Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all - I originally posted this in the corn snake forum, since I had incorrectly identified my little orphan!

We live in NE PA and a friend found this guy in his basement and wanted to be rid of it - was going to release it (temps were below 0) so we took if off his hands. Now I'm not sure how to take care of this guy. Have kept captive bred snakes but never a wild one. We want to release him/her in spring, but what 'til then?

Any ideas? FYI - he's about 2 ft long, and I'm not sure if it's male or female...

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1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.2.0 Giant African Millipedes - Cocoa, Vanilla, Millie
1.0.0 Crested Gecko - Hoolie
0.0.1 Corn Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids

Exact same thing happenned to me (see post below). Fortunately this has been the most a-typical wild milksnake I've ever seen, eating like a pig and quite handleable. I would suggest you just keep it at temps near or slightly above room temp (70-75 degrees), give a flat rock or other implement to hide under (mine likes tight spaces), and try giving it pinkies or fuzzies mice. Good luck!

Even as the previous post suggested offering food, that in my opinion may not be mandatory. Proper temps and a good hide are important but access to clean water would most likely sustain your snake til april when would be a good time to release it. If it eats, sure that's cool. If not it should not be too much of a problem. When I lived up north we would start snake hunting april 1st. If spring temps come a little early all the better, he should be fine as long as he is hydrated. Good job rescuing that guy from those frigid temps! Tom Stevens

Agreed....Water would be very important, I don't know why I left that out. I offered food to mine because it was obviously emaciated from keeping somewhat warm during the winter without any food to hunt down. cheers!

Hey, thanks everyone for helping out. I'll keep you posted.

I had originally posted for help in the Corn Snake Forum and the guys there were very helpful as well. One of them brought up the point that if I released him in the same area he'd likely end up in the basement again, so I was thinking that I would take him up to this place I know there are some other milks and release him there once I know the snakes in that place are active (we live up in the mountains and the microclimates here are very varied). So we'll see how it all goes...

Thanks again!
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1.0.0 Uromastyx - Draco
1.0.0 Ball Python - Vilthrul
1.2.0 Giant African Millipedes - Cocoa, Vanilla, Millie
1.0.0 Crested Gecko - Hoolie
0.0.1 Eastern Milk Snake - Slither
2.1.8 Hissing Cockroaches - Diamond, Emerald, Ruby and kids