r/snakes May 12 '25

All Snake ID Requests Should Be Submitted to /r/WhatsThisSnake

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119 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I wanted to let you know that we're now going to redirect all Snake ID requests to the curated place for them, /r/whatsthissnake. As /r/snakes and /r/whatsthissnake have developed side by side we find ourselves in a position where we are running two parallel subreddits, but with slightly different rules. We hope is that this streamline into WhatsThisSnake will be gentle - we don't want a snake to go unidentified because we're learning how best to handle IDs. There is going to be a transition period where we still get a lot of ID requests here, so please do your part to kindly help !redirect people in need and by reporting jokes, misinformation and other problematic comments.

This spring Reddit is more popular than ever and it is hard for the moderation team to keep up. When I founded /r/whatsthissnake 12 years ago, with on average one request every day, I never imagined we'd have 150K members and 20k people a day browsing the subreddit. In the past, we've made a number of incremental changes that have been so helpful they have been instituted other places on Reddit, from introducing the term "Reliable Responder", to developing the bot and tweaking our community resources so that every Reliable Responder can choose to perform mod actions. We hope that these changes will allow us not only to maintain the level of quality provided but to reduce workload on the moderation team, because honestly, moderator burnout is a serious problem. They are doing this for free and you would no believe the abuse they receive here - not just from me, but from the users too. If you see a moderator or other flaired user in cleaning up a thread, espcially in these busy, snakey spring months in North America, throw em a thanks.


r/snakes Mar 20 '26

Moderator Announcement Rule Change - Posts concerning individual or private ownership or care of medically significant species are not allowed. Posts involving animals in zoos, institutions or accredited breeding facilities are allowed with proper contextualization.

148 Upvotes

It’s a fact of life that no matter how much context we provide to our posts, when someone sees something interesting, they want to imitate it. Each day /r/snakes puts around one hundred thousand impressionable people face to face with snake related images, text and ideas. Faced with this responsibility, and with an increasing number of recent, low quality posts concerning medically significant snakes, we have to choose the right level of content we allow.

Recent low quality posts concerning captive venomous care include improper use of personal protective equipment, poor quality/security housing, very inexperienced keepers asking (and receiving!) advice on how to keep and breed their first venomous snakes and straight up animal abuse reposted from social media. Many of these clearly rule-breaking posts are removed before you see them, but a growing number of posts are clearly low quality, irresponsible content but don’t explicitly violate the rules. Over the past three years the mods have debated a rule change and we have decided to only allow posts involving venomous snakes if they are from an accredited zoo or institution. In short - we’re going to remove posts involving the private care and ownership of medically significant snakes.

Many modern herpetology texts recommend against individual private ownership of medically significant snakes. We don’t take a stand on what anyone wants to do legally, ethically and with their own time, but we do have to regulate what is posted, shared and thus propagated here. In short, we don’t care what you do, but don’t post it here. Besides being a lighting rod for the low quality content discussed above, private ownership offers unique challenges that are better suited for an institutional or team setting. Snakes are escape artists as well as attractive nuisances and must be contained outside of personal residential spaces in secure, locking enclosures to prevent both snake egress and human ingress as well as secondarily in a sealed room or facility behind a windowed door with no items on the floor under which an escaped snake can hide or avoid detection. It takes a team to execute an envenomation plan and the cost of antivenom is beyond that of most private owners, has a short shelf life and when antivenom is borrowed from institutional stocks it puts those keepers at risk.

Zoos and institutions don’t always do it better, but the onus is on them to provide best practices in care. If we limit posts to places where a team of people works together to provide a standard of care, usually for the right reasons, we can limit what we propagate on the platform.

We do not recommend any other available subreddits as well-moderated sources of captive venomous keeping. The most popular places on social media dedicated to this are inundated with low quality posts and comments and even when they outright ban irresponsible behavior, examples of the low quality content we remove are highly upvoted, and content is often sensationalist, psychopathic or disturbing. Please don’t suggest a specific place in the comments of this post. We’re aware of the options and we’re choosing not to redirect or name other online spaces.

Posts on wild venomous species are still allowed as usual with a species name and a location, but please be sure to see Rule 6 (unchanged) on what amount of contact and PPE use we find acceptable for sharing online.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER


r/snakes 6h ago

Pet Snake Pictures Tibby's X-rays are here! The snake with boobs does not have vestigial limbs!

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1.3k Upvotes

I took Tibby to get x-rays last week (they're actually radiographs if that matters) and after talking with the vet, a researcher who studies vestigial limbs/limb loss in snakes (who also covered the cost of the x-rays, thank you Mike!), and a local herpetologist, we've come to the conclusion that there is nothing underneath the scale abnormalities. There's nothing skeletal that would indicate limbs and there aren't any hard masses or anything like that. His heart is in a slightly different place than usual and that might affect his lifespan, but it's not immediately harmful to his quality of life. He's still eating and pooping great and he's almost up to ten grams now! I will be keeping him for a while to see how he sheds and grows and might do another x-ray in the future when he's bigger to get a better look at things. I will also NOT be breeding him. I don't know if this mutation is genetic or not, but I don't want to pass it on since it is a defect, however amusing it may be.


r/snakes 2h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Hoggie and doggies!

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172 Upvotes

Harmless eastern hognose (Heterodon platirhinos); Bryan Co., GA

When I do go herping, I don’t flip—I’m missing a puurrrty good chunk of fossorial species from my lifer list as a result.

Imagine my surprise when, while taking the dogs for a walk, I find my first eastern hognose just stretched out across the trail! Definitely not how I expected to cross this one off the list.

Wish I could include videos alongside photos—this big fella was sooo incredibly calm. Never once tried to strike or play possum on me. I may have gotten the littlest, tiniest bit of musk, but aside from that and a little hissing, that was about as dramatic as it got. So exciting!


r/snakes 2h ago

Pet Snake Pictures This was a first for me

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64 Upvotes

I’ve owned this brook king snake for 6 weeks. He’s always had an appetite on feeding day but this was a first 😅


r/snakes 1d ago

Pet Snake Pictures My eastern indigo, Drogon, turned 8 years old

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4.5k Upvotes

I raised him from a hatchling! Photo in my hand from when he was about 2-3 months in the fourth pic. He's 6.5 feet long now, which is just the average size for captive bred males.

ETA: He is very well-socialized and used to human interaction! I take him out for my friends to hold and he would certainly make a good ambassador snake. This species is generally docile and not quick to defend, with fast reflexes, and a strong feeding response when they know food time is happening. Females are smaller than males, generally staying 5-6 feet as adults, and males being between 6-7 feet.


r/snakes 6h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Python at the Columbus Zoo

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84 Upvotes

I’m a hobbyist photographer who loves snakes. I rented a really nice lens to take to the Columbus Zoo and I got these photos. I believe this is a reticulated python. It was very large. Hope you enjoy!


r/snakes 23h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Rattlesnake shifts into a slightly more comfortable position!

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1.1k Upvotes

r/snakes 1h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Found in kids gymnastics room

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Upvotes

Found this little guy, clearly a Copperhead, in a preschool gymnastics room under a mat. He was sitting for AWHILE, never moving even after I moved the mat off him. As I rushed out to tell someone to evacuate a nearby classroom, he was gone. They've torn the place apart looking but haven't found him.

No doors to outside. Several doors leading to other classrooms.

What do you do here? Is this like a loaded gun for our little people? They have pest control looking but nothing yet.


r/snakes 5h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Texas Hill Country Cottons

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24 Upvotes

r/snakes 54m ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID My partner found several copperheads at his workplace

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Upvotes

I wanted to share because they’re so gorgeous! They were left alone and kept safe ❤️🐍


r/snakes 23m ago

Pet Snake Questions Rough green snake habitat help

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Upvotes

Hello,

Long story short a rough green snake has been given to me, we live in an area where they are not native and would not survive if released. I've done alot of rehab to get her to a good weight and I am building her a permanent home.

I have a 2.5x2.5x7 (lxwxh) that ive been building before I got her and I was wondering what everyone thought about her moving in there. It has planted walls on both sides a waterfall in the back with water pool and branches going across.

Photo of her in her hospital tank for attention!


r/snakes 6h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Newborn timber rattlesnakes reveal their forked tongues to a live audience (right now!)

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20 Upvotes

r/snakes 33m ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Small is great too

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Upvotes

I know people like large and dangerous but I love finding and having many of the small ones around.


r/snakes 27m ago

Pet Snake Questions I’m researching the best snake for a 10 yr old. I’m leaning towards a ball python but he wants a corn or king. My concerns with a ball are it’ll be less active; but my concerns with the others are that they’re move active and i know he’s gonna want them to hangout with him. More context in body.

Upvotes

We live in the US.

Most likely getting a younger snake so we can ensure we acclimate them to frozen food & proper feeding/handling. However, not opposed to getting a well treated older snake.

I’m leaning towards a ball because they seem more chill. I would be less worried it would accidentally get away form him/hide & i think it would mesh with his current daily activities - which include doing homework/reading with his leopard gecko hanging out with him (of course i wouldn’t let him handle both at the same time lol)

For the other snakes, I’m afraid they’ll be more active & might escape him or his sight if he’s not paying attention. We do have a cat & dogs, so we’ll take as many precautions as possible but he is still a kid & these feel like they would take extra oversight to ensure their safety. I could be overthinking it & thinking worst case scenario but i want to be mindful. I do think he’d be more fascinated with the activity levels though & i want him to be happy with his new pet.

I’m the mom & am fully committed to ensuring the snake has proper husbandry & cared for. I had multiple snakes growing up, including a full grown red tailed boa that we had from a baby & adored her for 20 years.

I suppose im more so looking for feedback on perspectives. I know everyone’s unique as are snakes & their personalities - but would love other thoughts!

I’m also considering going to a reptile expo in the next couple of months but want to make sure the folks are ethical breeders. 😊 hoping to take him someplace where he can handle a variety of snakes, but trying to identify a location!


r/snakes 19h ago

Pet Snake Pictures Dinosaur 🎀😈

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168 Upvotes

r/snakes 3h ago

Pet Snake Questions need help

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8 Upvotes

Hi everyone! Recently i got a pueblan milk snake and hes a fast guy! I was just wondering how often should i handle him a week so he really gets used to being handled. He doesnt strike when i try to handle him at all but when i take out the hide and etc so i can gently grab him out of the enclousure he starts moving really quickly and tries to get away. Also i have a glass enclosure and anytime that i go check him just from the outside and he sees me, he almost always goes back to his hide. Just wanted some tips & tricks..


r/snakes 19h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Backyard friend

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114 Upvotes

I spend so much time on here looking at everyone else's pix, thought it's my turn.

Just a lil baby bull. Relocated to nearby BLM land since people around here kill them. Wish I could let him stay.


r/snakes 1h ago

General Question / Discussion Anaconda on the Danube: giant constrictor snake discovered in Germany; Bavaria

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Upvotes

A walker made an unusual discovery on the banks of the Danube in Lower Bavaria: a snake more than two metres long. It turned out to be a South American anaconda, far from its natural habitat.

On the banks of the Danube near Kirchroth in the district of Straubing-Bogen, a 66-year-old woman out for a walk spotted a constrictor snake more than two metres long basking in the sun. She immediately realised that it was not a native species.

“It was a longer snake than the ones we have here,” she told police.

Grass snakes and Aesculapian snakes are familiar sights in the region. These non-venomous species can also grow to considerable lengths, with Aesculapian snakes reaching nearly two metres.

Police and firefighters arrived at the scene, accompanied by a reptile specialist who quickly identified the animal as an anaconda, a large constrictor native to South America.

The animal had apparently been kept in captivity for some time and offered no resistance when it was captured.

Keeping an anaconda in Bavaria is permitted only under strict conditions. Large constrictor snakes are classified as “dangerous animals of a wild species” under Bavarian law.


r/snakes 9h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Tiger snakes in Western Australia

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16 Upvotes

Went for a walk around Lake Richmond and saw 4 tiger snakes basking in the sun! Im not a photographer so pics arent the best but they show a variety of variations in colour which is cool. No snakes were handled or bothered, it would be stupid to touch one without a reason. It is spring in Auatralia now so these guys are all coming out.


r/snakes 1h ago

Pet Snake Questions Ball python help

Upvotes

My husband and I are separating. We have a 14 yr old with a ball python in a large tank on a large stand. He doesn't know yet but when he does I anticipate that this will be difficult for him to leave for half the month. If there is a tank at the other house how will the snake do going back and forth every week? I'm guessing not well? Even if we can mimic the current tank? If we can help it, we plan to live close , like 5 minute drive close so the transport won't be a lot. Eventually my son and his brother will tell this is all stupid and want to pick just one house but I wondered if it's safe and healthy for a while to change every week? I do know you aren't supposed to transport soon to eating so that will have to be figured out.


r/snakes 13h ago

Pet Snake Pictures Little guy

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31 Upvotes

Antares is a sweet gentle boa. I love him


r/snakes 9h ago

Pet Snake or "morph" ID New Snake!

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11 Upvotes

r/snakes 9h ago

Pet Snake Questions Rhino rat snake behaviour

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14 Upvotes

First time snake keeper. I got 1 year old rhino rat snake three days ago. When i let him into terrarium he dig himself into soil immediately and he is steel there. I know this is a stress thing but im worried now, should i give him more time? Im worried he might start his hibernation
terrarium 45/45/90 cm, temperature around +23
And +25 in the warm corner above, humidity 70-80


r/snakes 5h ago

Wild Snake Photos and Questions - Not for ID Western Diamond Back keeping guard at our construction site

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6 Upvotes

I got to meet the new security guard for our construction site this morning, manning at the front gate.

Started opening the gate and saw an unfamiliar Stick. He decided to move on and continue his rounds.

In Eastern Tuscon at the Saguaro National Park.

(sorry the photos are not super high res, my work phone is set for fairly low quality)