Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The first snake I caught was a striped king snake when I was about 14. He was about 4 feet and reared up with the front of his body curled like a rattlesnake. He looked fearsome but calmed down in a few weeks. I would take him outside a few hours on some days and one of the times he got out of his cage. I never saw him again and I have been looking for this snake ever since LOL. I am 59 and still enjoy turning over rocks and wood whenever I am on a trail.

What was the first snake you caught?

Dave

I was 8, and mine was a western ribbon snake caught on a rocky island in a big creek I grew up on. I had just started learning about snakes, overcoming a fear that had been taught by others, and when I caught this thing, my world changed completely.
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Genesis 1:1

where i grew up... there was only 1 type of snake back then..... the green snake.... which ate the anoles running all over the island.... (wrightsville beach, nc) now that i'm older, corns and rat snakes are starting to get on the island.... hopefully they will eat the squirrels (i know very unlikely) but yep.... the green snake was the first snake i caught... then after that probably a worm snake....

~kin
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~Sober Serpents~
www.freewebs.com/soberserpents
Corns, Creamsicles, A Black Rat, Thayeri, Cal Kings, A Jungle Corn(Just A Pet), A Ball Python, A Bearded dragon, Leopard Geckos, Green Anoles, a Snapping turtle, and a white cheeked mud turtle

If I remember correctly, it was a Rough Green Snake when I was about 6 years old. Have had tons of snakes ever since that day 42 years ago. I wouldn't trade the snake hobby for anything in the world!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Growing up on Key Biscayne,the crandon park zoo was surronded by a mote and the neighboring ponds had watersnakes.
So i would say Banded or mangrove watersnakes (some RED phase)
Nothing like a kid with a blue stingray (Bike)with Ape hangers(stock equip.),and a knobby Rear tire on the front(1960sBMX) with a pillow case
Or was it a ribbon?,Everglades or red rat,that was 3or 4 decades ago.......Chris

Probably a pacific ringneck in my backyard.
First reptile I caught to keep was a California Alligator Lizard.
First snake I caught to keep was a Pacific Gopher Snake.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

My first capture was a hatchling northern black racer when I was 12. I've been hooked ever since.

Mine was a Florida garter snake. I was 8 years old and have been hooked ever since. I'm 53 now.
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0.1 Mexican Black King
1.0 Brooksi King
1.0 Japanese Bobtail
1.0 Maine Coon

Eastern Hognose, Callaway, Florida. I was 10. I probably would have caught something before then, but from ages 5 through 9 I lived in New Mexico and generally wasn't allowed near the areas where there could have been snakes. That, and we had a 90 pound German Shepherd in the backyard who chased anything live out of the yard. ^_^
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake (Eddie Gein)
0.0.2 Cornsnakes
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Black Cat (Shadowfax)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan) (Deceased )
1.0 Tennessee Walking Horse (Durango)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

A garter snake in Michigan when I was about 6 yrs old, also grass snakes and racers..less of those because they were small and fast.

A lined snake in Sherman, Texas at my grandma's house in the water meter. After that I was hooked!
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Todd Hughes

Water meters were a favorite of mine when I was a kid. I found many toads and frogs in them but never any snakes.
I do not remember which was the first but I have three early memories of catching snakes. There was a garter and a rubber boa that I caught at my great aunts house in northern CA and then there was the three california kingsnakes I caught in one day at a field me and my friend used to play in all the time. I kicked a piece of cardboard and to my amazement there was a small kingsnake beneath it which I grabbed. We took it back to my friends house and I couldn't believe it when my friend's dad declared it to be my buddy's snake, even after hearing how I had found and caught it myself. I couldn't accept that so I said let's go try to find some more, reasoning that since it was a baby there had to be some more. We went back and found 2 more. I know I got to keep at least one of them.

Oh yea, that field is now developed but that's how it goes in southern CA, I guess.

Not just southern California.
There was a hill in Walnut Creek that I must have take at least a dozen Cal Kings from - well over bag limit. I kind of felt bad about it several years later.

However - there aren't any kings there now, just concrete and buildings.
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I decided my old sig was too big.

My first was a northern ringneck some 40 yrs. ago in W.V. Jeff

Garter snakes ... all day long, caught them by the barrels after the first encounter. Loved them. Those guys can get SOOOOOOO tame its ridiculous.

Who would have thought that a wild caught garter snake... after six months of ownership..... would come across the room and follow you around ... down a hallway... and into another room ... all in the hopes you had a tasty minnow for him

Must have been 8 or 9 and me and my dad were helping my uncle burn off some land and there were critters pouring out like crazy. Well my uncle caught a garter snake for me and it was great while I was holding it. I put it in a coffee can and took it home, well everytime I so much as looked at that can that snake would strike the lid with so much ferocity that I was afraid to pick it up after that so I let it go.

Many years later when my son wanted a snake I found myself messing with it more than he did, now I can't get enough! Kevin

harrellandsonsherps

The house where I grew up backed a state park, so I've been catching snakes since before I could even remember catching them. The first ones I remember were garters and ringnecks when I was about four years old... Back then I could go outside on any warm day and come back with at least five small snakes (not an exaggeration).

The first snake I caught and kept was my California King, who I caught in mid-2005 a few miles from my current house. He's the first snake I've kept as a pet, though I had some experience with snake care from working at a fish and reptile store.
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- Natalie
(San Francisco Bay Area)

1.0 Banded California King
1.0 Mexican Black King
1.0 Goini Kingsnake
1.0 Bay of LA Rosy Boa
0.1 San Ignacio Rosy Boa
0.1 Ortiz Rosy Boa
2.3 Kenyan Sand Boas
0.1 Saharan Sand Boa
1.2 Rubber Boas
0.1 Pickering's Gartersnake

I want to thank all you guys and ladies for taking the time to share a bit of the way you became who you are and the snakes that "started it all."

Dave

I'm sure it was a worm snake. My next door neighbors back in the early 70's (yes the early 70's) had a endless garden in their back yard with MANY raised beds that were surrounded with rocks in the 30 to 50 pound range. I could easily find close to 10 worm snakes sometimes back in those days in just a hours worth of flipping. They were often in pairs with gravid females. I also used to find eastern garters, black rats and box turtles in their garden. Randy W.