20 gallon long???

[ptbmaniac]

I was just wondering if a 20g long is big enough to put 2 garter snakes in??? It would have a few hiding places and the rest of the full setup.

[Andy_G]

Yes it would be enough. Hope both garters are female though.

[sapphire_moon]

Alot of people don't think that 2 snakes should be kept together (I am one of them) and I think that a snake that can get to 4ft long in something 2ft long. Esepcially 2 of them.

[JD@reptiles]

i would say its not big enough depending on the size of the tank. if both were females than the tank is way too small. go with a 30 gallon atleast. garters seem to do best in 60+ gallons though. how big are the garters?

[ptbmaniac]

It's about 50-50 I guess.I've seen on some sites that it would be big enough and on others it says it's not.I thought It would be cool if my girlfriend and I could each have one,but maybe i'll just get 1.Would a 15 gal be good for 1? or should i stick with a 20L?

[Nicky]

id say stick with the 20 the bigger the better righti;ve heard they need lots of excerise so id say keep the 20 gal possibly even go bigger if u have the money.
rock on kayla

[latazyo]

a 30g and 20L have the same footprint

[Cedille]

Has anyone even asked him what age they are?

If they're babies they don't need any more than a 15 for the pair for about a year. 60G for 2 adult garters? that seems quite a bit much. Mine are almost a year old, and about 18" long, and i keep 2 of them in a 15G. They're fine. Usually they're found curled up together.

Also, i think they'd benefit from having a substrate they can burrow in, rather than just paper towels.

Seems funny everyone's worried about giving them ridiculous amounts of space, but no one's worried about giving them a natural substrate, and not frying them with an under tank heater only using paper towels (re: other post)

[Jonathan Crowe]

Most adult male garter snakes can be kept in a 15-gallon cage when they're fully grown.

Most adult female garter snakes can be kept in a 25-gallon cage when they're fully grown, but will take several years to reach a size large enough to need that cage.

My female red-spotted garter is in a 25-gallon tank, but my female wandering garter is smaller and younger, and is kept in a 15-gallon. I expect the wandering garter to outgrow her tank at some point.

Females also tend to be less active than males, especially when full grown -- males put their energy into chasing girls, females into large litters, which tends to make males hyper and females mellow, in general.

I kept my breeding pair of red-sided garters in a 25-gallon cage; the male was moved to a 15-gallon when the female died.

Expect a pair to need slightly more room than the largest of the snakes on its own.

If you're providing a landscaped cage (rather than a bare-bones standard colubrid setup -- hidebox, water dish and branch on paper towels) you'll generally need more room as well.

[Jonathan Crowe]

I should also mention that certain garter snake species -- western terrestrial/wandering, checkered -- have a reputation for cannibalism and should not be housed together.

With others, it's a matter of feeding them separately to prevent food fights -- each snake grabs an opposite end of the same worm/fish/mouse and keeps swallowing until . . .

Outright cannibalism among common garters has been reported, but appears rare.

[C.m.pyrrhus]

Just about any Thamnophis species will be able to live out its full life in a 20L, no problem at all. Not many are known to outgrow or need anything larger than that by any means.

What species is this that your interested into getting, or have? Thamnophis are awesome snakes, hardy and have a simple husbandry to go along with it. I keep 1.1 Wandering garters myself, a bit bland for garters, but still great. I personally am keeping them as well to have some feeders for future snake-eating species, yummy for them.

[ptbmaniac]

Well i'm thinking of getting just a common garter.That's all I've found in the pet stores here on long island have not really found any good garter breeders online.I've been to scott Felzer's page but his site really doesn't excite me.

[Cruciform]

www.gartersnake.co.uk

[ptbmaniac]

I really don't want to have anything shipped from the uk.Truthfully My girlfriend wants a blue garter.So If I decide to order something online it will probably be a florida blue.I myself just really like garters so as looks go I really don't care.My thing is I really don't want to spend more than $30 for a garter snake.They have common Garters and ribbon snakes at petland here for $13.99.The manager really knows his snakes and keeps very good care of them there.So right now that's my first option.