Garter snakes

[Pogie]

For some reason out in the back yard we have tons of these guys lol.
I don't mind them though, good rodent control.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/Pogiebate/DSC_0014.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Pogiebate/media/DSC_0014.jpg.html)
Love the colors on these guys.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/Pogiebate/DSC_0022.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Pogiebate/media/DSC_0022.jpg.html)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/Pogiebate/DSC_0273.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Pogiebate/media/DSC_0273.jpg.html)
And the shy one lol.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/Pogiebate/DSC_0282.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Pogiebate/media/DSC_0282.jpg.html)

[Albert Clark]

Niiiice! I breed garters and I wish I was close to you. They look like mostly eastern garters. There probably is a hibernation den in your back yard if you have so many concentrated in your yard. Maybe it's nearby. Harmless good guys to have around.

[Pogie]

How can you tell? I figured it was a garter snake and not a ribbon snake. What's the difference between eastern garter and an eastern ribbon snake? I have a site saved that tells me locations of snakes in IL and it don't mention eastern garter snakes. But it does reference Eastern ribbon snake. (But the eastern ribbon snake is way down in southern IL.) Is that what your talking about? Thanks!

[Albert Clark]

I'm looking at body size and coloration as my main interpretations. A picture can be misleading but the ranges of the eastern garter and the eastern ribbon snake do overlap. The ribbons are quite a bit more slender than garters.

[Pogie]

I came to the conclusion that it was a garter and not a ribbon but you lost me when you said Eastern garter and not Western garter lol. My site only says we have common garter snakes, well along with the Eastern and Western ribbon snakes.
I live in central IL. But it just refers to the garters as "Common". Probably because IL is to lazy to list them right rotfl.

[Pogie]

Either way I like em lol. Every time I go out there is at least 3 piled on top of each other. One is a lot bigger than the others, so I'm guessing that's the female. She is a lot bigger around than the others. And longer.

[Albert Clark]

That is so cool! I like that.

[bigsnakegirl785]

The garters probably aren't doing too much for your rodent control, they don't eat rodents often in the wild. Most species eat mostly frogs, toads, salamanders, fish, and worms.

Easter garters are the sub-species Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis. "Common garter" refers to all Thamnophis sirtalis ssp, including eastern garters.

[reptiledude987]

We have the eatern garters here in Ontario too. I used to catch them all the time as a kid. The females are substantially larger than the males. I was always excited to have caugt a female. Unfortunately havent seen any in a few years now. Its cool you see them on a regular basis.

[stevo-d]

My first snake was a garter called him mojo he used to bite and musk but became very placid with regular handling. Anyway I used to feed him earth worms and some sort of wee fish can't mind what they were called but he died by inflating his whole body and lying on his back all three garters I had died the same way have your ever heard of this even the vet was puzzled it was 20 years ago though.

[bigsnakegirl785]

My first snake was a garter called him mojo he used to bite and musk but became very placid with regular handling. Anyway I used to feed him earth worms and some sort of wee fish can't mind what they were called but he died by inflating his whole body and lying on his back all three garters I had died the same way have your ever heard of this even the vet was puzzled it was 20 years ago though.

I don't know what death from thiamin deficiency looks like, but if you weren't paying attention to what kind of fish you were feeding your snakes, it most likely could have been from a thiamin deficiency from fish containing thiaminase.

[Albert Clark]

My first snake was a garter called him mojo he used to bite and musk but became very placid with regular handling. Anyway I used to feed him earth worms and some sort of wee fish can't mind what they were called but he died by inflating his whole body and lying on his back all three garters I had died the same way have your ever heard of this even the vet was puzzled it was 20 years ago though.

If you bought that wee fish from the pet shop and they were minnows or aka Rosie reds it could be parasites that killed the garters back then. That could explain the swelling of his body.Their bodies became one big parasitic abcess! That is IMO. Coupled with the parasites in the earthworms they really were at risk.:blink:

[Bloutitt]

Where I live there is a ton of garters! Are they good pets? Would I have to isolate from the rest, just incase of disease? If i did get one what are the steps to bring it up healthy?

[Albert Clark]

Garters make excellent pets and yes any wild caught animal should be considered suspicious and quarantined away from established collections. Keeping a clean environment is key to a healthy pet. Its up to you what will be the best environment to set up. Tubs or tanks? Pvc or rack?

[Pogie]

The garters probably aren't doing too much for your rodent control, they don't eat rodents often in the wild. Most species eat mostly frogs, toads, salamanders, fish, and worms.

Easter garters are the sub-species Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis. "Common garter" refers to all Thamnophis sirtalis ssp, including eastern garters.
Yeah, so I'm guessing they are living off the toads and worms, since there is no water for miles lol. So no fish diet for these guys/gals.

I wouldn't mind finding a baby one to keep. But I wouldn't keep and adult. Just seems to cruel to put them in a cage if they have been wild for so long. So I'll just keep taking photos of them and enjoy them that way :)

[Pogie]

This is from today lol. I love these guys :)
I have lots of photos of these, they make great practice for my photo hobby.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v204/Pogiebate/DSC_0029.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Pogiebate/media/DSC_0029.jpg.html)

[Albert Clark]

That looks like a nice specimen right there! I'm with you on the leaving them free. Adult or baby in my case. Born free live free!! There are so many breeders of healthy captive garters why start with a potential problem from the wild. Only IMO.

[stevo-d]

If you bought that wee fish from the pet shop and they were minnows or aka Rosie reds it could be parasites that killed the garters back then. That could explain the swelling of his body.Their bodies became one big parasitic abcess! That is IMO. Coupled with the parasites in the earthworms they really were at risk.:blink:

The fish were silver and long and thin in packs of 50 to 100 and were frozen. That's what I remenber. When I think back I used to dig up the mud and get the worms wash them then feed to to the garters all because the guy in the pet shop said it was OK the passion was just the same as today but the knowledge was up to scratch just like that boa man 5423

[KyleKennedy]

I ran over a garter snake last week while I was cutting the grass. Felt really bad.