# The snake in my yard had babies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714 "2006-04-22T01:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/21 "2006-04-23T03:20:47Z")
Awww. Congratulations! You made me think of my “[help, I found a snake!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=196637)” thread from a few years back. Thanks the help of the Dopers, I now look forward to my occasional encounters with Alfonso & Friends. Yay snakes! ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/22 "2006-04-23T05:54:43Z")
**Hypno-Toad** , you’re sure that’s not just an earthworm? 😃 Cute widdle snakes! They do startle me when I first see them, but as soon as I can see they’re the harmless types, I’m cool with them. Unless they’re eating something. Head-first. Like a frog. Which is still alive. For several hours. Aw, it was probably dead and those twitching legs were reflexes as the body was compressed. Yeah, that was it…oooooh, is that Abu Simbel? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/23 "2006-04-23T14:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=Mehitabel] **Hypno-Toad** , you’re sure that’s not just an earthworm? 😃 [/QUOTE] I thought it was at first. Then I saw how it moved. And that it was on the sidewalk during the day without rain. It tried to bite me but just wasn’t big enough, like if I tried to bite a wall. I wonder what a snake that size can eat? ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/24 "2006-04-23T15:16:19Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] Very, very cool. I’m envious! You might want to put up a sign or something in case anyone would walk up to your house unexpectantly, meet Mommy Snake and freak out, possibly hurting her. But then again, such a sign might lure evildoers to come in and hurt her on purpose… Weird. Here’s a mommysnake in the USA, I’m in Holland, and I feel proterctive of her. [/QUOTE] Ooh, I wonder if you can find a cute “snake-crossing” sign! ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/25 "2006-04-23T22:51:19Z")
**Hypno-Toad** , that is a cute snake. /likes snakes, so already biased 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/26 "2006-04-24T00:59:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I wonder what a snake that size can eat? Juvenile crickets, small beetles, earthworms (as long as they surprise the worm), grubs. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/27 "2006-04-24T16:58:34Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] (as long as they surprise the worm) [/QUOTE] I have trouble imaging anything having to\* stalk \* an earthworm. Are earthworms particularly dangerous when cornered? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/28 "2006-04-24T18:05:46Z")
My son and the roommate’s kids found a bucket full of baby snakes. I was snoozing on the couch and I opened my eyes and he was holding the bucket right up to my face. It was an eye-opener. They’re very cool when you’re not introduced from a dead sleep. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/29 "2006-04-24T18:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Hypno-Toad] It tried to bite me but just wasn’t big enough, like if I tried to bite a wall. [/QUOTE] Awww. How cute. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/30 "2006-04-24T18:32:23Z")
When I waas a kid at church camp, a bull snake bit a girl and her boyfriend freaked out and killed it. I saw the snake (everybody came running when she started screaming) and thought maybe it had just eaten something since it’s stomach was bloated so I decided to perform a necropsy. Imagine my surprise when after cutting for about an inch a little snake head popped out. I ended up delivering 49 baby bull snakes, all developed enough to slither away to the brush. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/31 "2006-04-24T18:34:18Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] My son and the roommate’s kids found a bucket full of baby snakes. I was snoozing on the couch and I opened my eyes and he was holding the bucket right up to my face. It was an eye-opener. They’re very cool when you’re not introduced from a dead sleep. [/QUOTE] :eek: Now, I like snakes, but that sounds terrifying! ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/32 "2006-04-24T19:16:28Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] When I waas a kid at church camp, a bull snake bit a girl and her boyfriend freaked out and killed it. I saw the snake (everybody came running when she started screaming) and thought maybe it had just eaten something since it’s stomach was bloated so I decided to perform a necropsy. Imagine my surprise when after cutting for about an inch a little snake head popped out. I ended up delivering 49 baby bull snakes, all developed enough to slither away to the brush. [/QUOTE] That’s so freaking awesome. Like a phoenix rising from its ashes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/33 "2006-04-24T21:25:54Z")
Congrats on the snake babies! How fun. We had a snake in our BBQ grill a couple of years ago. It was father’s day and still kind of chilly, so it must have curled up under the black cover to get warm. It was just a gopher snake, but Mr. m still shrieked like girl when he first saw it. We haven’t seen it lately; hopefully it’s OK and still happily hanging around the neighborhood. (That was the second of three animal infestations Mr. m discovered in our grill that year. The first was a nest of mice, who moved when the babies grew up. The third was a stuffed rhino I put in there as a joke. We had company and all of us watched from inside while he cautiously opened the grill and then jumped about three feet up and back when he caught a glimpse of something grey and fuzzy inside.) ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/34 "2006-04-25T05:12:37Z")
Wait, wait! I realized those snakes aren’t any babies. They’re babiesssssss. Thank you, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/35 "2006-04-25T06:56:40Z")
Aw, snakelets! 🙂 Okay, I’ve got a baby story. A few years ago, I had a big pet gartersnake living in the animal room in my basement. Her cage was a nice aquarium with a wire mesh lid. In one corner the wire had a hole big enough to let in the cord of her heat rock but not big enough to let her out. One day my husband was going down the stairs and let out a screech. I was in trouble, obviously. 😉 Nineteen little snakes were making their way up the carpeted stairs. Oops! I gathered 'em all up and everyone went back to where I’d originally found Mama. Nowadays I’ve got two captive-bred Ratsnakes - a Black Rat and a Leuscistic Texas Ratsnake (all white with purple-blue eyes.) They board at my friend’s place. Oh and to everyone who says they’d like a snake but not the live rodent dinners - at the zoo, we NEVER feed live, except to the Rattlesnakes and Horned Vipers. Mice and especially rats, can and will kill or maim your snake. Captive bred snakes (the only kind you should even consider) are perfectly capable of eating pre-killed rodents. My breeder friend gets her supply already frozen and simply thaws 'em out as needed, warms them to the right temp and uses long tweezers to wiggle them a bit. The snakes have no problem figuring out what to do. That’s our method at work as well. A caution. NEVER get ANY exotic animal without researching it thoroughly FIRST! You can’t simply dump a snake in a tank and throw in food once a month. They need vitamins and calcium, special UV lighting, extra heat ( they need a place to warm their stomach to aid digestion,) enough water to have a good soak in, a steady food supply, rocks to shed against and in some cases a cold storage place for the winter. If they don’t hibernate, they don’t do nearly as well. You’ll also need to find out how big they’re going to get. You may buy a Burmese Python with the best intentions but when it’s seventeen or eighteen feet long, it will need it’s own room. Most zoos WON’T be happy to take it off your hands. There were already ten guys asking ahead of you. I’d say anything bigger than a Ball Python is out of the “pet” catagory. Finding a reptile vet can be a challenge too and snakes can be finicky. They’re prone to respiritory trouble and mouthrot. They also sometimes come infested with mites. They don’t really like to hang out on humans, but they _will_ bite just to see if you taste like snake. Reptile Relief (mite killer) is horridly expensive - about $80 US a gallon. Local bylaws may come into play too. In this area you may not sell a snake that will grow longer than six feet (average). You can own snakes bought elsewhere, but even that’s under discussion. Yard snakes are cool and take care of themselves. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/36 "2006-04-25T14:34:31Z")
[QUOTE=zoogirl] Nowadays I’ve got two captive-bred Ratsnakes - a Black Rat and a Leuscistic Texas Ratsnake (all white with purple-blue eyes.) They board at my friend’s place. [/QUOTE] We have a black rat snake that lives in our crawl space under the house. Sometimes when I am in the yard I see him hanging his front end out of his hole and checking things out. He’s very calm. I like him where he is, but if I ever find him in one of the trees I will probably crap my pants. They are quite big. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/37 "2006-04-25T16:50:48Z")
To follow on to what **zoogirl** said, anyone who is considering a snake or reptile should probably read Lynn Rosenberg’s [How To Kill An Iguana](http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/killingigs.html) on Melissa Kaplan’s [http://www.anapsid.org/](http://www.anapsid.org/) web site. (In fact, I strongly urge anyone who has or is considering a herp to bookmark that home page and read all the pages listed beneath **Herp Care & Keeping** thoroughly.) ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/38 "2006-04-26T02:08:39Z")
Wow - based on what \*\*zoogirl \*\* said, we’re doing everything wrong!! My husband (Mr. Legalsnugs?) and I have a ball python, Saba, a 1992 Christmas gift for my daughter, who just ten short years later married a man with a morbid and unreasonable fear of snakes. :rolleyes: So we kept Saba. Saba was live caught, not captive bred as I had specifically requested and as the pet seller swore she was; so she had ticks and a bad case of intestinal parasites. Poor thing didn’t eat the first eight months we had her! There is one - count 'em - one vet in town (not a small town) who treats snakes. Saba LOVES her vet and knows him well. She lives in a converted console television set in an upside down tera cotta flower pot (her burrow). She seems okay - when she comes out, we feed her a live rat (at Christmas she gets a gerbil, her natural food in the wild, but they’re lots more expensive than rats and are supposed to be pets, so we don’t like to do that). She’s our best pet! (we also have four cats) And our grandsons think she is sooo cool. We’re trying to share our non-fear of snakes with them. It’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/39 "2006-04-26T04:41:09Z")
Yaaayy! Snake kittens! ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714/40 "2006-04-27T01:31:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Yaaayy! Snake kittens! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! Too, too good! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-snake-in-my-yard-had-babies/353714.md?page=1)