Neonate BHS release?

Neonate BHS release?

Postby Brussel » Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:20 am

Hi team, I caught two neonate brown house snakes hiding in a friends garage and I need to know what to do with them. We.re in Bellville, Cape Town and things are pretty cold, do I release them or hang ten till after winter? The snakes are tiny and cannot be more than a week or two old from the same clutch.

what to do?
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Westley Price » Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:25 am

I suggest you hang onto them.

Of course that is not strictly speaking legal, but for the benefit of the snakes I say go ahead.

Then just release them in a nice suitable spot once spring kicks in.
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby sgmpanza5 » Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:27 pm

Release or keep.....

If you really don't mind looking after two BHS neonates and have proper housing and food for them for the rest of winter, then fine you can keep them. You can also release them, they would still be fine. You wouldn't be rescuing them from a catastrophe (it's just winter). Their mother and father (as well as millions of other snakes species) have gone through winter before and they were just fine.
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Jamster » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:13 am

These are hatchlings(from eggs), snakes that are given birth to are called neonates ;).As long as you release them in a suitable area they will be fine. Somewhere near a rocky outcrop would be great. As sgmpanza5 said snakes all over the country are survivng winter with no problems at all in places that are reaching below 0 degrees.
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1.0-taiwanese ratsnake
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1.1-corn snakes
1.2-rhombic skaapstekers
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Westley Price » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:28 am

What you guys are forgetting is the high mortality rate in the wild.

Yes, whether these two hatchlings survive would make even the slightest difference to the BHS population, but there is certainly a good chance they wont make it due to the normal mortality rates.
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Jamster » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:44 am

Maybe so, but is'nt it exactly that which we are trying to preserve? The natural order of things?

Yes they might die, but they may also provide another animal with one of the small meals they may require to make it through the winter. This is exactly why they don't lay one or two eggs. Because the mortality rate is high, a higher number of offspring are produced in order to compensate.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not having a go at you or your opinion, I am simply voicing mine :)
1.0-reticulated python (Ripcord)
1.1-burmese pythons
5.5-brown house snakes
1.0-taiwanese ratsnake
3.8-BCI
1.1-corn snakes
1.2-rhombic skaapstekers
1.0-yellow rat snake
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Westley Price » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:51 am

Of course, no problem with differing opinions and nothing wrong with a healthy debate ;)

Your entire reasoning is made correct with the phase:

Jamster wrote:Maybe so, but is'nt it exactly that which we are trying to preserve? The natural order of things?


Now there is where we differ; you want to maintain the natural order (which is of course great) but for me it would be about making a difference to the two snakes at hand, so then I would stick with my guns and say keep them until spring.
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby michael » Thu Jun 26, 2014 10:37 am

In this case they are wild snakes, the natural order of things should be preserved. Look don’t get me wrong, taking them and keeping them as pets would make no difference really, whether the law says you may or not is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. What is relevant is that we really add no benefit by keeping these guys over winter unless you plan on keeping them permanently as pets. Their odds of survival in the long run may even be poorer after being in captivity. So keeping them is not necessarily the kindest thing to do unless you plan on having permanent guests.
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Brussel » Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:00 pm

I have no intention of keeping them as pets as I have two carpet pythons already.
I am concerned as Michael points out that keeping them in captivity may in fact be worse for them.
I think I may just let them go and trust the Creator of all to sort it out as He sees fit :) perhaps they survive or become a meal for some other hungry animal
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby fatman » Fri Jun 27, 2014 11:59 pm

My R0.02: keep them over winter then let them go. Humans kill almost every snake they can (huge generalisation, but true)...helping the little guys through winter is a small tip in the right direction. You will simply give them a little headstart in life.
"There are three things too wonderful for me, yea four which i do not understand....the way of a serpent upon a rock" Prov 30 vs 18, 19
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Savu » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:07 pm

I like your 2c ,fatman!!
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Re: Neonate BHS release?

Postby Jamster » Sun Jun 29, 2014 9:17 pm

The fact that these snakes were found in someone's garage and are still alive shows that people are not always keen to kill snakes. I am finding that more and more people are shying away from killing snakes.

Brussel, I am not in any way taking a stab at your husbandry skills. But , what if something had to go wrong and these 2 snakes died in your care?

If you are planning on feeding them, you will probably have to give them a little heat. They probably won't take pinkies and might take geckos and little skinks. It is illegal to catch these but I think we have already crossed that bridge.

If they don't eat it would be best to take them off heat so that their metabolisms slow down.
1.0-reticulated python (Ripcord)
1.1-burmese pythons
5.5-brown house snakes
1.0-taiwanese ratsnake
3.8-BCI
1.1-corn snakes
1.2-rhombic skaapstekers
1.0-yellow rat snake
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