Can anyone help me identify this snake?

[knobby]

Was found while digging a new basement in extreme north central Ohio yesterday

hmmm lets try that again lol

http://home.centurytel.net/knobby/images/snake1.jpg
he's little...thats a pop cap next to him

http://home.centurytel.net/knobby/images/snake2.JPG

[alex_33]

You're pics didn't work. Try again.

[knobby]

ok pics worked now

any ideas?
he's pretty calm and easily handled

tends to move in sort of an inchworm fashion

belly is speckled

[Zoe]

Looks like a nothern water snake ( http://www.oplin.lib.oh.us/products/snake/fact%20pages/water_snake_northern/water_snake_northern.html ) to me. Maybe a fox snake?

Zoe

[knobby]

hmmm well I could be a water snake but most water snakes I have come across are pretty grouchy...this little guy is very peaceful....also he was found in a field probably ohhh atleast 1/4 from a stream and 1/2 mile from a large pond

do water snakes roam that far from water?

Ive looked at a ton of pics on the web today and this snake looks alittle bit like several different kinds to me lol

for awhile I was leaning towards fox snake
then I came across a pic of a milk snake that looked very close
I also thought maybe a corn snake

He is so small....smaller than a pencil...I suppose its even possible it could be a baby black snake that will turn black as he matures

but Im no snake expert so I dunno

I'd like to offer a bit of food but I dunno what he might eat...it would have to be awful small food

[Zoe]

You could offer earth worms, slugs, minnows, a pinky mouse.

IMO, though, you should let him go. He'll do better and be happier in the wild, especially considering you don't know what he is and thus cannot offer proper care. If you do let him go, let him go about where you found him.

[Gregg M]

Yeah, I am with Zoe on this one...... Just let it go....... I dont know why anyone would want wild caught reptiles when there are so many captive born...... And if you let it go, do it exactly where you found it........

[Tim and Julie B]

Take lots of pics though!!!!!! So maybe you can Identify it later! Good find!

[JD@reptiles]

It is a northern water snake. just a neonate. He will darken up over time. but, you should just let it go. nice find though.

Jordan

[knobby]

any way to tell for certain it is a water snake?

I have my doubts on that one because it wasnt found all that close to water and this snake is very 'tame'. Every water snake Ive seen was very aggressive and every webpage about northern watersnakes stresses that too. They also say watersnakes are stoutly built. This little guy would have no problem crawling through a McDonalds drinking straw

One things that leads me to believe that it may very well be a watersnake is the way he moves on land. It resembles the movement of a sidewinder or sometimes in an inchworm fashion

[Zoe]

knobby - it is a neonate nothern water snake, of course it will be small. It may not even have eaten a meal yet, and not all snakes follow tempermant rules. Northern Water snakes aren't always found in the water, because they arent TRUE water snakes.

Yes, find pictures of neonate NWS and compare. The picture on the site i gave you looks exactly like your's.

Zoe

[CyberGhost]

looks like my found snake which was I.D. as a bull snake and I think yours is to. Or some sort of relative, like a gogher, pine or fox snake. But maybe it is a water snake thats probly a relative to. Some colobrid right?

[knobby]

well CyberGhost your find and my find sure look alike in the color pattern department

Cyber's

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=126198

mine
http://home.centurytel.net/knobby/images/snake2.JPG

yours found in texas?
mine in Ohio

yours called a bull snake
mine called a watersnake

just goes to show ya how how it can be to identify young snakes even for those with experience

[CyberGhost]

More then you know thats a horrible pic myn looks exactly like yours almost+ I'm doubting myn to be a bull its so little like your in fact maybe myns a water snake. though there was no water mile from where it was found. I don't know. I have a knach for getting "unknown" snakes.

[knobby]

well I emailed the ODNR with a description and pictures

and for what its worth their verdict is that it is an eastern fox snake

[CyberGhost]

Well then myn must be a wetsern fox snake, no I think myn is a gopher snake but they are praticaly the same snake.

[daver676]

Have you let it go yet?