A disturbing trend, really disturbing

[infernalis]

I myself have raised up several litters, released them as yearling's, and encountered several well after the fact.

However all specimens were fed wild caught food items taken from the same property as they would have been born on had I not interfered.

[GartersRock]

I myself have raised up several litters, released them as yearling's, and encountered several well after the fact.

However all specimens were fed wild caught food items taken from the same property as they would have been born on had I not interfered.

If done. This to me is very unlikely to be harmful.
Wild caught food (to minimize the disease part), released while still young, same spot. Small local species.

[infernalis]

I guess this would be the best place to tell the story (again) My very first ever "Breeding" occurred when 2 snakes of opposite gender were placed in the same tank by accident.

Several months after these two were placed together, well nature happened and I felt it was a moral obligation to do the right thing.

The litter was delivered well out of season, so we had little choice but to ensure the best possible outcome for the babies.

Releasing them as neonates would have certainly killed them rather quickly, so they were fed and raised until the appropriate time.

The litter was kept in an enclosure isolated from any other animals, fed daily and they all thrived and grew up into fine looking juveniles.

I also felt strongly about getting them back into the wild before any one of them reached maturity as to prevent any sibling copulations.

They were all released on the same 40 acre lot that the mother and father was found, that was almost 2 years ago.

And even though we have spotted and even photographed specimens from that same brood since then, I do often wonder how the rest of them have faired in the wild.

However, I still feel very strongly that it would not be in the animals best interest to go pick up a gravid female and do it again just for the sake of doing it.

If there was an imminent danger present to the mother or the litter, primarily from humans, as a rescuer, It would be compelling to remove the mother from said danger.

But as Bryan has pointed out, if it was wild predation that one was attempting to save the snake from, it would be interfering with the natural course of life.

It still makes me cringe to see a hawk with a snake hanging from it's mouth, but I would never in a million years terminate the hawk just for having a natural meal, nor chop down it's nesting tree just to spare the snake from getting eaten.