I'm so lucky!!

This morning I was feeding my mice and in the bottom tub was a sneaky little rat snake! He's a little bit bigger than a hatchling. I picked him up and he only bit me like twice. I put him in a spare tank with some water and hides. I then put a pre-killed fuzzy in with him and he ate it!! Is there any reason why I shouldn't keep him? I was thinking I'd either keep him, or trade him for another corn at the dallas repticon.

Check your local laws about keeping native wild caught snakes. I know in some areas, it's illegal to catch and keep native species.

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Originally Posted by Andrew21

Is there any reason why I shouldn't keep him? I was thinking I'd either keep him, or trade him for another corn at the dallas repticon.

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They're good, natural rodent control. Probably has a fair share of parasites and will need to be purged if you plan on keeping. If you trade be sure to tell people it's wild caught so they can make a fully informed decision.

"It shall be unlawful to engage in any commercial activities involving any species or subspecies, if more than 1 exists, of reptiles or amphibians collected from the wild that are indigenous to or whose range extends into Oklahoma, except for provisions for rattlesnakes, water turtles, and aquatic salamanders." That makes it sound like I can't keep him. Anybody want to clarify it? it's from my hunting regulation book.

But it also says, "All other reptiles, excluding rattlesnakes, have a year round season. The limit is 6 per day or in possesion for each species."

So it sounds like I can kill them, but I can't keep them as a pet.

You can keep him but you cannot trade or sell him! At least thats's the general rule in the midwest. I am originally from Missouri and thats the way the law read when I was growing up

Here's a link to where I'm getting my info from.

http://www.eregulations.com/oklahoma...n-regulations/

What do you think?

I would try to find something on your local government's website. If you're getting info from a hunting website, it's almost certainly discussing killing animals, not the keeping of pets.

Well, that is from the oklahoma department of wildlife. It's the only thing I can find.

So I think I can keep him as a pet, I just can't trade or sell him like bigjaypiercer said. Does anybody know how much it'd cost to get him purged? And is it really neccesary? He's a hatchling, so I think he'd be low on parasites. Is it a risk to my corns, or does it just affect him? I really want to keep this guy, even though I can't use him later in any breeding projects. It's a pretty cool story.

I would let him go.

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I'm with Doolittle on this one. He's really cool I know as a Kid and a Young man I had my fair share of wild collected Rat and King snakes but I almost always kept them for a few days to a week and then released back where I got them. Not saying you should put him back in your rodent rack, LOL.

But really he was born in the Wild and deserves to stay in the wild. I totally condone hanging onto him for a couple days, see if he will eat for you, then find a nice woodpile( Away from your rodent shed) and release him.

All in all though it's a really cool story!!!

Yeah, let him be free and order you a nice captive born rat snake from BHB or another reputable breeder for cheap :-)

As far as the laws go, there is nothing wrong with it in the US, it varies some what by state, but usually it varies only in the requirements - hunting lisences needed, permits, etc. Most states limit the amount you can have in your collection as well of wild caught before you have to get a collectors permit, then a commercial permit after that...

The reason its under hunting regulations is because collecting wild snakes is the same as killing them, you are pulling them from the wild. Hope this helps.