# Will baby garter snakes usually survive the winter?



## minisnake (2 mo ago)

On Long Island, NY. Found this tiny baby garter snake on the driveway. Put him in an extra 10 gallon tank with coco coir as the substrate, some small worms, some rocks/wood to hide around and a soda bottle cap of water. Was just going to keep the little guy for a couple of hours, make sure it’s alright and show my GF before releasing it. 

But I looked up “do garter snakes survive the winter” and a few of the results say that many garter snakes have a high incidence of NOT making in through cold winters. This guy is tiny, smaller than a soda bottle cap when curled up. Is it likely it could make it through the winter and I should release? I would never keep the little guy captive normally, but do you think he'd be better off in the tank for the winter and getting released next spring or should I just release him now?


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes it will survive. They will brumate. It also doesn't look like a garter snake.


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

Looks like a brown snake, _Storeria dekayi. _ They're known to not tolerate captivity well at all. It is unlikely to survive the winter in captivity; it needs to brumate outside.

As far as I can uncover, NY lists all native reptiles as game species, most with no open season, so possession seems to be illegal.



DEC Regulations for State Reptiles and Amphibians



Nifty little snakes, though -- we have them here in the Midwest too. Consider naturalizing your yard as much as possible to attract them. They seem to appreciate damp areas with lots of microfauna -- so rich soil that is mulched -- and some structure like larger rocks, logs or the house foundation. I find them often enough, and take a photo or walk them into the house to show the family before releasing where I found them (though I'd move it off the driveway).


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## minisnake (2 mo ago)

word thanks for the responses. I was just worried that such a tiny snake wouldn’t be able to burrow in the ground deep enough to escape frost temperatures (is that how they do it?)

i could not care less if it’s illegal lol but i’ll def release him if he’s better off toughing out the winter in the wild than in a warm tank.

should I put him back in the area facing the direction I found him like a turtle/tortious? obviously not _in_ the driveway, but on the side of the driveway he was facing when I found him?

thanks


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## Malum Argenteum (5 mo ago)

They don't dig a burrow, they find existing structures. Baby snakes have been surviving for much longer than our species has been around, and will be here long after us as long as we don't kill them all off. You can release it anywhere nearby, it'll find its way.


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