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Herping in the House

Stormy

Stormy

Keeper of scaley things.
So I went to go throw something out and we have our mouse breeding rack in the same room as the garbage can. I noticed they were being nosier than usual so I turned on the light to find we had a poacher!

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We figure since we have a bunch of stray cats around eating any rodents he must have gotten in somehow and tried getting himself a meal. The ONLY way we can think of so far is he got himself between the back outter door and the inside door. Then when I opened it this afternoon he smelled the mice and wandered right in. He weighs in at 40 grams and is currently digesting a mouse he got for his efforts and resting in isolation.
 
Now that I've seen pics with the flash on (it's kinda dark in the room even with the light on, I think we caught a Kisatchie, but it could very well be a rat snake, the head is just too big to be a normal.
 
I think he might be a bit malnourished as well, got a good look at him, he's this year's hatchling but down here in central LA I've found eggs around fort polk already hatched out and rotting in early May, and they will eat nonstop until November, and by this time of year I would think he'd be nearly twice that size (you should see how big rat snakes get here, I have seen them at camps in excess of 9 feet). I'm pretty sure he's a resident of either our garage or the building in the back...musta got awful hungry.
 
Aw, poor thing looks thin. Kinda iffy about feeding it, don't want to introduce anything nasty to it... though they are specifically bred to feed your snakes so I guess it couldn't hurt.

You gonna keep or release it?
 
I don't think he'd make it through brumation this year. I'd let him go for sure if I thought he'd be fine, probably relocate to the park where he could eat the mice that forage the trash cans. But, your right, he's too thin. and the mice are my feeding stock so they are much better than anything he'd get otherwise. He passed that test, some wild snakes just won't eat in captivity, but he did, he's pretty placid, obviously let me hold him, didn't bite me and he's a hatchling so who knows, I'm not AGAINST keeping a wild specimen if your doing good by it.
 
I generally am against taking in wild animals... there are easily available captive bred almost anything, you know? Plus thinking like that leads to populations dropping due to the pet trade/etc. But in this case I think it may be ok, so long as the snake thrives.
 
Same here, I'm all about observing but not interfering with the wildlife, in this case, if I let him go I'm pretty certain he wouldn't make it to spring. He was trying to poach my mice bins because the damn nuisance animals (stray cats) have taken all of his available food from him. We will see, I'm gonna see if he eats again in a few days, probably gonna bath him, check for mites, make sure his eyes and nose/mouth are clear and isolate him for a while. I probably won't handle him much, I'd rather he feel he's still "wild" and have a better chance of release but I know that may not happen.
 
He really looks thin. Aint nothing wrong with taken care of a wild if it's in the animal's best interest. Whatever is best for their survivability.

I hate free roaming cats. It doesn't take long before they're feral and start decimating native birds and rodents. Especially since they kill just to kill and not to eat. Here's a great case of how they impact not just the prey populations but also the natural predators. I have nothing against cat owners. Just spay or nueter them and for the natural faunas sake keep them in the house.
 
Looks like an integrade of black rat and Texas rat with the brown showing through in the first picture. A couple mice, like you show in the picture, every week will get it up to normal size quickly. Keep it away from the cats as they will kill it just as quick as a mouse.
 
Well pattern wise I confirmed it is a Kisatchie corn snake, which most believe are an integrade of texas rat and corn anyways. He has alot of brown towards the head because he's young and I believe getting into blue phase of shed.

I am gonna keep him for the rest of the year, which means first thing he's getting a bath (drop of baby shampoo in a warm water tub), checked for mites, eye, nose and mouth check, and then he will stay in quarantine and will not brumate with my other snakes, I will feed him on a breeder female schedule and keep his uth on the warm side around 86 or so. I'll update his weight progress every now and then. I know he will eat, so that thankfully won't be a problem.
 
The cats we have here are so feral they ate one of the kittens that had gotten hit by a car a month ago. And I think our darn neighbor is leaving them food so that is why they are sticking around here. We have a pretty big german shepherd that is always trying to go after them and there are plenty of places around here with wildlife for food that dont have a giant dog that wants to eat them so there has to be a reason they are sticking around.
 
Good luck with the rescue work. I'd love to hear updates; both good and bad. LOL. Kind of a halfway house for herps that can't brumate.
 
Nifty looking snake! I hope he does well for you and you can get some weight onto him. Its a good sign he already ate for you.

I admit im a big cat lover and have two of my own, but it drives me nuts to no end when people wont spay or neuter their cats and dogs. Not only does it create problems like this, overpopulation and the like but its also not good for the animals health in the long run.

Were i used to live there were dogs running loose and strays all the time, it was very frustraiting. Esspecially when I was trying to walk my own dog.
 
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