Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went swimming tonight and I suppose a ringsnake decided to go swimming too LOL... it swam right into me and after yelling I picked him up and took him home. He's sooo adorable! I know he's a ringsnake but not sure what kind... he's very dark grey with a bright orange/yellow underbelly and ring. Right now I have him on pine litter (all I had on hand, the shops are closed). Should I change it? I gave him two hideboxes, one moist and one dry. He chose the dry one.

I know ringsnakes eat snails and slugs and stuff, but do you think he might eat mealworms, minnows or tiny crickets also?

How long do you think it would be safe to keep him if he doesn't start eating? If I can't persuade him to eat I'm going to let him go, but I don't want to starve the little guy.

Thanks for any info! I'm going to go read some ringsnake FAQ's, but any input from you experienced small snake owners would be great.. I've only ever had boas, lol.

Briana

Due to your description I thought it was a Northern Ringneck Snake. But in the pic the snake looks like it has spots on the face and chin... a characteristic I haven't seen in Northern ringnecks.

What state was the snake found in? How big is it? Does it have spots on the belly?

Finding out what sub-species it is, is key because then you know what prey to offer it.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

I'm in North-Central Florida. I'd say the snake is maybe 10-12 inches long and a little bigger around than a pencil at its widest point. It has a row of black spots going down the center of its belly. The snake's coloration is the brightest at it's back end, it shades from dark grey and yellow to black and bright orange. Here is a pic that shows the belly and chin spots.

Thanks for looking!

Briana

Looks like a nice, big, healthy Southern Ringneck. You should definitly release it back into the wild in my opinion.

If you plan on keeping it, I say use soil or newspaper as the substrate, have a couple things the snake could hide under/in. Have a water bowl. And about a week from today put some feeder fish in the water bowl. Southern ringnecks commonly eat fish. Maybe that's why it wandered into the swimming pool.

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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

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