Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any thoughts appreciated. I live in Staten Island NY and I've had gartner snakes in my yard since I moved in, according to my grandmother they have always been here. I'm in a residential area so it's weird they are here. Now that more houses have been built on the block I see less and less snakes each year.
Last Saturday I found a baby snake, greenish brown with two thin streaks on it's back(the usual ones in my yard) the problem is I"ve never seen them this late in the year and it's cold here now 30 -40 degrees daytime temps. He wasn' t moving but in plane sight. I wanted to put him in a tank because i didn't think he'd make the winter being out this late in the year. I decided against it and put him back out. Today there he is again, not moving until he feels the warmth of my hand. I have him in a 10 gal in the basement so it's cold but not as bitter as outside.
What do I feed him, should i keep him warm and what's up with the musk smell? Should i have returned him to the yard? Both times I found him he wasn't moving and in plane sigth....

No one has a word of advice? it's a northern brown snake I did the research.

They typically eat worms, you can warm him up and see if he's interested in eating. If he doesn't eat after a week or so and appears to be in good physical shape you can let him spend the winter in an unheated cage in your basement (make sure water is available). Sitting there unmoving for multiple days doesn't seem like normal behavior so I'd watch him closely.

-Alice

Thank you Alice but I lost him. He died less then 48 hours after I brought him in. Normally I woudln't remove from the wild(of my yard) but we had a storm coming in and I didn't think he would make it exposed like that. I normally dont' see any snake activity in my yard this late in the year(or at these temps) so I tried to save him