When choosing a snake as a pet, you have to know that you are making a very long-term commitment. A lot of species can live to over 20 years. You also need to be willing to feed prey to your snake. Pre-killed prey is the best choice and often comes frozen in bags. Taking care of a snake as a pet cannot be compared to having a dog or a cat as a pet. If this is not a problem for you then you still need to know that there are some other requirements that you need to keep in mind.

Get A Healthy Snake

The first tip is that you have to make sure that you are getting a healthy snake. It’s vital that you look out for any signs of illness. This could include bubbles coming out of the nose, mouth rot, closed eyes or even retained skin. It’s helpful to ask for a feeding demonstration so you can make sure that your snake is taking to pre-killed prey well. Ball pythons are very notorious for having a range of feeding problems so keep that in mind.

Beginner Snakes

Some of the best pet snakes for beginners include ball pythons, corn snakes, king snakes or milk snakes. These snakes tend to be very well-sized and they are also very easy to care for as well. You can buy them from a huge range of breeders too. If you want some snakes to avoid then keep an eye out for Burmese pythons, water snakes, boa constrictors and green snakes. Any kind of snake that is dangerous to the owner should be avoided; the bite of a venomous snake and the crushing power of a constrictor can be deadly to humans.

Provide a Thermal Gradient

Every snake needs to be able to regulate their body temperature so that they can move between a warm or cool area. If you are able to provide this for your snake, then they will be much happier. You need to do this by ensuring that the warm side of the tank is hot enough for the snake to digest their meals. There are some common signs that your snake is about to shed as well, and temperature is vital to this.

Finding an Escaped Pet

If your snake tends to be an escape artist, then this information about finding a lost pet will help you. You need to know that your snake will likely head for a space that is warm and enclosed. They may also head to somewhere that is away from noise too.

Go to a Reputable Store When Choosing a Pet Snake

If you go to a reputable store, then they will be able to tell you if your snake is healthy and they can also let you know if there is anything that you can do to care for your snake better. This is of vital importance, so make sure that you keep this in mind if you can. If you are having a hard time finding a store near you then it is more than possible for you to get your snake delivered, but again, look up reviews and always ask the store if they can give you some advice as this will help them to demonstrate their knowledge.

Snakes amaze people; they are elegant minimalists. Their entire body is streamlined and purposeful, meaning that there is nothing in abundance.  Inside the body, the snake’s lung has only one flap, and the heart has only one chamber. Working from within the skin, flexible ribs act like small arms and legs; that’s the thing that distinguishes them from different reptiles and their amphibian ancestors.

Snakes are noteworthy because they can move without legs. By muscular and undulation movements, their specialized belly scales go up on trees, rock fences, cliff ledges, and barn walls. Snakes sense vibrations through the earth, taking note of danger. For more snake facts check this post.

The snakes release their outer skin during the shedding process called ecdysis. The animal that has such a simple way to deal with life also takes care of its life by just one significant move: shedding its external skin. This assists the snakes to grow and to get rid of parasites, similar to a dirty old sock. You’ve probably come across dried natural design wonders, like wasps’ nuts or mantis cocoons, when outside hiking or cleaning your garden. 

Different factors such as age, type of snake, health, etc. determine how many times a snake sheds its skin in a year. Sheds are typically dried and delicate when found. Snakes generally don’t shed in a place where they spend most of their time. They need something to rub against their body, which helps them in shedding their skin. 

Identifying Snake Sheds:

Herpetologists generally have a great knowledge of reptiles and amphibians. They are able to identify snakes from their sheds. The shed skin of a snake is essentially larger than the one it carried because the skin has to be stretched to be pulled off from the snake. Both the length and width of the shed can give clues to the snake’s body shape and size. The skin tissues get relaxed and stretched. The intestinal area between the scales permits intricate folds when it’s time to let go. If you want to identify a snake by its sheds, turning the fragile skin to the right side is the delicate option. 

It can easily breakdown by wind or animals or tear itself as a result of drying out. In case it is torn or distorted, it needs to be carefully photographed at each step of inversion.  You should have the ability to count scales and gain proficiency in learning their names to identify the species. 

 If the skin has been exposed to certain elements for some time, color patterns on a shed can be difficult to see. The shape or state of the head is a more easily recognizable difference between venomous and non-venomous snakes. If you can make a little pit between the eye and nostril if the head is intact and arrow-shaped, then you are probably going to have a venomous snake. The Coral snake is a special case in North America. 

 Here, I have explained some ways for a snake’s identification by its sheds. By looking closely at the scales, we can determine whether they are keeled or smooth. Smooth scales don’t possess any ridges, while keeled scales have a small ridge that passes through the middle. 

By examining the close-up view of the scales, you can see that they are smooth. We can identify several species, including the Northern Water Snake and the Garter Snake. As it has weekly-keeled scales, we can rule out Black Rat Snake. 

To distinguish it from the remaining snakes, we need to look at the anal plate. This can either be single or paired. It is located at the end of the belly scale on the body of the snake. It can be seen in the below photo that is shown in the circle. The snake tail is at the left and head on the right of the anal plate. 

In the photo above, the anal plate on the skin is not divided but it is single. Racer snakes have anal plates that are usually divided, but single anal plates are present in Eastern Milk Snake. Therefore, it is an Eastern Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum).

Can you identify a snake by yourself?

The design of scale gives significant clues to most of the experts, and they pay more attention to the head. Professionals also find out other hints to identify snakes such as their diameter, scales on the body, and the length of the shed skin. But, unfortunately, shed skin generally doesn’t have any color and it’s very challenging to identify the exact snake, specifically when there are two similar species. 

It’s possible to distinguish a snake by yourself with some patience, but it will be challenging. However, you need to have an intensive guide to handle snakes. If you want to do it by yourself, start by focusing on the length of the shed. Generally, the shed skin will appear longer than the actual size of the snake, but you can check potential snake species based on the length in your list. 

At the next point, investigate the size of the shed skin. This will be your initial step towards observing whether the snake is dangerous. In various areas of the United States, non-venomous snakes are commonly thin and long, while venomous ones are thick and short. 

Unfortunately, this standard is not valid in every case, so it is necessary to look at other factors to identify a snake. Now you need to look at keeled scales and smooth scales. Keeled scales generally have a ridge that runs along the center, and it can help you in identification. Then try to find out related patterns on the skin.  After considering all these factors, if you are still having trouble identifying your snake, check out snake-removal.com and email them a picture of your snakeskin, and they will reply with an answer, how cool!

Whether you’re a residential or commercial property owner, it’s essential to take humane ways to remove a snake from your property. Of course, your safety should be a priority, so choosing a snake removal service that can handle such a unique situation is important. 

Humane traps safely capture and remove unwanted snakes in your property. A professional snake removal service company practices effective habitat modification, preventing snakes from coming back. So, how do you humanely get rid of snakes in your yard?

In this post, you’ll learn why you should choose a humane snake removal service to get rid of unwelcome snakes in your property. You’ll also learn some helpful tips to prevent snakes from entering your property and things to do when you encounter a snake.

1. Comply with Animal Laws

With humane snake removal, you can comply with existing animal laws. Some of the federal animal protection laws include the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), which was signed into an animal law in 1966, the Animal Welfare Act, and the Endangered Species Act, which was enacted in 1973. 

Here are the good-to-know facts about different animal laws concerning snakes in the United States:

• Exotic Pet Snakes: Every state has a law when it comes to exotic pets. In some states, there are specific laws as to what animals are restricted and allowed as pets. 

For instance, Delaware laws require permits for hybrids and wild animals, and possessing non-native poisonous snakes is illegal. Kansas laws consider snakes as dangerous animals and are not allowed to be kept as pets unless they’re in an approved facility, like a zoo or sanctuary. Permits are required for large constricting snakes and venomous snakes in Louisiana.

• Killing Snakes: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 protect threatened and endangered snakes. Most states regulate designate snakes as non-game animals, snake hunting, and impose strict snake bag limits. It’s illegal to kill snake species, including Louisiana pine snakes, Indigo snakes, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, Lake Erie watersnakes, and garter snake subspecies.
• Fine for Violating the Law: The maximum penalty for breaking ESA is $50,000, imprisonment for one year, or both. Maryland has the strictest laws when it comes to protecting snakes with higher fines and sentences.

A snake removal professional can help you safely and humanely remove snakes from your area, and you can find an expert snake removal specialist here. Humane snake removal is the best way to protect the snake without attempting to kill it because it’s illegal to do so. Also, you’ll likely get hurt if you remove the snake from your property by yourself.

2. Effective and Safe Snake Removal

For many property owners, unwanted snakes are a nuisance and safety hazards. But, you don’t have to deal with them on your own. Humane snake removal services are available to remove snakes onsite. 

Snake professionals have special equipment and gear to catch, handle, and transport snakes to their natural habitat. 

Here are some examples of humane snake removal traps: 

• Snake Traps: A snake professional will set up snake traps where snakes and other reptiles have been regularly discovered.
• Box Snake Trap: It’s similar to a parcel box at the post office. But, it’s made of corrugated plastic, which works in humid weather and damp areas. It has a glue board to immobilize snakes (venomous and non-venomous) and keep them trapped inside the box. Scent triggers are also placed inside the box to attract snakes.
• Tube Snake Trap: It’s the box snake trap’s tube version with an adhesive applied inside to trap and immobilize the snake. It has a perpendicular design so the snake can enter either one of the three ends with a size and shape that create a suitable snake habitat while waiting for their prey.

3. Effectively Prevent Snakes 

If you don’t have any background knowledge about snakes, killing one will just make things worse. One thing you have to understand is that snakes, like rattlesnakes, take over a place and make it their habitat until they lack resources. That’s why killing one snake won’t cause the others to back out, but modifying their habitat will do the trick.

You can effectively prevent and get rid of snakes from coming back and forth your property using humane snake removal service. It’s given that you should trim foliage, remove weeds, mow grass, and remove debris, like tree branches, firewood, rock piles, bricks, and woodpiles from the ground to avoid snakes from residing your property.

A professional can help you set more sophisticated snake prevention structures, such as sealing and covering drain pipes, cracks, holes, crevices, and other possible entry points of snakes. 

Here are the other services that a humane snake removal service can provide: 

• Property Inspection: A humane snake removal service will check if your property warrants the use of a more sophisticated method of trapping snakes and the use of rodenticides for rodents to avoid attracting snakes waiting for their rodent prey inside your property.
• Set Rodenticide Traps: Snakes love rodents for dinner. So, hiring a professional will ensure that rodenticide traps are out of children and pets’ access.
• Install Snake Fencing Barriers: The best snake physical barrier is a fence. It prevents unwanted snakes from entering your property, which will also avoid snake bites. Some of the materials used in building this fence include the galvanized mesh, concrete anchors, stakes, and screws. 

The snake fence should be at least 36 inches tall. In this way, it prevents large snakes from entering and keeping their babies out.

4. Humane Snake Removal Service Is a Wildlife Controller

Venomous snakes present a considerable public safety risk, both in residential and commercial areas. The only professionals who can relocate venomous snakes are wildlife controllers who can relocate snakes using humane methods. 

Snake removal services are wildlife controllers who are permitted to relocate snakes. They have a Wildlife Management Permit to remove venomous snakes from residential homes, backyards, and commercial establishments.

Here are good-to-know facts about snake removal service wildlife controllers:

• Licensing and Permit: Before given a permit, a snake removal service should have a specialist to keep and endorse venomous snakes. To become a wildlife controller, a snake removal service should have a secured facility for housing captured venomous snakes, hold a valid first aid certificate, training certification for handling and capturing venomous snakes, and security arrangements for transportation of venomous snakes.
• Responsibility: Wildlife controllers remove and capture venomous snakes when they become a threat to public safety. Also, wildlife controllers can remove other non-venomous snakes and reptiles that cause public concern.

5. Snakes Are Important

Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for all living things, including humans. Snakes play a vital role in keeping environmental balance. 

It’s important to hire a snake removal professional for humane snake catching because killing snakes would disrupt the natural order of things. When snakes decrease in number, the animals they usually prey on multiply.

Here are the important benefits of snakes in maintaining biodiversity:

• Pest Control: The best natural pest control are snakes, and they play an integral role in reducing pests, including mice and rats that destroy crops and carry disease. 

Many homeowners remove or kill harmless Brown Snakes and Carpet Pythons only to learn that they’ve gotten rid of their home’s best rat trap.

• Venom as Medicine: Snakes have venom that kills and also saves lives. Scientists study the medicinal properties of snake venoms. Certain snake venom show to have anti-tumor properties, antibacterial properties, and pain-relieving properties. 

While hemotoxins that are present in snake venom target the body’s circulatory system, scientists use hemotoxins to produce medicines for treating blood disorders, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, brain injuries, and heart attack.

Snake Safety Tips: What to Do If You Encounter a Snake

Do you know what to do when you encounter a snake? Snake removal services are no stranger to snakes and most of the snakes that are seen in residential and commercial areas are not venomous. That’s why you need to have a game plan so you’ll ready if you encounter a snake.

Here are some snake safety tips when you encounter a snake:

• Stay Calm: The snake likely saw you before you saw it. The snake will release a warning sound or lay still if it has not retreated.
• Move Away: If you encounter a snake, you shouldn’t freeze in terror. Instead, move away from the snake. Never move closer, attempt to pick it, poke with a stick, or touch it. 

Snake experts highly recommend retreating from a safe distance away from the snake but keep your eye on the snake. It’s a good idea to use your smartphone’s camera to get a quick shot picture of the snake to help the local snake removal company to identify the species of the snake. The Gray Ratsnake (Black Ratsnake) and rattlesnakes are commonly confused snakes, in which Gray Ratsnakes shake their tail to mimic the rattlesnakes’ warning sound they usually make.

• Know the Difference: It’s important to determine if the snake is venomous or non-venomous. The easiest method to tell is to look at the snake’s eyes using your smartphone’s camera zoom. 

Venomous snakes have elliptical pupils while non-venomous snakes have round pupils, with the exemption of coral snakes that are venomous but with round pupils. The other telltale signs of a poisonous snake include fatter bodies with a triangular-shaped and wide head.

Tips to Keep Away Snakes From Entering Your Property

If you reside in a place where snakes are frequently seen, chances are, you’ve walked out into your backyard and found a snake at some point. It’s a fact that many people have a fear of snakes, and finding a snake in your backyard can freak you out. So, how do you keep snakes away from your property?

Here are some tips and tricks to keep snakes away from your home or commercial establishment:

• Contact a Snake Removal Service: Make sure to contact a snake removal service if you saw a snake in your property. If it’s a garden snake or non-poisonous snake, you can easily drive it away by reaching for a water hose. Spray it until the snake slithers away.
• Make a DIY Snake Repellent: You can keep snakes away from your yard with ammonia because snakes hate the scent and deter it from entering your house. 

You can soak rags or unused cloth in ammonia. Place inside unsealed plastic bags and leave the plastic bags on areas you usually see the snakes so they won’t return.

• Keep Snakes Away from the Pool: Pour vinegar around the pool’s perimeter to keep snakes and other pests. The skin of the snakes absorbs liquids and will not slither over the vinegar.
• Show Human Presence: As much as you hate snakes, they also don’t want to live with humans. So, one way to keep snakes away is to show human presence.

Save your cut hair from your comb and sprinkle it in your property, like in your yard. Snakes will smell your hair and move away.

• Take Advantage of A Snake’s Strong Sense of Smell: Snakes rely on their unique sense of smell because of their “Jacobson’s organ.” It makes them sensitive to the scent of cinnamon, clove essential oils, and other strong odors.
• Inspect Your Home: Pay special attention under doors and check for any gaps. Seal visible holes by using weather stripping. It’ll prevent the escape of cool air. Make sure that there are no cracks in your house’s foundation. If there are cracks, seal it immediately. 

Conclusion 

Now you’re more knowledgeable when it comes to preventing snakes from entering your property, the importance of snakes in biodiversity, and how to react and act if you encounter a snake. With this information in mind, you realize that snakes are also important and snake removal services that use humane methods are highly recommended than killing snakes.

By using humane snake removal service, you’re assured that snakes are not just removed, but snake issues are prevented. You don’t want snakes to keep entering your property. A snake professional can install a snake fence barrier and provide expert advice to prevent this from happening. Of course, the humane way of removing snakes by hiring an expert is safer and legal.