Snake Removal - Get Rid of Snakes

I built this website as a resource for people who want to get rid of a snake problem. I am a snake control expert with 15 years of experience, and I am friends with hundreds of other snake removal experts. This website provides practical tips and resources for you to solve any problem you may have with a snake in your home or snakes on your property.

 Option 1 - WALK AWAY AND LEAVE THE SNAKE ALONE

Maybe the snake is just passing through your yard. Maybe it's a harmless snake, and even good to have around. Not every snake sighting is cause for alarm or active snake removal. You can read this guide: Is it Venomous?, or look at my many Snake Photos, or pictures of dangerous snakes such as the Copperhead Snake, the Cottonmouth Snake, or common harmless ones like the Garter Snake.

If you must remove a snake, you basically have four options for getting rid of your snake(s). First, you can call a professional wildlife expert from my below directory. This person can catch and remove the snake(s) and take other actions necessary to solve the snake problem. Second, you can purchase a snake trap if you wish to catch the snake yourself. Third, you can modify your land and seal up your house to help keep snakes away and out of the house. Fourth, you can try a snake repellent.

 Option 2 - HIRE A PROFESSIONAL

We can solve your snake problem for you. Our nationwide group of snake specialists services 95% of the US population. Click here to find your local snake removal expert in your town. Below are just some of our more popular areas:

 Option 3 - BUY A SNAKE TRAP

If a snake is indoors, a trap might work. Never use a glue-based trap outdoors, because it can inhumanely catch other small critters and it will rarely work. I have reviewed and field tested several snake trap designs, and the one featured below is the most durable and effective, but it is still a bad option. Read more about this Snake Trap.

 Option 4 - HABITAT MODIFICATION & EXCLUSION

There's a reason you have snakes on your property or in your house. Your property is in an area of the country that has snakes (that includes most areas), and your property has features that are attractive to snakes. Most commonly, this means that your property is full of debris that attracts snakes. Snakes like a safe place to live and hunt and hide, and places to crawl in. So vegetation is a big snake attractor. So you can, if you wish, eliminate or trim back heavy vegetation. But more than that, if you have any rocks, sidewalk, plywood, a shed, or anything else that snakes can crawl under and den in, then you've REALLY got some attractive snake habitat. Eliminate all of these areas. Fill in gaps under rocks with dirt. Install an exclusion barrier, like a steel screen, around your shed or deck. Get rid of plywood or bricks or other debris. You can also install a fine-mesh fence sloping outward at a 30 degree angle, or tall solid fence around the perimeter of your property. If you've got snakes in your house, find out how they are getting in via a full inspection of the house. Use a polyurethane foam such as Great Stuff to seal any openings, and install weather stripping where you find gaps under doors. You can read more about How to Keep Snakes Away here, but in summary:

• Eliminate debris such as wood or rock piles on the property.
• Cut down heavy brush or trim back hedges.
• Seal small gaps under doors or decks, etc.
• Use funnel type traps or glue board type traps along edges.
• Seal shut any entry points into the house.
• An extreme remedy would be a perimeter wide fence.

The following remedies do not work:

• Use of sisal rope around the property, as if the rope is tough on a snake's belly.
• Use of snake repellants such as sulphur, mothballs, or Snake-A-Way.
• Use of ultrasonic sound emitters (snakes can't hear, at least in high frequencies).
• Use of fake owls or hawk decoys.

 Option 5 - USE A SNAKE REPELLENT

I included this section to inform and educate. Unfortunately, most snake repellents don't work. Only rare specialty items such as predator scents like mongoose urine or kingsnake musk have shown any (limited) effectiveness, and these aren't available to the public. Many of my listed wildlife trappers have access to such materials, but they're not sold anywhere online or elsewhere. There are in fact many snake repellents marketed and sold, and if you want, go ahead and do a Google search for "snake repellent", and you'll find all sorts of products. But they're bogus! Most are made of napthalene (mothball flakes) which DO NOT WORK and which just poison the environment! Don't use them! Or the products contain sulphur or coyote urine. These are the same gimmick ingredients used in all generic animal repellents, like "rat-away" or "squirrel-repel". They are a scam, and they do not work! I have tested all of these products extensively over many years in the field, and they are all, except for mongoose urine or kingsnake musk, totally bogus. And even the mongoose or kingsnake scents aren't a guarantee, and they wash away relatively quickly. Hiring a pro or setting a trap is a much more effective option. The pro is more expensive, but the trap is about the same cost as a phony repellent. Oh, and forget anything that claims "ultrasonic sound" or vibrations or anything, those have been certified as grade-a scams by the federal trade commission.

 The Bottom Line

Many snakes are actually beneficial for the environment, and there's more harmless snakes than venomous ones. But if you are uncomfortable with snakes on your property, or you want to know how to get rid of snakes in your house, you certainly have options. Typically, a professional snake removal expert is the best - they know how to get rid of snakes around the yard, in the basement, under a home, etc. from years of experience, and experience counts for a lot. But a snake trap is also a very effective and viable option. Repellents simply don't work, despite all the fancy-pants manufacturer claims. If you use a repellent, it's only a placebo, with no real effectiveness. Sealing your house against snakes is a good idea, and it can keep out bugs and mice as well. Altering your property is a harder task, and there will always be snakes outside, but eliminating clutter is a good idea. If you do see a snake, and you are scared, just leave it alone. Most snake bites actually occur when people try to kill snakes, or catch them by hand, or push them with a broom, or any other interaction. So just leave the snake alone, and call a pro or purchase a trap.

 Snake Topic of the month: Can you use a trap to catch a snake?

While most do not care what happens to a snake that has gotten onto their property, there are those who don’t want to see harm occur to these reptiles. It is true that the vast majority just want these animals to go away. They will do whatever it takes to ensure that happens, even including shooting them, poisoning them, or using some other kind of lethal measure that will lead to the demise of this animal.



Snakes can be dangerous to you and your family, including your pets, and so it is perfectly logical that people would take the drastic step of killing off these reptiles. However, this is not always the case. There are those who see that any creature here on the earth is worth saving, and while they may not like the animal on their property, they don’t see the need to terminate its life. Thus, they are willing to take appropriate steps to capture the snake so that it can be moved and set free somewhere else.

The question you have to ask yourself is if you can use some kind of trap to be able to capture a snake? This is a really good question if you think about it. If you went out and compared most traps that you would find it a store you may find them to be completely unsuitable for capturing a snake. The vast majority of snakes are rather slim in terms of their diameter, and if you compare that diameter to the space between the bars in the trap you will likely find that they are unsuitable for what you are attempting to do. Do not be deterred, however.

For the vast majority of people, they are not concerned about capturing and removing a small garden snake. If it gets into their home they can use something like a pillowcase and a stick to be able to trap the reptile, take it outside, and release it back into the wild. This may not require a huge commercial trap to be able to solve the problem. However, that is not always the case. You may have a situation where there is a rather large snake, even a potentially poisonous one, and so you want to be able to trap the reptile to remove it from your property. For these larger size snakes, you can be sure that there are traps out there that are suited perfectly for this kind of endeavor.

Depending upon the kind of snake you are attempting to capture, there were cages and traps that are of a suitable size and will stop the animal from being able to get free. These traps allow you to use a bait to lure the snake into it before it is captured. In fact, they are quite successful in helping you to resolve your problem.

Once the snake is captured, these traps are for you the ability to carry the trap to a different location, where you can then release the latch that opens the door so that the snake can find its own way out of the cage. This ensures that you do not have to come in direct contact, thus removing any risk that you may have a being bitten or attacked by the reptile as it is getting out of the cage. You want to do the humane thing by allowing this creature to survive, and now you know that there are traps out there that can help you to capture a snake so that your goal is achieved. Your success is now attainable.

Read more about Can you use a trap to catch a snake?