Reptile & Amphibian Forums

how about this a novice found a hatchling milk this summer & brung it the past herp show to find out what it was. anyway I asked him what he fed a young snake seeing as he has never bred(I asked him) he told it ate guppies & goldfish for him. go figure all this time we've been wondering how opportunistic young lampropeltis are & I found out by someone who now is introduced into the herp world by finding a milk in his neighborhood. we can all learn. well I told him to get 2 reading sources & some other basics but at least he & the snake are off to a good start. man now I want to find one but it is a quest I'll take next year.

Especially coming from novices,Jeff

If you think about it it does make more since for fish would be easier to catch & find then the baby snakes &/or lizards we so commonly think the solely prey on. plus the person thaught it was an unusauly patterned garter snake at 1st. any way I just read the other post eastern do eat fish & probaly a lot of other young oppurtunistic young lampropeltis. I've seen young racers eat invertebrates. so I wouldn't rule it out i'll try fish on my next year hatchlings of eastern kings.

I dont think it a good idea to come on these forums and preach what you think others may have practiced. While I respect your right to post, I think it best for the animals' welfare that they are given the best chance. Fish are not a good alternative to mice as they pose parasitic problems even for fish eating snakes. They break down too quickly and cause a myriad of other problems that garter snake professionals realize. There is a reason people eat fish to LOSE weight. The idea of keeping reptiles successfully is for them to maintain if not increase weight. Feeding racers invertebrates is not good for the same reasoning. Just because a animal will eat something does not mean it is GOOD for them to eat it. Reptiles as captives are to be manipulated toward our ease of keeping,if you are manipulated to their whims you wont be a successful keeper for long.And after all,it is the length of time that is the truest measure of success for any keeper/breeder. Jeff

I never said that to feed them continously on fish would be my goal just to try it out. I cut off mouse tails & smash pinkies to feed my hatchlings. If you are getting something out of the post that was never infered then oh well. I don't knock any one the guy didn't know & I actually told him to swicth to pinkies as soon as possible meaning next year as it will probally brumate soon. I enjoy reading you post. I'm not spell checking & this is an informal forum so.......let's enjoy herps ok.

np

someone posted pics of eastern milks eating fish, earlier this year
wayne

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Updated: 09:57 PM EDT
Girl May Lose Arm After School Snake Bite

AP
Copperhead snakes have broad chestnut-red bands. While their bites are seldom fatal to adults, they can seriously poison children.

Related Resources:
· More About Copperhead Snakes
· First Aid for Snake Bites

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POTTSTOWN, Pa. (Oct. 23) - A 14-year-old girl may lose her arm after being bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school, authorities said.

The snake was caught in Valley Forge by a 17-year-old male student, who took it in a shoebox to a drama club gathering at St. Pius X High School on Friday, Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Ray Bechtel said. No regular classes were held that day, which was designated for staff development.

The boy was showing the reptile to other students when it bit the girl's finger, Bechtel said.

The girl, whose name was not released by police, apparently threw the snake across the room and the boy threw it outside. The snake was not found, but authorities were able to identify it because the boy photographed it with his camera cellphone, said Bechtel.

The victim was treated at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center about 45 minutes after being bitten, he said.

"The doctors said if it had been a half-hour longer she would likely have been dead," said Bechtel.

However, police said she could still lose her arm.

Police did not have an update on the girl's condition Sunday. She had been in very serious condition at Hershey Medical Center.

No charges were filed but police said they were investigating.

Copperhead snake bites are typically not fatal but are extremely painful and may cause extensive scarring and loss of limb use, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension of North Carolina State University.

10-23-05 15:29 EDT

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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I work for the phila. animal care & control assoc. & it was a buzz. At the last hamburg show I was trying to tell the vendors be careful who they sell gators to as we have 5 conficated from a drug bust that we are trying to get sent to a refuge now. Since copperheads are native to hear I'm not surprised as I've seen them in the poconoes. but never that close I'm about an hour from valley forge on a heavy traffic day. 2 novices finding herps that it took me years to find & actually i found them when I was a novice also; that's what got me into herps I was raised camping chaseing & observing wildlife. The girl turned out ok just some numbness to her arm. she is homw now from what the reports are saying. They still didn't find the snake though. I'm surprised it was not brumating as it is oct. but oh well hopefully this won't cause a whole lot of snake hunters in valley forge next year, killing snakes meaninglessly.