Baby snake I.D. Rattlesnake?

kdstrick

kdstrick

Joined
May 27, 2007
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4,210
This little guy was about 5" long. Central Texas.

Triangular head and markings tend to suggest it is some kind of Rattler...

It was not near water. He was sunning on the driveway under a bbq pit. 65 degrees.


Can anyone ID this snake?


snake2_zpse6662a5c.jpg
 
I just did a google search & found this.
Your guy seems to have rattle snake characteristics but not the single button on the end of its tail.
Possibly a very young rattler.
Cool little guy either way.

rattlesnakedifferences.jpg
 
Kevin, get'em by the back of the head&jaws and pry it's mouth open Bro. If the fangs come down you got a viper. But sitting here looking at the patterns it looks almost like a rat snake, but like you said the shape of the head is what is mudding the water here. Oh and were some kind of safety glasses if you monkey around with this little dude.

You could send pics to Parks and Wildlife and also to the Aggie critter dept. TX A&M use to answer all kinds of questions like this.

One other real possibility is a Eastern Hog Snake!!! One thing about the Hill country. It sits on that transition between EAST & WEST in the snake world.
 
I don't believe that's a rattlesnake. I could be wrong though. 2.questions is it dead in the pic ? And if so how did it act when you uncovered him ? I used to know most of the snakes around the south but I'm getting old ,lol
 
RussMo said:
Kevin, get'em by the back of the head&jaws and pry it's mouth open Bro. If the fangs come down you got a viper. But sitting here looking at the patterns it looks almost like a rat snake, but like you said the shape of the head is what is mudding the water here. Oh and were some kind of safety glasses if you monkey around with this little dude.

You could send pics to Parks and Wildlife and also to the Aggie critter dept. TX A&M use to answer all kinds of questions like this.

One other real possibility is a Eastern Hog Snake!!! One thing about the Hill country. It sits on that transition between EAST & WEST in the snake world.
Click to expand...

Hog snake bingo! That's what I was trying to remeber
 
Well what you have there is a gopher/bull. He is one of u.s.a most common and beneficial snakes. I put my it profession on it D.V.M Herp Scie
 
I'm thinking Western Black Mamba for the win!


:D


The snake was alive in the pic...


RussMo... you are way crazier than me, man! I'm not prying any snake jaws apart to check for fangs... You have me mistaken for the late great Steve Irwin.

Good posts and opinions all around. I just don't know. The triangular head is troublesome and almost always means venomous in my part of the world.

Given my particular situation with several toddlers visiting this location, one belonging to me, I dispatched the critter hoping that he wasn't a rat snake or something else beneficial. I just can't take the chance that a toddler wouldn't try to pick it up. Those of you with kids know how kids are at that age.


But keep the opinions coming... though. I'm sure this isn't the only baby snake in this location. If they are non venomous rat/mice killers they are my friend and I want to keep them around.

.
 
kdstrick said:
I'm thinking Western Black Mamba for the win!


:D


The snake was alive in the pic...


RussMo... you are way crazier than me, man! I'm not prying any snake jaws apart to check for fangs... You have me mistaken for the late great Steve Irwin.

Good posts and opinions all around. I just don't know. The triangular head is troublesome and almost always means venomous in my part of the world.

Given my particular situation with several toddlers visiting this location, one belonging to me, I dispatched the critter hoping that he wasn't a rat snake or something else beneficial. I just can't take the chance that a toddler wouldn't try to pick it up. Those of you with kids know how kids are at that age.


But keep the opinions coming... though. I'm sure this isn't the only baby snake in this location. If they are non venomous rat/mice killers they are my friend and I want to keep them around.

.
Click to expand...

When I was about 5 years old (and growing up n the country), I was playing baseball with my mother and father and I missed the ball and it landed under an apple tree. I went to retrieve the ball and I remember my granddaddy just picking me up before I got to the ball, ( I was about 3 feet from a baby eastern diamond back), they killed the snake and one we went. I understand 100% about having kids and possibly having a venomous snake around them, being a child and always being in the woods, I had my close calls many many times with rattlesnakes, thankfully my father was always a step ahead of me with a pistol, Or garden hoe, to get rid of the venomous critters before I stepped on them.
 
Hard to judge for sure from the picture. Could be a bull snake, but it looks a little bigger around compared to length. The head looks wide enough at the neck to be a rattlesnake, but the snout is too pointy. IMHO it's a massassauga. It's pattern is very similar to the bull's. A pic from the side of the head would've made id easier.

Mark
 
Heterodon nasicus, or western hognose. If it was a bull snake, at that size, it would have a completely different mottling pattern and body structure. The patterns a little wonky but the body style really tells the tail.
 
Couldn't be a rattlesnake as everybody knows a Texas rattlesnake is at least 6' long !!
 
Yep, hog nose. Here's one I encountered a few months ago, on a hike. It was a baby:

098.png~original


104.png~original
 
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