Found snake in shower- help!!

[horselo284]

I'm just worried it won't do well if I let it go now. The weather has been all over the place. One second it's 55 and the next is is 23 degrees. In my house it is steady in the high 60's. It is supposed to snow in a couple of days and was actually flurrying last night (which is funny because it was beautiful during the day).

He did eat the worm I put in yesterday. I went to take out the paper towels today and add substrate that he could burrow into and there was no worm or dried up worm anywhere. He seems to love the new substrate...went burrowing around in it when I put him in. I also ordered some hides, fake plants and new dishes for him (they should come tomorrow or the next day). I left a worm in a small dish with him now and figured I would leave him alone for a few days to get used to the new substrate and stuff.

If you guys think it would be better to let him go, I will though. I really do want to do what is best for him. I just thought making him a nice home might be that....but if it's not, I will do whatever I need to do to keep him safe.

[CrazyHedgehog]

I'm no expert, but is sounds like you are giving the little fella a wonderful chance, and for a novice snake owner, its great that you are looking for and taking advice. Well done and enjoy him!

[ConcinusMan]

He did eat the worm I put in yesterday.

If you didn't see it happen, assume it didn't eat it. If you just cut the head off or cut it in thirds, the worm isn't going to crawl away.

If you guys think it would be better to let him go, I will though.

I would but it's really up to you. If you can't confirm he's eating by actually seeing it eat, if it refuses to eat, or doesn't eat an adequate amount, he's better off kept at 42-50 degrees until spring when you can let him go.

IF he eats OK there's really no harm in keeping him but come summer you had better have air conditioning. Like I said, you have to keep them fairly cool.

[horselo284]

I'm no expert, but is sounds like you are giving the little fella a wonderful chance, and for a novice snake owner, its great that you are looking for and taking advice. Well done and enjoy him!

Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate them!

[horselo284]

If you didn't see it happen, assume it didn't eat it. If you just cut the head off or cut it in thirds, the worm isn't going to crawl away.



I would but it's really up to you. If you can't confirm he's eating by actually seeing it eat, if it refuses to eat, or doesn't eat an adequate amount, he's better off kept at 42-50 degrees until spring when you can let him go.

IF he eats OK there's really no harm in keeping him but come summer you had better have air conditioning. Like I said, you have to keep them fairly cool.

Thanks so much for the reply! I have seen him eat one small worm in person (yesterday) and the day before I am pretty sure he ate one because he was still on paper towels and when I took the paper towels out to put in new substrate, there was no sign of a dead/dried up worm anywhere. Only the clean paper towels, paper towel roll (as a makeshift hide) and the dish I had put in.

That said, how much should I be expecting him to eat and how often should I feed him? He is pretty small, not only short, but skinny as well. I've found some videos of Dekay snakes on youtube and compared to the videos, he looks about half the thickness and a bit less than half the length of the grown dekays.

Also, is there a good way to keep the worms and slugs to keep as may as possible alive (I am planning to collect a bunch while they are still around...). I am not finding as many as I had hoped though, so I will probably have to buy something for him to eat at some point. What would be the closest option to the earthworms and slugs from my backyard?

Thanks so much!
-Laura

[ConcinusMan]

Walmart sells night crawlers in sporting goods. Just find a sporting goods place or section in a store they are sold as bait. That should get you through the times you can't collect worms and slugs. I would say with a diet like this and a temp of 60-70 F you should let him get really full 2-3 times a week. If he's eating and you can keep him within 60-75 degrees with no problems, then I'd say keeping him is feasable. At least over the winter, he'll be better off. I was just worried you wouldn't get him to eat enough if at all. Heck, if he's eating and the temperature range isn't going to be a problem then just keep him if that's what u want to do.