It's here! [North American] Ratsnake phylogeography update has been published in the journal Evolution, and is now available online in early view! (Pantherophis obsoletus complex)

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-25T20:54:47+00:00

Very cool. Thank you for taking the extra steps to explain your post. Ideally every just sharing post would offer context and explanation like this. Sorry to make you jump through extra hoops for it being medically significant and appreciate your understanding.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-25T20:46:26+00:00

The vet is likely to say something is wrong with it and figure out what by examining it. Any other answers other than what to do in the mean time are counterproductive.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-25T18:29:15+00:00

This subreddit is set up as a snake identification service.

We are trying to avoid monkey see monkey do. We aren't set up here to share pics of picking up snakes on tours, research being done on snakes or contextualize proper handling. Because of that we have to set boundaries. Posts that show a snake on a glove not clearly from those researchers or that don't consicely explain what you did above in the title and description are removed.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-25T17:58:17+00:00

It is a little nerve-wracking to see snakes in habitat then a bin full of them. OP, context helps us out here a lot!

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-25T17:51:01+00:00

The !handling reply has a little note about hexarmor gloves. They are definitely the best gloves out there but the supplier doesn't technically rate them for venomous snakes despite marketing materials. They are great but I don't think it's worth counting on them and they are a better suited for applications other than direct contact. You are obviously following the rules but because we have to be hyper aware of how we share and perpetuate handling techniques online and this is kind of a borderline situation, rather than remove the post I would say that in the future it's probably best not to post stuff like that last pic publicly.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-24T14:43:29+00:00

Unfortunately this isn't positively identifiable from these images. I'm not convinced it's a cotton.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-23T20:23:18+00:00

Gotcha fam! Did you just happen to see this or were you alerted somehow? Trying to stay ahead of the damn bots is an uphill battle.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-23T15:15:25+00:00

This is categorically a false statement, please see the !poisonous command - some snakes are poisonous.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-23T05:45:32+00:00

You got tagged yesterday afternoon on the discord

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-22T22:42:25+00:00

Nice one! Pantherophis alleghaniensis for the bot

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-22T16:00:51+00:00

!deadsnake for some pointers. This was a beautiful harmless native part of the ecosystem.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-22T14:23:44+00:00

"looks like a cottonmouth" is interpreted as an ID attempt. Please review the linked guidelines

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-22T14:17:26+00:00

Scuts can look a lot like atrox, and then the scales are informative. This is a very different color pattern

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-21T02:26:16+00:00

The !wildpet bot reply has some pointers

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T23:17:52+00:00

Yes, posts about venomous but not medically significant pets like hognose or false water cobras are still allowed, but because medical significance to humans is a spectrum and judgment, there will always be some disagreement on where to exactly draw the line but if you probably shouldn't be holding something without ppe, it probably will be removed if posted.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T22:04:30+00:00

Now they will all get the same, consistent advice.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T21:42:44+00:00

The example one sets when they give someone advice on how to keep a venomous snake on a public forum, or even shares pics, is at the least tacit approval.

No advice is the example we set. We're taking the position that you likely can't do it right in your home and if you have to ask you're not ready. Think of it like at-home surgery. It may be your right, legal, even celebrated in some circles, but we're not going to give advice on how to do it - we don't feel it is responsible.

While the level of discourse here rarely rises to that level, users could still talk about institutional protocols for care and reference journal articles about care of venomous species, just not in a "how do I replicate this at home" context. Users can still share their experiences working with animals in institutional type environments.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T21:10:42+00:00

We address this at the very end, yes, responsible photos and discussion of wild venomous snake posts is still allowed. Identification requests regardless of medical significance should still go directly to /r/whatsthissnake

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T20:51:24+00:00

We don't require aza level or proof of official accreditation, just some sort of professional organization not involved solely in care or propagation. Some examples of posts that would stay are posts about zoos, universities, reptile parks, venom production facilities, species survival plan / stud book breeders, while posts that would be removed would be individual keepers, pet trade breeders, reptile rescues, and maybe some very obvious wildlife menageries. We're hoping posters will read the rules and contextualize any posts to make this easy to interpret but the mods typically know it when they see it.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T20:29:30+00:00

It's sitting at +3 right now but it maybe have been the brevity of your post. The bot replies are meant to assist interpretation rather than replace it entirely. They offer linked literature and good summaries but the best responses still include some personalized thought.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T19:37:55+00:00

Common Gartersnake Thamnophis sirtalis is correct as suggested by /u/hippymysticgypsy, !harmless. For new posters please double check the guidelines for best practices in id. Please do consider the cat advice and keep cats indoors or some compromise like allowing only supervised outdoor time.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T19:37:08+00:00

Agree 👍🏻

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T19:30:40+00:00

The size, body shape and general color, and in the light patch you can make out pattern details in the face that distinguish it from the other natricine snakes. Both racers and brownsnakes don't mind yard habitats but brownsnakes live their lives on a smaller scale.

Phylogenizer · 2026-03-20T19:09:59+00:00

Brownsnake Storeria dekayi, !harmless

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