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1. Maybe get him a zoo pass if you live close enough! I had an aquarium pass as a kid and it changed my life, I loved it and it really got me interested in life and the study of life. I'm now a human biologist!
   
   
2. There are lots of great books, but one I have had for many years now is the Encyclopaedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. I loved it when I was younger, it gave me a real passion for studying herps.
   
   
3. Youtube channels like Snake Discovery are awesome for encouraging an inquiring approach to reptile husbandry and care, without the issues that learning from other less-reputable sources might have.
   
   
4. I recommend finding him a guide to herping in California, and maybe be willing to take him on things like herping expeditions and hikes. This would also help him develop a love of the outdoors and of hiking, which is a FANTASTIC thing for a child to love doing! The more he associates being outside with the things he loves and wants to do, the better.
   
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5. He actually sounds like he might be on the autism spectrum, so I would highly recommend you research how to encourage learning in kids on the spectrum. One of the things that kids on the spectrum are really good at is "fixating" on a specific topic - in his case, reptiles - and learning absolutely everything about it and becoming experts in that field. However, this can sometimes lead to ASD kids neglecting other areas of their education and self-education, so I recommend that while you CERTAINLY shouldn't be discouraging his love of reptiles, since it's both cruel and doesn't work, you might also want to encourage him to take an interest in order areas of study too. Perhaps get him a book on amphibians, and help him learn about ALL of herpetology rather than just reptilians, and from this you can maybe branch out into learning about zoology in general.
   
   
6. Kids on the spectrum DO tend to get very bored in school, because they want so badly to fixate on their special interests that they can end up accidentally neglecting school work. It can also impair social development, and can result in kids being very intelligent, and knowledgeable in their favourite areas, but not scoring well on tests because the things their teachers are telling them are simply completely disinteresting to them. The best way to help with that is to find resources on parenting children with autistic spectrum disorders, ASDs, and following that advice in order to best help him out.
   
   
7. If you can, do take him to a neurologist or child psychologist to work out whether or not he's DEFINITELY on the spectrum or not, because if you have a formal diagnosis you can tell his school, who will be required to give him extra resources to help him learn. However, if he is diagnosed as such, whether or not you tell him his diagnosis is up to you, and literature is split on whether or not this actually helps kids or hinders them. Personally my experience is that telling kids helps them more than it hinders them. I obviously am not trying to diagnose your nephew based on a reddit post, you should certainly talk to a doctor or psychologist about that and trust their advice. However I think that most of your concerns and observations of his behaviour and your brother's seem in line with the concerns that are typically expressed by parents and carers of kids and adults with ASDs, which are also often heritable.

Welcome! First and foremost, I'd just like to say that herpetology is such an underrated and generally unknown science by most of the world. Herpetology comes from the Greek word herpetón, which means creeping thing or essentially just something that crawls. The world has insane diversity of herpetofauna and you can find animals pretty much anywhere you go, so it's a great hobby that doesn't cost much at all.

And of course, we all like to catch the animals and look at them and admire them, but it is important to have a good understanding of the effects of doing this. Picking up animals brings a risk of spreading disease, hurting the animal, or causing them stress. This is especially true of our amphibious friends. I'm not going to preach about some protocol wearing nitrile gloves and whatever, but when dealing with these animals you should thoroughly scrub your hands with just water beforehand to remove as much oil as possible. It would be wise to look up more guidelines -this looks like a decent site. For reptiles, it's a good idea to ID whatever you catch before grabbing it, ya never know what might be venemous or painful.

When flipping logs (the best way to find most salamanders and lots of other herps), be sure to flip the log, remove the animal from the log, and put the log back in place. Then when you're done looking at the animal, place it directly next to the log. This will prevent any animals from getting squished. It's also a good idea to reposition the leaf litter around the log so that no moisture escapes.

Know your local fauna! I live in the Northeast U.S., so I don't really have to worry about venemous snakes except for copperheads and maaaayyyyybe a rattlesnake. But northern water snakes still bite! Aside from knowing what can hurt you, it's good to know basic information about each species that lives there, such as their range, behavior, habitat, and IUCN status. For example, if you find a really endangered herp, it might be important that you report it's location, or at the very least take care to not harm it. Knowledge about local fauna will come with time, but it's good to get some basics, which can come from a lot of googling.

Speaking of that, it's also good to get a nice field guide if you can afford it. If you're in the U.S., I definitely recommend this guide. Other than that, always just pack a bag with hiking essentials and you should have all the necessary supplies to get started-no need to buy a fancy snake hook or anything like that yet.

The most important thing is to just get out there and gather as much knowledge about your local fauna as possible. This will only come by spending hours in the field. For example, at a certain point you might begin to recognize that the terrain may be too inundated with water for a terrestrial salamander to live there, or there might be a frog species which prefers a specific type of evergreen tree. The brain is magnificent in its ability to recognize and learn these hard to describe patterns. So yeah, just get out there and have fun. Keep us updated!

EDIT: and one last thing, try to learn terminology! Actively try to use scientific words to describe behaviors or morphology, as it will naturally expand your vocabulary and knowledge of this science and you will be able to speak very clearly about the animals that you study.

Your snake is most likely looking for food or some sort of more favorable condition.
Things to make sure your snake has before worrying about the snakes mental health:

1. A proper hide. (My 6ft RTB just started rubbing the shit out of his nose on the screen for some reason and I found out he just wanted a more secure feeling hide even though he's never 'complained' before.
   
2. Prober temperature gradient. See where he likes to hang out in your tank and tweak the temp towards what you think he's looking for (I invested in a $14 mechanics temperature gun amazon so I can instantly read the temp of anything. Best purchase yet.
   
3. Different food choices. I've had a tree boa that did this in search for food every time she was hungry however would sometimes refuse rats despite having a visible appetite.. turns out she was a little racist and only liked eating white rats.. Sometimes snakes will only take a certain animal as prey, usually its mice though. Try a live pinky to stimulate the feeding response (and please never feed live prey unsupervised rats have been known to kill snakes; frozen/thawed strongly recommended if they will take it) Its important to have the thawed prey item warm to the touch. Dipping in warm chicken broth has also worked.
   
4. If you really cant get him to stop climbing around the trim, maybe give him a little perch to climb to. I use dollar store suction cups and thicker string as a 'jungle gym' for my baby RTB. It looks cool and they love it.
   
   Conclusion: I wouldn't (and didn't) like it either, but its actually not very dangerous for the snake unless he hits his head on something hard. They routinely fall from bushes and trees all the time in the wild. most likely if you satisfy his every need/desire, he will not go looking for better conditions.
   Hope this helped. You should also find a local small reptile shop (not a chain like ptsmart/petco etc.) you can call and ask questions, most of them are more than happy to give you advice, and theyve usually seen it all. Where I live there is a great place where the guy knows literally almost anything Off The Ark . If you're in the US, you could always give them a call, and just ask.

There are a number of resources for snake ID and this list is nowhere near comprehensive.

Globally, comprehensive species lists are available via Reptile Database Advanced Search. Reptile Database is mostly correct and up to date in terms of taxonomy. Another worldwide resource is Snakes of the World which, in addition to being comprehensive for extant snakes, also provides a wealth of information on fossil taxa.

Regional guides are useful. If you're in North America, the Eastern Peterson Guide and Western Peterson Guide are great tools, as is Snakes of the United States and Canada. While plagiarized and problematic, the book Snakes of Mexico is the best easily accessible information for the region. For Central America, the Kohler book as well as Savage's Costa Rica book are excellent resources. South America is tough but has a diagnostic catalog. Australia has Cogger as a herp bible. SE Asia has two guides one in German and one comprehensive. For Europe, you simply can't get better than the three volumes of Handbuch der Reptilien und Amphibien Europas. Africa is also difficult - no comprehensive guide exists but there are a few good regional guides like Reptiles of East Africa and Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa. Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar is a good source for that distinct region. For the Indian subcontinent, use Snakes of India

Remember, species names are hypotheses that are tested and revised - old books become dated by the nature of science itself. One of your best resources is going to be following /r/whatsthissnake, or (for North America) with the SSAR Standard Names List for the most recent accepted taxonomic changes.

Here is an example of a small personal herpetology library.

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I am a bot created for /r/whatsthissnake, /r/snakes and /r/herpetology to help with snake identification and natural history education. You can find more information, including a comprehensive list of commands, here and report problems here.

No lamp. Although if you want one for aesthetic reasons, go for a cheap CFL on a timer... but make sure there's absolutely no way your snake can get to it.

Flexwatt heat tape (I like this guy because he'll wire it for you for free) + thermostat for easy heating where you can easily check the temp and don't constantly need to adjust.

Honestly, the best enclosures are the ones you build yourself. I built my first cage with a battery operated drill and a hand saw. In retrospect it was annoying as hell, but I still have and love the cage. You can make it the perfect size and perfect shape. Stained wood (sealed obviously) can make for a quality piece of furniture or paint it dayglo orange for a conversation piece.

Such a guide doesn't exist. The very expensive Herpetofauna of Vietnam is by far the best and most complete guide. It's definitely not a field guide, and still only lists the provinces and towns where animals have been found (no range maps). The closest thing to an acceptable guide is something like this or this both of which are mediocre and don't directly cover Vietnam. Don't bother with this one either, the drawings are shit, the natural history info is lacking and there's almost no distribution information. Your best bet is to cobble information together from a few other guides. Amphibians are harder yet still, but you should be able to get down to at least genus with other sources. Sorry to be a downer! Still, Vietnam is great fun for herping!

Well please don't put him outside. Even though garters are famously cold tolerant, cold weather and injuries are a recipe for trouble.

Also, if you are going to hang on to him and he has abrasions or lacerations from the trap you are going to need to disinfect the area and keep him in a very steril enclosure (ideally a plastic box or glass aquarium with no substrate that you can completely sterilize every day for a few weeks). later you can make a large proper enclosure if you decide to keep him long term.

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I wouldn't count on pet stores knowing much unless you happen to live near one that specializes in reptiles.

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If you need a reptile vet try here:

http://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661

or

http://www.kingsnake.com/vets.html

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For general care, I might start reading here:

http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet

and ask questions here:

https://www.thamnophis.com/forum/forum.php

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This guy knows a thing or two (I have no affiliation)

https://stevenbolgartersnakes.com/

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You can get this book cheaply:

https://www.amazon.com/Garter-Snakes-Water-advanced-Herpetocultural/dp/188277079X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1542943477&sr=8-2&keywords=garter+snake+book

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My own experience with keeping garters was that they were very active and I think demand much large enclosures than the snake world (which loves to keep snakes in tiny little boxes for some reason) will tell you.

If you do keep it long term I'd suggest getting a very large plastic box or large aquarium (something at least 4-5 feet long and 1.5 to 2.5 feet wide) and make a planted vivarium. (but only after any injuries have healed). You can even make the vivarium and attractive showpiece if the animal 's requirements are met.

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Good luck.

Thanks for saving it.

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I use exo terra calcium+d3. I cannot tell from the bottle how much phosphorus is in it but according to the amazon product page it is phosphorus-free. I give them dandelions as well during the warmer months, and sometimes organic dandelion greens from Whole Foods.

Is there some kind of specific dietary regimen I should change to? I don't go buy any kind of strict schedule, I just make sure they aren't getting the same exactly green veggie more than 3 days in a row. I use spring mix about 50% of the time becuase it has a variety in it already, and the other 50% of the time I rotate between mustard, romaine, and kale. But if there is a better way to approach their diet, or some other aspect of their diet is inhibiting their ability to absorb the calcium, I will gladly change that...

Scholarly articles might be a bit much without an intro to scientific papers. Lectures might be helpful, like introduction to the biodiversity of the region, chapters on Virginia habitat types and ecology. There's a good north Carolina herp book that may have some of that information already in the front pages.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Reptiles_of_North_Carolina.html?id=kGP0AwAAQBAJ


Marking techniques:
https://www.amazon.com/Individual-Recognition-Techniques-Amphibians-Reptiles/dp/0916984680

Chapter 2 is a pretty basic introduction to phylogeography: http://download.bioon.com.cn/view/upload/201308/07110702_8444.pdf


And this is an advanced scholarly paper concerning a reptile in the state. You can always have them skim methods and just read the introduction, skim results and read the discussion. http://www.cnah.org/pdf/88558.pdf

This is also a good, simply written introduction to an important method https://scienceasaverb.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/introduction-to-ecological-niche-modeling-environmental-niche-modeling-species-distribution-modeling-part-two-what-is-niche-modeling/

Hmm, books are tricky. You'll have better luck looking up individual snakes. Here's a few of my favorites though.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0691124361/ref=mp_s_a_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1481930124&sr=1-28&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=snakes

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/mobile/w/snake-chris-mattison/1100488504?ean=9780756613655&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP62465

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0520224876/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1481930293&sr=1-16&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=snakes&dpPl=1&dpID=51haSGah73L&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0084ETQCC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481930435&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=handbook+of+venomous+snakes&dpPl=1&dpID=51cl0ph79uL&ref=plSrch


Those should do a pretty good job of keeping you busy. I tried to list them from most broad to most technical.

My two specialties are Snapping Turtles and embryology (incubation) so if you have any specific questions related to those I can definitely send some materials your way. Oh, I forgot, if you like Snapping Turtles at all I LOVE "Biology of the Snapping Turtle", it's very pretty and made up of scientific essays on many aspects of their biology. https://www.amazon.ca/Biology-Snapping-Turtle-Chelydra-serpentina/dp/0801887240

They are hardly what I would call rare, uncommon sure. They remain on protected status because the state gets a federal stipend to keep it that way.. It works in their favor (the gilas) tbh, they are kept as pets in other states. There was concerns back in the early 50s export to Europe was high and little was known about them..was the main reason they were quickly given the protected status.

Highly recommend this book http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Monsters-Lizards-Organisms-Environments/dp/0520259874

This guy right here. http://amzn.com/B000NZZG3S