Posted by Jill Adams on September 27, 2006

Q: My husband found 2 baby bullsnakes yesterday. It seemed very odd that we would find babies at this time of year. My daughter would LOVE to keep them, but in looking through other Q&A's at this site, I think you would recommend that we wait until spring to find a baby snake to raise. However, since they are babies, are they going to be able to survive on their own? It is already getting close to freezing temperatures here at night.

What would you recommend?

Jill

State: Montana

A: First off, I applaud your willingness to learn and incorporate new information from others - not everyone is willing to accept information that doesn't agree with their immediate wants.

Your baby snakes will do (would have) just fine in finding a place to hibernate, it's instinctive. Only one possible problem though. If your snakes are brought into your home where temp is reasonably warm, I'd make sure to release them on a day that isn't too cold. In other words, their search for a hibernation location has been interrupted so this "may" delay their orientation a bit once released. I wouldn't fret about it, just wait until you know the day is in the 50's or higher with some good sunshine and then release them where you found them (or close by). This will give them more time to home in on a good site. Snakes have a way of finding good overwinter locations - if they didn't, there'd be no snakes in Montana.

Hope this helps you out. Feel free to write back if you have any more questions. Thanks for being so environmentally friendly!

John Wiessinger ( September 27, 2006)