Indoor Snake Removal

A snake inside your home is a serious concern, especially if the snake has been identified as venomous. An unidentified snake is as potentially serious.

The ONLY option available, if a snake is in your home, is physical removal. There are no poisons available nor any chemical repellants designed for the immediate removal of snakes. Even if a poison were available, they would not be recommended since they provide a hazard to humans as well.

If a snake is sighted inside your home, try to quickly identify it.

If the snake is venomous, do not attempt to remove the snake yourself. Call your local conservation office and contact a professional.

If the snake is non-venomous, such as an eastern garter snake, you can attempt to remove the snake yourself.

Things to remember:

1. A snake is a wild animal, there are no species domesticated such as dogs or cats
2. Most snakes are not aggressive. They will not seek to purposely attack you.
3. Snakes will only attempt to strike if they feel threatened or are cornered. If you find a snake coiled in a corner, you can expect it to be flicking its tongue towards you (this is a means of sensing danger), possibly hissing, an if you get close it will try to lunge and bite you. Remember this is strictly a natural defensive posture. Humans often mistake the defensive behavior of animals with aggressive behavior and assign some level of morality to them. A snake is a snake. It is in many ways a simple creature with simple basic instincts. Most snakes will run from you if they have room to run (ok slither!).
4. Do not attempt to handle any snake that you cannot properly identify - it may be a venomous snake. If you are bitten by a venomous snake, you should immediately seek medical attention at a hospital.

Preferred Method: Snake Traps

There are two recommended traps: Snake-Guard and Cahaba Snake Traps. Have you seen those sticky pads used to catch mice? These employ the same principle. The snake traps consist of a plastic or cardboard sleeve with a sticky pad insert. The sleeve provides a low-profile, sheltered area that is attractive to snakes. Once inside, the snake becomes stuck to the stick pad. These traps allow for catch and release of caught snakes. Snake traps are a preferred method of capturing snakes since it does not involve a lot of handling of the snake itself. Plus, for the novice, a snake trap is far easier to handle than trying to scoop a snake up on the prongs of a rake.

Tips on Manual Removal:

• have a large box or a 5 gallon bucket ready to place the snake into. Preferably, have a lid. If no lid is available, use a piece of wood or cardboard to cover the top of the box/bucket.
• most of us don't have those cool grabber tools like snake handlers at the zoo use. Use a small garden rake to try and snag the snake. Actually, chidren size rakes are just about perfect.
• The trick to using the rake is to try and grab the snake somewhere near its center of gravity. Good luck huh?!? If you snag it about 1/3 of the way down from its head, that should work. If you snag it too close to the head or to the tail, it is going to slip right off.
• Once snagged, place it immediately in the box or bucket.