hope s/he continues to thrive!

[kibakiba]

You can even pour a little of the vit/calcium sup in the worm box and the worms will eat it. Bone meal is great for worms as it has calcium and phosphorus. I find that it's better to keep them and try to raise them than to just buy them blindly. I've had worms just up and die and turn deep red for no reason. It gives you a chance to see that they're doing good before you feed them to your beloved snake. It could turn into a free food source if you have a lot of worms. I have about 60 and I find quite a few Tiny and Squirt(my babies) sized baby worms.
I wouldn't feed floppy worms to your snake because, as Selkielass said, they could be dying. It'd better safe than sorry!