Re: I need help identifying a snake.

[Guest guest]

Your best bet would be to do a Google image search for grey snakes. I

also live in Illinois and there are three venomous snakes in our

state, if I am not mistaken.(None of them gray.) However, just because

the venomous ones might not be in your county, it does not mean the

sanke isn't venomous. People release such snakes into the wild all the

time. They are ex-pets.

Tom

Administrator

I caught a baby gray snake in our garage the other day; and I need

help identifying it, so I can make sure it's not venomous. I can't

show any pictures of it because I don't have a digital camera that I

can use; but if anyone can show me all pictures of gray snakes,

preferably juvenile or baby pictures, living in the county I live in,

it'd help a lot. I've been told that there haven't been any venomous

snakes seen in my county for over 25 year, but I'd prefer to be 100%

sure. I live in Winnebago County, Illinois. Can anyone provide

photos of all gray colored snakes that live in that county?

God bless, Irelan

[Guest guest]

That would make me a very lucky person, since I picked it up barehanded. I didn't get bit because I picked it up by the back of the head. We live in an area that's out in the country where there are plenty of wild animals; and I don't think there's anyone in the neighborhood that keeps venomous snakes as pets, so it would've had to make tracks to make it to our yard, since it's a baby. I can ask our next door neighbor to do a little snooping, since I talk to her a lot. If it's a venomous snake, I'll probably see about calling a pest control company to see about getting rid of it; but I am going to want to try to milk the venom out of it first in case there's a herpatology lab that might be interested in it. My mom and I are thinking it's a bull snake because we had an adult bull snake in our yard several weeks ago that we had a hard time getting rid of, and it wanted to live under a cement stoop in front of our house. We were

wondering if maybe it was a female that was looking for a place to lay eggs and decided to do that under our stoop. So far, this is the only baby snake that has shown up since we got rid of it. The only thing that has me doubting that it might not be a bull snake is that it's not the same color as the other snake. Also, it was acting a little aggressive when I picked it up; and it was vibrating its tail. Do bull snakes act like that when they're babies? The other snake wasn't gray at all. Could it have mated with a snake that was gray? And could the snake have gotten its gray color from the father? God bless, Irelan

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[Guest guest]

Some snakes are different olors when they are born and get more

coloration later on. That it wass vibrating its tail could mean that

it is a baby rattler or missagua. I doubt it is old enough to have

venom yet. Just be careful handling it, or else let it go.

Tom

Administrator

The only thing that has me doubting that it might not be a bull snake

is that it's not the same color as the other snake. Also, it was

acting a little aggressive when I picked it up; and it was vibrating

its tail. Do bull snakes act like that when they're babies? The

other snake wasn't gray at all. Could it have mated with a snake that

was gray? And could the snake have gotten its gray color from the

father?

[Guest guest]

, was this what you found?

Elaphe spiloides -- Gray Ratsnake

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/herpdist/species/el_obsolet.html

Go here to see other pictures of snakes native to Illinois...

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/amprep/ilspecies.html

If you click on each link on the site, they even have maps showing

which counties the snakes have been found in.

Tom

Administrator

Can anyone provide photos of all gray colored snakes that live in

that county?

God bless, Irelan

[Guest guest]

,

I took it further for you. here are all the reptiles and amphibians

found in your county You will have to highlight the entire link and

copy and paste it into your browser if it does not work by clicking

on it here.

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/amprep/counties/winnebago.ht

ml

It looks to me like you might have a Regina septemvittata -- Queen

Snake...

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/herpdist/species/re_septemv.html

or a

Dekay's Brownsnake -- Dekay's Brownsnake

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/herpdist/species/st_dekayi.html

or else a baby snake of some kind that has not yet got its full

coloration.

Tom

Administrator

I caught a baby gray snake in our garage the other day; and I need

help identifying it, so I can make sure it's not venomous. I can't

show any pictures of it because I don't have a digital camera that I

can use; but if anyone can show me all pictures of gray snakes,

preferably juvenile or baby pictures, living in the county I live in,

it'd help a lot. I've been told that there haven't been any venomous

snakes seen in my county for over 25 year, but I'd prefer to be 100%

sure. I live in Winnebago County, Illinois. Can anyone provide

photos of all gray colored snakes that live in that county?

God bless, Irelan

[Guest guest]

" Can anyone provide photos of all gray colored snakes that live in

that county? "

" God bless, Irelan "

Go to this link and you can e-mail folks who might be able to

identify your snake for you. Who knows? Perhaps you have found a

new species, or one that has not yet been discovered in your county.

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/amprep/curators.html

1816 S. Oak Street

Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217-244-7077

Fax: 217-333-4949

Email: chrisp@...

Title: Further Studies Coordinator, Herpetologist

Petzing

1816 S. Oak Street

Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217-244-9864

Fax: 217-333-4949

Email: jpetzing@...

Title: Herpetologist, Collections Manager

Office Location: NRB

A Mayer

1816 S. Oak Street

Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217-244-2354

Fax: 217-333-4949

Email: camayer at uiuc.edu

Title: IDOT Data Coordinator, Database and Collection Manager

Office Location: NRB

[Guest guest]

It's not a queen snake, Dekay's Brownsnake, or a rat snake. I looked at every species of snake on the Illinois site, and it looks mostly like a fox snake or a massasagua, and I've never heard of a rattlesnake that doesn't have its venom. In fact, I've heard that baby rattlesnake bites are worse than adult rattlesnake bite because they waste all their venom on one bite; and it's more concentrated. I've found out first hand that rattlesnakes aren't the only kind that vibrate their tails. The adult bull snake we had in our yard vibrated its tail. I haven't handled it at all since I caught it. I was able to hold it once without getting bit because I picked it up by the back of its head. The closest to handling I've done since then was when it looked like it was sleeping, and I reached in and touched its back a little bit. Your link to the snakes in Winnebago County didn't work because I got an error message when I clicked on

it. I'm going to let it go eventually, but how I let it goes depends on what kind of snake it is. If it's venomous, I'm going to want to have a pest control company get rid of the snake for me by taking it somewhere and letting it go; but I would like to try to milk some venom out of it first and see if there are any laboratories nearby that would be interested in it. If I can't figure it out online, I'm going to try to see about taking it to a local pet store that sells snake Wednesday and asking if they can identify it. God bless, Irelan

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[Guest guest]

I just tried it and it worked. As I said, you have to copy the ENTIRE

link into the web browser. That means the html portion of it too.

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/amprep/counties/winnebago.html

Tom

Administrator

Your link to the snakes in Winnebago County didn't work because I got

an error message when I clicked on it.

> God bless, Irelan

>

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[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/21/2006 12:42:04 AM Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

Some snakes are different olors when they are born and get more coloration later on. That it wass vibrating its tail could mean that it is a baby rattler or missagua. I doubt it is old enough to have venom yet. Just be careful handling it, or else let it go.TomAdministrator

I have seen young black snakes around here shake their tails even though it made no noise. We are supposed to have rattlesnakes, but I've never seen one. They are in Alabama too, but I've never seen one, though some of my friends have.

[Guest guest]

Thank you. That time, the link worked perfectly. Do you know how big fox snakes are when they're babies?God bless, Irelan

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[Guest guest]

I took that snake to a pet store; and it turns out it's a corn snake, so I'm very relieved that it's not venomous. When I got back from the pet store, there was another baby snake just like it in our yard, so my snake collection is up to two snakes now; and it looks like there's a nest somewhere in our yard. Does anyone know of any discussion groups like this one that's strictly about snakes? I love reading about people's encounters with snakes and would enjoy belonging to a group like that. God bless, Irelan

Stay in the know. Pulse on the new .com. Check it out.

[Guest guest]

Go to and do a search for snakes. You will find hundreds

of them. I saw many on cornsnakes, and there are others for snake

lovers in general. Some of these groups have over 400 members.

Tom

Administrator

Does anyone know of any discussion groups like this one that's

strictly about snakes? I love reading about people's encounters with

snakes and would enjoy belonging to a group like that.

God bless, Irelan

[Guest guest]

I was hoping you would be able to provide the link to one that's for snake lovers in general. I'm not really interested in one that's for corn snakes only even though that's what I have right now. I like to hear about all snakes. I suppose I can look on the myself. What's the link to look there? God bless, Irelan

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[Guest guest]

I noticed that corn snakes aren't listed for Winnebago County. Should I send them an e-mail to let them know I found a couple so they can update the list? As much as I watch for snakes, I wonder how the mother of these snakes got past me.God bless, Irelan

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[Guest guest]

http://dir./dir/1600126164

snakelovers/

snakes2/

http://www.reptileforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

I was hoping you would be able to provide the link to one that's for

snake lovers in general. I'm not really interested in one that's

for corn snakes only even though that's what I have right now. I

like to hear about all snakes. I suppose I can look on the

groups myself. What's the link to look there?

> God bless, Irelan

>

>

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[Guest guest]

I would. They may be an invasive species that is a threat to the

ecosystem. Also, they would give you credit for finding them.

Tom

Administrator

I noticed that corn snakes aren't listed for Winnebago County. Should

I send them an e-mail to let them know I found a couple so they can

update the list? As much as I watch for snakes, I wonder how the

mother of these snakes got past me.

God bless, Irelan

[Guest guest]

I tried looking on groups, but I couldn't find a group like this one where you get snake messages e-mailed to you. Can you please help me out by showing me one?God bless, Irelan

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