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Reptiles & Amphibians

How to Get a Snake Out of Your Garage, Safely

Identify it from a distance, open one exit, and let it leave on its own. The sweep-and-guide method, when to call someone, and how it got in.

By Zakaria 3 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A garter snake loosely coiled on moss, the harmless striped species most often found sheltering in a garage
Photo: Wild Life Photography, Pexels License, via Pexels
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Open one exit and let it leave. Most garage snakes are harmless species sheltering from heat or hunting rodents, and they want out as much as you want them out. Do not try to catch it — that is where bites happen.

Before anything else: identify it

Stop here if you are not sure

Photograph it with a zoom from across the room. Do not approach for a better look.

If it is venomous, or you cannot identify it with confidence, or anyone present is frightened enough that the situation is getting unsafe — call animal control or a local reptile rescue. They do this routinely and it is usually free or cheap.

Most garage snakes are harmless. “Most” is not a basis for walking up to one.

The method

  1. Clear people and pets out, and shut the inner door to the house. This is the step that matters most — a snake pushed toward the wrong opening goes deeper into the building, and a thirty-minute job becomes a wall-cavity problem
  2. Open exactly one exit. Main door fully up, or one side door. Everything else shut
  3. Clear the path, moving bins and boxes so the route runs along a wall to the doorway
  4. Guide it with a long-handled broom — slow, steady pressure from behind and to one side. Never head-on. Never strike it
  5. Close up, then find the way in

Snakes follow edges, not open floor

A snake crossing an open garage feels exposed and will head for the nearest cover, which is usually the wrong direction.

Give it a continuous edge leading to the open door and the job largely does itself. An unobstructed wall line is worth more than a clear middle.

Expect several minutes. Sudden movement makes a snake coil and hold its ground; slow pressure moves it. Rushing this is what turns it into a standoff.

Why it came in

Three reasons, and they decide what you do next.

What drew it in, and what to do about it
ReasonSignFix
RodentsDroppings, gnawed packaging, spilled seedDeal with the rodents
Heat or coolAppears in extreme weatherSeal the gaps
ShelterClutter, stored timber, cardboardClear harbourage

A garage is thermally stable, which makes it attractive on its own. A garage with a rodent problem has a food supply in it, which makes it far more so.

Closing it up

  • Replace a worn bottom door seal — the commonest route by a distance
  • Fill utility penetrations with steel wool and sealant
  • Screen the vents
  • Check where the frame meets the slab

Then the perimeter: clear log piles, long grass and dense ground cover away from the wall, and store pet food and birdseed in sealed containers.

Skip the repellents

There is no good evidence for the granular snake repellents sold for this, and reviews have repeatedly failed to find a consistent effect. Mothballs are both ineffective and an illegal misuse of the product in most places.

What works is physical: close the gaps, and remove the rodents it came for.

Step by step

Time
PT30M
You need
Broom with a soft head, Large empty bin or box
Tools
Torch, Long-handled broom

  1. Keep your distance and identify it

    Photograph it with a zoom from across the room rather than approaching. Most garage snakes are harmless species sheltering from heat or hunting rodents. If you cannot identify it with confidence, or it is venomous or you are in any doubt, stop here and call animal control or a local reptile rescue.

  2. Clear people and pets out and shut the inner door

    The inner door to the house is the one that matters. A snake moved toward the wrong opening goes further into the building, and that turns a thirty-minute job into a wall cavity problem.

  3. Open exactly one exit to the outside

    Raise the main door fully or open one side door, and leave everything else shut. One obvious route out is what makes the rest of this work. Several open doors give the snake choices, and it will usually pick the dark one.

  4. Clear the path to it

    Move bins, boxes and anything else between the snake and the open door, so the route is unobstructed and along a wall. Snakes travel against edges rather than across open floor, so an edge leading to the doorway is worth more than a clear middle.

  5. Guide it with a long-handled broom, slowly

    Stand well back and use the broom head to encourage it from behind and to one side, never head-on and never by striking. Slow, steady pressure moves a snake; sudden movement makes it coil and stand its ground. Expect this to take several minutes.

  6. Close up and find the way in

    Once it has gone, shut the door and look for the entry point: gaps under the door seal, utility penetrations, vents, and the gap where the frame meets the slab. Anything a pencil fits through will admit a small snake.

Common questions

How do I get a snake out of my garage?

Identify it from a distance, shut the door into the house, open exactly one exit to the outside, clear the route along a wall, then use a long-handled broom to apply slow steady pressure from behind and to one side. Most snakes leave within a few minutes if given one obvious way out. Never handle it, never strike it, and never corner it with no exit.

Should I try to catch it?

No. Handling is where almost all snake bites happen, and most bites are to people who were trying to catch or kill the animal rather than to people who left it alone. Guiding it out needs no contact and no equipment beyond a broom. If the situation genuinely needs the snake removed by hand, that is a job for animal control or a reptile rescue.

When should I call someone instead?

If it is venomous or you cannot identify it confidently, if it is somewhere you cannot reach such as inside stored items or a wall cavity, if it will not move after reasonable attempts, or if anyone present is frightened enough that the situation is becoming unsafe. Animal control and local reptile rescues handle this routinely and the call is usually free or inexpensive.

How did a snake get into my garage?

Almost always through a gap you would not think twice about — under the main door seal, around a utility penetration, through a vent, or where the frame meets the slab. A gap a pencil fits through will admit a small snake. The reason it came in is usually either heat, cool, or food: garages are thermally stable, and a garage with a rodent problem has a food supply in it.

How do I keep snakes out?

Fix the gaps and remove the reason. Replace a worn bottom door seal, fill utility penetrations with steel wool and sealant, and screen vents. Then deal with what drew it: clear rodent harbourage, store pet food and birdseed in sealed containers, and keep the perimeter clear of log piles, long grass and dense ground cover against the wall.

Do snake repellents work?

There is no good evidence for the granular repellents sold for this, and reviews of them have repeatedly failed to find a consistent effect. Mothballs are both ineffective and an illegal misuse of the product in most places. The things that genuinely work are physical: seal the gaps, and remove the rodents the snake came for.

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