Best way to mark wild snakes for population count

Hey! What is the best way to mark/tag a snake when doing a population count? A couple of my friends and I were going to make an field herping journal this season (species, size, M/F, where, who sighted, who caught, and any abnormalities), and were wondering if there's a safe way to mark the snake without harming it so that we aren't counting the same snakes multiple times. Also is there a way to mark them where it won't come off after a couple sheds (unlike something like nail polish that I've heard that people use to mark bearded dragon clutches after they hatch).

Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!

I would think that taking photos of each would be the easiest as each snake as a different pattern? That way you know which is which and no danger of harming the snakes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by talon04

I would think that taking photos of each would be the easiest as each snake as a different pattern? That way you know which is which and no danger of harming the snakes.

---

That would depend on what species it is, though. Some species (like Black Racers) are going to look the same in pics. Plus, it's way easier to have a specific spot on the snake to check for some kind of mark, than to try and compare photos with totally different backgrounds to see if the pattern looks similar or not...

I don't want something that is completely permanent, but I don't want something that is going to disappear after the first shed.

The only thing that I am able to think of, is a microchip under the skin.

BUT.....I dont know if you can legally go and just implant microchips in every wild herp that you come across.

And anything that you put on the scales, WILL come off with 1 shed.

There are numerous ways to mark snakes for pop counts, none of which are what I would consider 'non-invasive'. Pit tagging, etc gets expensive and is hard to do unless you've been trained in it, scale clipping is only reliable short term and wounds the snake, dyes, etc are VERY unreliable due to the shed factor (and the visibility issue, exposing the snake to predators, etc).

Ironically, photo ID CAN be used quite successfully long term with certain species (some kings/garters/natrix) if you use a part of the body that is definitive (ie not the whole snake). If you are REALLY interested, pm me with your locale and I can probably give you an idea of what has worked in your area in the past. It also depends on what you would really need the data for.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,
Kat