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What kind of snake is this?
- Thread starter Nitelion94
- Start date
Nitelion94
I am The Nitelion
I would love to house it for the qinter but I don't want to take its like wildness away and make it a spoiled snake lol if that makes any sence. So it wont make it bad when I let it go
vliberatore
New member
Could find a large box or something contained to feed it live mice in. Put obstacles in the way etc. so the mouse can hide. It's not perfect but it should keep it's hunting instincts relatively sharp.
tyflier
[Insert Witty Commentary]
This isn't gonna be that snake's first winter. Brumation is an instinct, and keeping him through the winter shouldn't effect that instinct, considering this is at least his second year, judging from the size. These guys never get much bigger than 18-20" in length...
I think you'd be fine to hold onto him over the winter, and let him go(if you choose) in the spring. Be warned...this instinct is strong, which could make feeding him more difficult through the winter. Sometimes they brumate even if the light cyucle and temperature don't fluctuate. It's a strong instinct...
Camby
He will join us or die
Are you serious? Thats like saying I should drive around the neighborhood, to the school and then down a chicken path road and back to the house to eat the burger I just grilled so that my instinct to find Burger King stays sharp. I promise you that if I sat in the house eating burgers for a year, if after a year the Burger King hasn't moved, I will find it if need be.
The snake will hunt when it gets hungry, they will not just sit in the area released and wait for Billy Joe Bob to feed it. WC or not, feeding live is really a bad thought. If you are going to release it then you should do it immediately and very close to where it was caught. I imagine you are starting to get really cool nights now so releasing in a different location will likely kill it because it wouldn't find the best place to hibernate for the winter. It instinctively knows where to go in it's native location.
Just my thoughts and 2 cents.
dc
Nitelion94
I am The Nitelion
Well I do have an obstacle that gets in my way of burgerking.....its called Wendy's
Susan
Go Ahead, Make My Day!
Personally, if you didn't plan on keeping it permanently, you should release it. You have to worry about the quarantine to not only keep your snakes safe from what it might be carrying, but also to keep it safe from the different strains of bacteria your own snakes have. And Chris is dead on about the feeding. It might not take anything you have to offer because it has been eating it's preferred prey for over a year. I recommend you take it back to the area of your cousin's brother's garage (wouldn't he also be your cousin?) and say good-bye to your little friend.
MotleyMedusa7
lovin' my sweet corns
what a pretty king snake 
I would release it into an unpopulated area during the warmest hours of the day-I'm sure it will find a den to hide in before it gets cold at night. I don't see that keeping it captive for a season will do any good for it if you're not planning on keeping it. It may make you feel better that you're 'helping' it,but really,if you keep it for a while,after you release it how will you know what effects it had on the snake? I guess I'm also speaking as someone who encounters wild snakes around my house frequently, I never think to bring native species inside to help them out..they do well on their own from what I see. I'm sorry,I understand that you want to help it,but really I don't see the point in keeping it captive,I figure the most help you can give it is to release it into an area where it won't encounter people.
I would release it into an unpopulated area during the warmest hours of the day-I'm sure it will find a den to hide in before it gets cold at night. I don't see that keeping it captive for a season will do any good for it if you're not planning on keeping it. It may make you feel better that you're 'helping' it,but really,if you keep it for a while,after you release it how will you know what effects it had on the snake? I guess I'm also speaking as someone who encounters wild snakes around my house frequently, I never think to bring native species inside to help them out..they do well on their own from what I see. I'm sorry,I understand that you want to help it,but really I don't see the point in keeping it captive,I figure the most help you can give it is to release it into an area where it won't encounter people.
vliberatore
New member
Yes I am serious. It's actually like nothing you said at all because snakes are wild animals and we're humans. Snakes rely on instinct and we (some of us) think. What I offered was a suggestion if they were really worried about the animal and the cold nights. In no way did I say what was "best" for the snake. Feeding live for wild snakes is a bad idea? So we should go thaw a bunch of hoppers and start leaving them in fields to help make it safer for the snakes?
You'll find the BK because you can THINK. Snakes cannot. What I offered is what I have done in the past with WC snakes and yes, they survived since I saw them again the following year after letting them go.
Just my 2 cents.
RosieReal
New member
I think we can all agree that the best thing to be done, if the snake is not to be domesticated, is that it shouldn't be kept in domestic conditions.
As for the snarkey remarks about "feeding live a bad idea for wild snakes"...If i understood the previous comment properly, the poster belives (and i agree) feeding live in an enclosed area is a bad idea for any snake for reasons alredy established by the industry. Its different in the wild. If a snake has a meal it cannot subdue, it has the escape option. Not so in captivity, no matter the origon of the case. No one was suggesting thawing dead mice to leave in fields.
Please, in the future, attempt a little less insult and a little more tact. I'm sure you felt defensive of your post, but responding in kind will never solve the isse. Thank you for your time and input.
tyflier
[Insert Witty Commentary]
what a pretty king snake
It's not a kingsnake, it's a nightsnake. Completely different species with completely different requirements.
If it was a kingsnake, there would be little to stop him from making it a wonderful pet. Kings tend to be very adaptable, and wc kings make fantastic pets, if kept properly.
Nightsnakes, on the other hand, are not the easiest snakes to keep. They don't typically adapt very well to captivity, and can be very difficult to feed. Nothing is impossible with the right habitat and feeding regiment, but...it's definitely not easy to keep nightsnakes captive, in my humble opinion...
tyflier
[Insert Witty Commentary]
COMPLETELY ignore me. I was in the wrong topic when I posted this. Sorry. I need to remember to check the first page of a topic before replying...
Sorry!!
vliberatore
New member
You're right, I responded in kind to the response I received. Where is your response to Camby's post? If you cannot understand the sarcasm in my post, that is not really my problem since you were not my intended audience. I may be new to this forum, but I'm not new a catching/keeping snakes. I don't exactly need you to try to enlighten me as to why feeding live is not the preferred feeding method.
Lastly, I did not insult anyone. I understand you're trying to keep the forum clean, but there is no need to create an issue where there is none. It might be helpful for you to check out some other threads, with REAL flaming going on if you insist on policing the forum.
Camby
He will join us or die
Mine wasn't sarcastic, it was making the point that yours wasn't realistic for what your intentions were (keeping his wild hunting instinct keen). Seriously, I am just tired of seeing people post wrong, irresponsible or partial information to others and so many on here just let it go and say nothing to avoid hurting others feelings. Like me or don't like I could care less, but your information was irresponsible to the snake and the keeper.
Think about it before you respond, I mean really analyze what you told them. PLace a live animal in a small cage with their snake. Admittedly, this snake is small so for now a live pink or fuzzy can't harm it but after that there is a real risk to the snake. So, that said, you told them to place "obstacles" in there for the snake to have to hunt around and keep it's instincts in good tact. Forgetting the issues of live versus wild caught, how big of an enclosure would you suggest? It would have to be huge to achieve your goal. Say you use a 55 gallon aquarium for the snake. You place a mouse in there and within minutes, that mouse's scent will be all over that enclosure, of course the snake is going to go after it due to scent and site but that is nothing like in the wild. In the wild the snake is cruising along (if actively hunting) and catches a scent and then pursues that trail. In the cage, heck, he will smell it and then just start cruising, the mouse is going to keep moving until it knows it is in danger, b then it is too late, the first time the snake sees movement it is over with, he zeros in on the prey.
Hunting in the wild is completely different, the mouse can bolt when danger is sensed or it may continue moving to the poit the snake gives up or comes across a different prey item. If the mouse turns on the snake and attacks/defends once it is attacked, the snake can leave the prey if it is injured bad enough and the mouse will likely leave it alone. In a cage scenario, the snake can not escape once it becomes the attackie (is that a word?). The snake can receive real damage or death from the mouse in an enclosure. In the wild, he has little choice but to hunt live prey, it would be rare for a snake to happen on a dead mouse that was not covered in ants or insects or not too rotten to consume safely.
You do what you want, make the suggestion if you like but I personally think your advice is irresponsible. That isn't sarcasm, it isn't a jab at you nor is it an attack it is simply my opinion of your advice. Maybe others don't agree with me, I just don't see the need to place an animals health at risk when it is not required. I only feed live when an absolute necessity and then it is monitored closley to be sure the snake isn't hurt.
dc
RosieReal
New member
I am a long standing member of this site, and have seen many threads with what you call REAL flaming. I was trying to prevent that.
I was not explaining why live feeding is bad, rather where you had misunderstood the post you were responding to. You chose to misunderstand me as well. If you go read my post again (which should be easy, as you quoted it) you will see it is not a comment directed at a novice, but an attempt at clarity.
You are continuing with the behaviour I was objecting to, I found your remarks directed at me insulting, and belive they were intended to be so. I will not choose to converse or reply to posts of this nature in the future.
vliberatore
New member
Well I wouldn't say it is irresponsible since I have done it to a number (3) of WC snakes that I have caught. 2 of them I knew, for a fact due to their markings/scar on one, had survived 2 years after me releasing them. I'm not saying the reason they lived is because of how I fed them, but it obviously didn't hurt.
You're assuming a large viv, I used my back lawn, and corralled the mouse on the grass (roughly a 30'x50' area). I put the snake down, and the mouse down, about 20' away from the cali king that I was releasing. I kept the mouse on the grass, and the snake hunted it's prey. I was trying to create the most realisitc, controlled hunting situation that I could. I feel like I did a fairly good job at that.
You also assumed that I just let the snake and mouse have at it, completely unsupervised. I may be younger than you, but I certainly am not stupid. I know what can happen with feeding live.
I feed my current corn, and the snakes that I didn't release, f/t mice. The kings that I've kept/released were either injured or almost dead when I got them. I could have just left them for the scavengers, but that felt like the irresponsible thing to me.
Next time, instead of assuming the things you do not know, ask questions. It will save a lot of time. You can call me inrresponsible all you want, they survived in the wild, as far as I'm concerned I did the responsible thing by rehabilitating them.
If you really would like to continue this, PM me.
You're assuming a large viv, I used my back lawn, and corralled the mouse on the grass (roughly a 30'x50' area). I put the snake down, and the mouse down, about 20' away from the cali king that I was releasing. I kept the mouse on the grass, and the snake hunted it's prey. I was trying to create the most realisitc, controlled hunting situation that I could. I feel like I did a fairly good job at that.
You also assumed that I just let the snake and mouse have at it, completely unsupervised. I may be younger than you, but I certainly am not stupid. I know what can happen with feeding live.
I feed my current corn, and the snakes that I didn't release, f/t mice. The kings that I've kept/released were either injured or almost dead when I got them. I could have just left them for the scavengers, but that felt like the irresponsible thing to me.
Next time, instead of assuming the things you do not know, ask questions. It will save a lot of time. You can call me inrresponsible all you want, they survived in the wild, as far as I'm concerned I did the responsible thing by rehabilitating them.
If you really would like to continue this, PM me.