garter snake long island ny

[nyjon]

with my luck i found a little brown snake what seems to be a garter snake. it made its way inside the office building i work in and found it by the elevator. i put it inside a brown lunch bag and im not sure what to do with it its tiny about 5 inches long...im not even sure how or what i would feed it? do they require heat and hides like other corn,milk,king snakes? i can post pictures of it when i get home. thanks!

[formica]

best to put it back somewhere in the wild, yeah post some pics up so its identity can be confirmed and you can be advised on how/where and when to release it

some garters will eat anything, some wont eat anything, some will only eat worms and some will only eat live fish, sometimes they'll munch a tiny pinky mouse without any problems - best bet really, is to let him deciede for himself out in his natural habitat, and get yourself a CB if you want to keep garter snakes - also garters are best kept in groups, they are one of the few snakes who ''enjoy'' living together

[nyjon]

here ya go. i dont know how this little guy made it into an office building but here he is lol is it normal for them to be out around now? its about 60 degrees outside right now. looks tiny. might have gotten lost from the group??

[infernalis]

That is a Storeria dekayi - Dekayi Brown Snake.

They are harmless, but a bear to feed. They dine almost exclusively on baby garden slugs, tiny snails and baby earthworms.

[wrecker45]

Im in ontario. All the snakes here are hibernating. Dekayi browns stay within 100 ft of the hibernation place. Releasing it in the wrong place it may not surfive.

[formica]

beautiful little snake!

found a bit of info here

ADW: Storeria dekayi: INFORMATION

seems that now is the time they are most frequently seen out and about, after heavy rain, when moving between ''hibernation spots'' - their distribution suggests to me that 60F is not to cold for him to be put back in the wild - do you have any local garter nests you can put him in? otherwise under a nice big pile of logs, twigs and leaves will probably shield him enough from any cold snaps, he should be warm enough from being inside, to find himself somewhere to wait out the winter - but i'm making assumptions based on other species

[nyjon]

we actually just had a storm go by and it was raining all day. its been misty and foggy over the last couple of days...maybe he was migrating? I have plenty of backyard that i can release him. i checked the weather and it says 46 degrees dropping into the low 40's later on at night. is it ok to let him go or should i wait till the day time? i dont know where i would even start to find him food. i picked him up because i knew the ppl inside my job would freak out.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by nyjon

i picked him up because i knew the ppl inside my job would freak out.

You did good.

Dekayi snakes are great with the cooler weather.

I have seen them out when all other species are hibernating..

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by wrecker45

Im in ontario. All the snakes here are hibernating. Dekayi browns stay within 100 ft of the hibernation place. Releasing it in the wrong place it may not surfive.

Where exactly did you get this little nugget of misinformation from??

[wrecker45]

From our ministry of natural resourses.

[infernalis]

They need to correct that data. My property is a couple thousand feet front to back, and I have been Dekayi watching for many years, they travel a heck of a lot more than 100 feet from the hibernation spot.

[wrecker45]

Sorry might be 100 metres. Which is just over 300 ft.

[nyjon]

well i released him this morning in my backyard. theres plenty of bugs and slugs back there for him to feed on