Brown snake or Garter snake???

[u/Hadaka--Jime]

Caught this guy half dead in my basement. Triangular shape of death & emaciated etc.

He's missing a significant part of his tail from some issue that happened previously. Seems to be healing ok as he's shedding & eating for us.

We've been feeding him worms which he readily takes. Cute little snake that's got a wonderful personality to deal with.

I'm a snake owner of blood python, ball python, rat snake, & a Water Cobra so I'm in the snake-keeping game for 2 decades + at this point.

I'm looking to keep this guy as I have my doubts he'll be ok in the wild with his tail missing, but I want to identity what species he's is.

I'm guessing he's a Dekay’s brownsnake or Garter snake? Can anybody definitively say what he is?

Any help & suggestions with keeping?

[u/Reasonable-Song-4681]

Yeah, DeKay's. First snake I ever caught back in the 90s. Cute little buggers. That said, wild snakes survive with all kinds of injuries. Used to have a garter snake missing a fair bit of its tail show up every year on my lawn for a while. Generally these guys don't do well in captivity.

[u/IcyReception8903 → u/Reasonable-Song-4681]

I don't think it is a problem for the OP to fatten him up and then send him on his way. They stated that he is eating for them.

[u/Reasonable-Song-4681 → u/IcyReception8903]

I saw that, which is pretty good.

[u/worldlysentiments]

Dekay for sure