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Any body want to help me out and ID

porkchop48

porkchop48

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snake2.jpg


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Any ideas what they may be? They are tiny about 2-3 inches and were born live..

Thanks in advance
Sorry if I posted in the wrong sections
 
Do you have pictures of the parents? Their really aren't that many live bearing snakes, so it should be fairly easy to determine what they are. When I first looked at the photos with their coloring and shiny-ness I thought I was looking at legless salamanders! :eek:
 
No pics of the parents.
These were dropped off at my local pet store that may sister works and "gifted" to me.

A couple found a snake in NY ( no idea where) brought it home and it gave birth to about 20-25 of these little guys.

They have whitish grey bellies
 
Pictures of the parents would be your best bet because hatchling to adult can vary greatly depending on the species. Assuming that the information you were provided is correct (live bearing w/c from NY), that might help in identification.

It looks to me like it could be a water snake. But it's not a Northern Water Snake.

I'll see if I can find anything. :)
 
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Looks kinda like them

Now what do I do with them? Can I just let them go if I find out they are native which i think they are.

Damn it I was kinda liking the little guys
 
That is what I am thinking as well.
Now I have to find out if it is legal to keep a couple of them.

Thanks for the help :)
 
Those are cool looking, the fun part now is finding a food source they are willing to eat. For what ever reason, if it does not eat a rodent, I cannot get them to eat. It would be cool if you would keep us updated, heck, snap some photos of them eating a snail, that would be cool.
 
They look like Mackay's Brown Snakes.

They remain very small (~8") and feed on worms, slugs, and the like. They won't eat pinks like every other snake you might get at a pet store. Also, DO NOT feed them red wriggler worms - leaf worms and earth worms are your best bet.

They are a relatively reclusive snake and like to hide in rock piles, wood piles, and even folded umbrellas (yes, that's from experience!). They are very docile, relaxed, and fun to handle. They don't do terribly well in captivity, though, and the best bet for their livelihood is probably to just let them go in a nice field somewhere.

~CrazySnakeLady
 
Do you know the scientific name for the Mackay's Brown Snake? I'm not coming up with anything with a quick Google search. Are Mackay's native to New York (where the parents were found)?

I would discourage the OP from just letting the snakes go in a field somewhere. I don't believe they are native to her area (West Virginia), and being that they were born in captivity, generally that is discouraged by most state's DNR.
 
Dekay's are pretty common here in Maine so they probably are common in New York also. They live under rotting logs, not wet ones, dry ones in the woods. They don't get very big, I've never seen one larger than a foot. They probably eat worms, slugs etc. Good Luck with the babies.
 
Kevin, are they Dekay's then (not a Mackay's as Kristine suggested)?

The information I linked in post #6 says they eat earthworms, snails, slugs, salamanders and soft-bodied grubs. Wonder if they'd eat the canned snails you can get?

I think they're neat little things whatever they are. :)
 
The picture in the hand looks more like Dekay's because of the checks, but the other ones could have been Dekay's or red-bellies. They're easy to tell apart as adults but as babies they're pretty similar. Both are common here and you mostly find adults.
Funny, I just checked the Maine website and they have Brown's(Dekay's) as special concern and red-bellies as common. I see many more browns than I do red-bellies.
Here's a picture of a baby red belly, I didn't take it I found it on the internet.

redbelly.jpg
 
A friend from MI Reptile Rescue just told me that they are Northern Brown Snakes (Storeria dekayi)
 
Thanks for all the help guys.
I have an imitator ( dart frog) tank that is polluted with snails. I plan on moving them into a 10 gal tonight with some heat and light and going to drop a couple snails in and see what they do.

I am confused about what to do witth them. I can not find anything that tells me yes release them or no you can not do that. I dont want the poor little guys to die.
I am going to research the Dekays and see if it is going to be possible for me to care for them properly.
Right now they are only about the size of earth worms would they be able to eat them if I cut them in half?
 
D'oh! Yes, Dekay's, not Mackay's.

You can get leaf worms from any bait shop. We had a Dekay's Brown Snake (found in our back yard) and she was a blast to watch. She would gulp down the worms voraciously! Our girl had baby snakes (live birth), but we couldn’t find anything small enough that they could eat, so we let them go back into the wild.

These snakes are common in parts of the US (Northeast and Midwest, in particular). You could let them go with no harm to the environment.

~CrazySnakeLady
 
CrazySnakeLady said:
You can get leaf worms from any bait shop.
Click to expand...

We don't have anything called "leaf worms" in our bait shops.
Is their another name for them?

CrazySnakeLady said:
These snakes are common in parts of the US (Northeast and Midwest, in particular). You could let them go with no harm to the environment.
Click to expand...

West Virginia isn't in the NorthEast or MidWest. In fact I couldn't find anything stating they are located in WV at all. :shrug01: While their may be no harm to the environment, let an animal go in a location where they aren't native and they will likely die.
 
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