Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just curious. For those of you that collect wild snakes, what have you observed on how well snakes calm down in captivity? My question is basically, what are the odds that a w/c black rat or emoryi will calm down if collected from the wild and how long can I expect it to take? By calm I mean act like my corn. I understand it is possible it may never happen and it depends on the snake but I am wanting to compare notes and check out my odds. I am most interested in results for snakes under or around 24"-30". Thanks alot for all of your help.
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

I think it really depends on the individual. I've been keeping a pair of WC TX Rats over the winter and the two are like night and day. The larger of the two was very defensive when I caught it, striking and musking. But after only a couple weeks in captivity it had calmed down very nicely to the point where I can take it out of the cage and handel it a bit with no problems. It has also become very alert and inquisitive and pokes its head out of the hide box when we are moving around near its cage. The smaller one is the spawn of satan. I can't even get the cage open and the hide box removed before it is rattling the tail and gaping and striking. This snake has not changed one bit since I got on Christmas day. It is very secretive and nervous. I almost never see it out of its hide and when I do happen by when it is out in the open, it retreats quickly. I thought it was very interesting the way these two are so different, and how the larger one has calmed down so much without me really even trying to work with it. I only disturb these guys to do routine cleaning since I am releasing them in the spring.

Wow, what a great question!!!
This is so variable that all opinions you get here will have merit.

I’m not going to comment on the ethical issues of taking an animal from the wild. That would make an interesting thread on its own merit.
AND
It’s extremely hard to generalize on how easy it is to “man” a specific wild species or variant, because as soon as someone makes a blanket statement like “White Sided Snow Snakes are docile as soon as you pick them up”, this will surely be met by someone else saying, “White Sided Snow Snakes never become docile in captivity”, and both folks are probably right according to their life experiences.

In other words, there are few absolutes in nature.

AND

You need to be keenly aware of how your own state laws treat collecting of wild animals. Whether or not you agree with the law (another great topic of discussion), it is the law.

All that said, here are some opinions for “manning” a wild snake:

While snakes are not very demonstrative of intelligence, and much of how they act is from genetic memory, personalities can still be conditioned and developed, especially based upon types and frequency of predator encounters.
These animals sometimes can be deprogrammed of their defensive attitudes with patience handling them without emulation a predatory response.

Some suggestions:
1. If the animal defends itself vigorously, let it calm down and start feeding regularly, then handle it often in a supportive way, but don’t stress it too much. Be patient.
2. Scooping up the animal instead of grabbing it, as would be jaws or talons. You want to be perceived as a tree or a rock, and not as prey or predator.
3. Be prepared to get nailed a few times, so you don’t react violently when it happens and causes an escalated reaction from the animal.
4. I personally find “side loading” cages make feeding and handling a stressed wild caught animal a little more calming than “top Loading” cages (e.g. an aquarium). When you imagine the approach of mammal and avian predators, it’s almost always from overhead.
(Side note (no pun intended)– with very little handling of Rat Snakes in “side loading” cages, the animals quickly associate the door opening with food. I’ve gotten more bites of mistaken identity this way than with animals defending themselves.)
5. Be prepared to fail. As tex540 said, some are "spawn of satan".

If you just want any Emory’s, for example, you are better off buying captive bred (fewer parasites, less stress on wild populations, cheaper, etc.) If you want a locality specific animal (e.g. Alpine, TX Emory’s) collect responsibly and legally.

Wild snakes almost always have a parasite load. In the wild the animal has generally reached some sort of balance, equilibrium, but in captivity, we upset that equilibrium. Take a fecal sample to a vet, and treat accordingly.

Finally, if your screen name is "phiber_optikx", are you OC-12, OC-48, OC-192????

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Regards, Bill McGighan

You made many great points in your response. I would like to start by saying it is perfectly legal to collect anything but endangered and hott species in MO so I am not breaking any laws. Also I am prepared for the vet bills for parasites. The reason I want to collect is because I prefer locality animals. Also I really don't want anything but a black rat from where I live. They are 6' and solid black. And last but not least. I am not any of those other names you mentioned. I'm just me
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Ball Python "Wilson" (Castaway)
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
0.0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Onyx"

Good Luck.
Keep everyone posted on how you do.
Some of the largest average length and most docile Black Rats I've seen were in north central Missouri, Grundy County.
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Regards, Bill McGighan

Some of the black rats in the 24-30 inch catagory have been somewhat defensive this past year. Just about every larger sized obsoleta I've ran across this past season have been pretty calm. This black rat was very laid back. He had no issues with being held by the guy in the photo, and he didn't have any problems with me holding him either.

Steve

I haven't collected a wild snake in a while, but I grew up catching and keeping black rats in Ohio. I can say that I have very rarely had a black rat that did not calm down a make a great pet. Actually after the inital capture most of them were very docile.