Wild Juvenile Gopher Snake

[MKP]

Hello,

I need advice.
I have experience with keeping snakes/lizards as pets but never a wild caught.

I recently moved to Eastern, WA and there are many different types of snakes.
There are so many snakes being killed by people here its dismaying.

It was late October in the afternoon and the temp was 51 degrees. I saw this baby Gopher snake on the road and knew he was not going to make it. Birds of prey or a car, was gonna get him. It was very lethargic due to the temp. Middle of the road too.

So I figure he can winter with us.
I have a 120 gallon aquarium for him.
I just want to get him through the winter and let him go on our property.
We do NOT have cats.
He has the same basic setup as a Mexican Black Kingsnake I had for 18 years. I cleaned up and disinfected the tank and gave him a hiding place, under tank heater and a sun bulb.
I tried him on some fuzzy pre-killed mice. He was not interested.
He seems pretty thin but he's active and alert.

The goal here is to keep him on his own regimen for feeding, if even just one more feed and hibernation.
Then maybe warm him up in Springtime, feed him once or twice and let him go again back to the wild.

But I've never dealt with wild caught before. Also I've never had to hibernate a snake before. (If that is what its called)

So yeah, just want him to live to see the wild again.

So I need advice.
If he doesn't feed, will he live till Spring with as thin as he seems? No ribs showing, just a typical looking juvenile Gopher snake.

Should I put him in a 'hibernation'? Or just keep him warm and try to feed him all winter?

Not sure how to get this guy to spring time alive.

Thanks for any advice
MKP

[Herpin' Man]

Here are my thoughts.
The fact that the snake was on the road in 51 degree temperature in no way doomed it. Simply moving it off the road probably would have given it it's best chance at survival. It isn't uncommon to see late season activity like this from gopher snakes.
The snake isn't eating because it has prepared to brumate. If you want it to brumate, you need to put it someplace cold (40-45 degrees or so) right now. Stop trying to feed it. If it does eat, do not brumate the snake. The food won't digest, and the snake will die as a result.
If you decide to keep it warm throughout the winter, it will need calories- but it may or may not eat, as it has stopped eating in preparation for brumation. If it doesn't eat, it will lose weight, and possibly not survive.
If the snake does survive the winter in captivity, you absolutely shouldn't release it in your yard, for the following reasons:
If the snake has been exposed to harmful pathogens while in captivity, these could be spread to other wild snakes.
Your yard may not be suitable habitat.
If your yard was some distance from where the snake was found, genetic pollution would occur if the snake reproduced with local snakes.
Many snakes have a strong homing instinct, which leads them to wander when they have been misplaced. This could mean crossing roads, yards, and agricultural areas, which it may not survive.
Releasing snakes, even natives, that have been in captivity, is almost universally illegal in the U.S. I haven't checked your state laws. It may not even have been legal to have removed the snake in the first place.
If it were me, I would have simply moved the snake off the road into appropriate habitat. Given that you now have the snake, my advice is to stop trying to feed it, keep it warm, or handle it. I would get it into a sufficiently cold environment over the course of the next few days, so that it can brumate. Then, I would just plan on keeping it, as it likely shouldn't be released.

[MKP]

OK then,

What is the best environment to set up for it for brumation?

For example, fashion a burrow of some sort for it?
Pine shavings?

I got it from a road a few hundred yards from here.

[Bandit]

I agree with the above. I see snakes out regularly at 51 degrees. I've also seen many on the road. If the weather is still pretty mild, it would be best to go let it go where you found it. There's a good chance that it had a burrow or some other shelter nearby that it was utilizing. It would be much better to return it to its old spot than to let it go in your yard. In my opinion, that is the best way to give it a chance to survive until Spring.

Snakes have been around a long time, and they know how to survive. If it was out on a cool day, it was for a reason.

[Herpin' Man]

MKP- When I brumate captive colubrids, I simply place them in an escape proof, ventilated bin in a cold area. I have a cold basement. For a gopher snake, you want to aim for 40-45 degrees. Too warm, and they consume calories. It is best to do this over the course of several days, rather than all of a sudden.
I give them substrate, and a heavy, spill proof water dish with a small amount of water, although I don't think they drink it. I check on them periodically.
The snake doesn't need to brumate all winter. A month or two should be enough. When the snake is gradually warmed back up, its appetite should return.