Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm particularly interested in the smaller Colubrids, e.g.
Diadophis,Haldea, Storeria, Opheodrys, etc. It would be nice to have a forum on these.

Anybody out there keep and breed Diadopis??

I keep 3 of the 4. Diadophis, Storeria, and Opheodrys. Ringnecks are def. my favorite though. Andy
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Andy Maddox
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Who are you who can say it's ok to live through me? Alice In Chains

Well, I felt the need to register just to reply to this post.

I think a forum for smaller snakes would be great. Everyone and their brother is into big pythons and rat/corn snakes, but no one seems to pay any attention to the little guys. The little snakes are often first pets--I got into snakes by catching northern brown and eastern worm snakes and I know a lot of other people who've done the same.

Big snakes are great, but the little ones can be pretty interesting as well.

I got one.... i just caught him on sunday and he's real cute.. my mom even likes him (or her) a bit and she is afraid of snakes.... any thing you learned about keeping them anything extra i should know about feeding this little guy he is just a baby.. and i would reconmend a snake like this as they are small eat slugs and stuff so people who don't like feeding mice, and they don't need that big of an enclosure...good luck and there should be a small snakes forum

P.S. this is the little fellow

If you're going to keep the snake, keep it in something WITH A LID (with airholes, of course). That's probably the only brown snake lesson I have that's worth passing on.

What are you keeping the brown snake in right now? If the screen and lumber arrangement in the picture is it, you should definitely get him a nicer cage.

Actually what you see him/her on is the screened lid. it is in a 5 gal (i think) with that screened lid and 3 hiding holes and for now paper towel bedding. he has a heat pad under about a quarter of the tank and one of the hidey holes is on the area where the pad is and the other is in between and the last is on the cool side.. i custom built the lid and it is a tight fit that i don't think even the adults could push open ( it's annoying for me to open) He has fed twice now and i caught him on sunday so i think he's doing good....That's all i can say for now........well no what can i feed him through the canadian winter? he's too small yet for most slugs but i will start freezing them for the winter but what can i feed him for the winter if he is too small for slugs any advice?
Dave

If you have a nice-sized compost pile somewhere, that's an easy source of worms in winter. If you don't, well, I'd suggest making one and stocking it with worms. Alternately you could fill a good sized flower pot or five gallon bucket with compost, dirt and worms and keep it in inside during the winter. I have a neighbor who keeps a worm farm--they don't really need that much space and they just smell like dirt. Plus the worm poop makes great soil for house plants (should you need to justify it...).

I don't know about slugs in winter, though freezing them sounds like a pretty good idea. Try feeding him a thawed slug soon though--it would be a pity to have a freezer full of slugs that no one will eat.

I'd feed the snake once a week, one or two earthworms or slugs at a crack.

Does your snake have any water? You should have a small water dish, like an upturned tupperware lid or something similar. Dechorlinate the water if at all possible--you can use commercial fish stuff, or just let it sit out for a day or two.

It has a water dish and i am going to try frozen slugs tonight to see if he/she will eat them, the compost heap idea sounds good but i don't know if my mom will let me keep a container of dirt in the house. thanks for your info.
Dave

I would suggest feeding the brown once every 3 days. I have kept them before and they seem to have a much faster metabolism than the bigger snakes. I fed mine worms through the winter. Usually bought at a local bait shop. Once the snakes were of decent size I usually fed them night crawlers. I would cut the worms in half or thirds if they were too long.

Whats cool about these little guys, is they are live bearers. No eggs to incubate. I have had a couple of clutches and they are really easy to maintain.

I have found they feed readily on baby worms.

Hope this helps and good luck
Brian

Thanks, he is a hatchling size i think but i am trying slugs i can get worms and i am trying to keep snails n slugs
Thanks again
Demon

How big is he/she? I would venture to say that your snake is maybe a yearling. Baby DeKays are tiny!! They also look like a pale looking ring neck when born. Usually grey or dark gray with a pale yellow ring around the neck. They can be confused with baby ring necks when they are newborns. Usually start turning the brown color when they are around 4 or 5 months old. Sometimes earlier sometimes later, depending on the individual.

Newborns are only a few inches long and VERY small. I had one female that gave birth to a clutch of 18!! 6 were still born, and the 12 that survived did very well.

The smaller snakes can be alot of fun to keep and they dont cost near as much to feed. And a small styrofoam container of worms in the fridge are alot less conspicuous than a few large freezer bags full of frozen mice in the freezer!! LOL

Enjoy your little guy, and once the bug has bitten, you will be wanting to keep more of these little wonders. I know I was keeping DeKays, ringnecks, red bellied browns, earthsnakes, and wormsnakes.

The earthsnakes and wormsnakes dont take to handling as easily as the dekays, red bellied browns and ringnecks. So if you decide to try these guys, they stress easier when handled.

But the ring necks and dekays always seemed fine with it.

I no longer keep these little guys, even though they are all over the place here in KY. I have moved on to the colubrids (rats and kings).

Happy herping
Brian Baker

I hope to be getting a corn snake by years end (school year)
Thx for the compliment and here is a more recent pic, they are in a 20 gallon long tank right now and will be moved to another place when i do get that corn snake.

I do.
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