Red-bellied Blacks definately will eat frogs in the wild, (I can confirm this having relocated one on a rescue recently that regurgitated a half digested striped marsh frog!) I havent observed younger ones eating personally although i’m pretty sure they eat small frogs based on where i’ve seen them basking when i bushwalk – places i’ve seen and heard lots of small frogs calling.

In captivity, I have seen Red-bellied Black’s feeding on fresh killed mice (it is illegal to feed live vertebrates to your pets, it is also illegal to feed them other protected fauna including reptiles and frogs!) Snakes rely strongly on scent to discern what is food – if there was a snake being a trouble feeder, read up on scenting food items, like rubbing skink wee on a mouse, to trick a snake that eats skinks into start eating mice.

Looking up more on the diet of RBBS’s it’s recorded as “60%frogs, 31% reptiles 9%mammals” thanks to a book I recommend if you want to learn a stack more
about native snakes, “Australian Snakes – A Natural History by Rick Shine”

Red-bellieds are not a snake I would recommend as a first snake for most people. There are many captive bred pythons on the market such as Stimson’s Pythons that are established feeders (it’s illegal to collect snakes from the wild without a very different kind of permit to your reptile keepers license). A captive bred python would give you a great introduction to the hobby (I can even recommened a few python breeders if your interested).

Cheers,
Pete

Leaving heat matting, food (a dead mouse) out and water (in a deep wide bowl for example a ceramic dog dish or cheap plastic cat litter tray) would perhaps be better suited to luring out an escaped pet snake than a wild one, especially a red belly as they eat mostly frogs, some reptiles and few mammals. Snakes also have the advantage when it comes to patience, they are capable of going weeks even months without food or water. Still it’s worth a try.

If you’ve any tiled areas where you suspect its hidden, you could try laying down a dusting of talcum powder to see where it travels when your not home, and when you are home if you leave plastic shopping bags around in the edges of your rooms you may hear it rustling when its on the move – once you do, keep and eye on it and give the wildlife rescuer a call to take care of the rest

If you were able to safely get a photo of it if it reappears i’d be happy to identify it for you

Good luck,
Pete

I saw a snake at 2am Sunday morning just gone – it was in my bedroom (I have a bedroom in a garage). We tried to keep watch on it whilst contacting wildlife organisations but none of them were available. We ended up losing the snake in the room somewhere. I haven’t slept in there but have received lots of different advice including it is probably there under the bed, it probably left the room. I am not sure what I should do. A wildlife rescuer came out yesterday and had a look around but said their job is to come and pick it up not search for it and when we see it again to call them.

I have also been told to put a bucket of water out for it.

I’ve also heard that it probably isn’t a red belly black snake because they don’t usually come out at night???

Advice please???

Thanks

Jack

During winter there are fewer frogs about to feed on, the bulk of the red-bellieds i’ve seen were on warm days around boggy, frog inhabited areas, especially in the warmer months. They also had the cover of long grass or lantana to hide amongst or stone, logs or metal to hide safely under close by. By limiting their hiding options you can make your yard a less desirable habitat for snakes.

keep a list of phone numbers for your local wildlife rescuers handy, you may have more than one in your area. If safe to do so, keep an eye on the snake, then if it hides the rescuer will know where to look.

If you havent already, do a certified first-aid course, first-aid for many emergencies, including a snake bite, can save a life.

Are there things we can do to keep them out of our yard? we already have a dog and a cat but that doesn’t seem to be detering them – any other suggestions?
Wildlife contacts and the local snake catcher won’t come unless we can hold the snake in our yard until they get here – not something I would like to do – and they’re not available after hours.
Please help.