My new Flame Eastern garters.

[Nafun]

I know the pictures are terrible, I only have my camera phone. No zoom, no flash.

I got these little guys from "garterchick" on thamnophis.com

They're flame easterns, and they're already coloring up really well, way better than the pictures illustrate.

These are only my second (and third) baby snake, everything else I've acquired as a yearling. I was totally not prepared for how tiny they are.

As soon as I popped open the styrofoam box they were in, one bolted from it at speed and hid under my keyboard. I expected hours of chasing it around the house and crawling around on my knees, but I picked up my keyboard, put my hand down, and it crawled right in.

I'm building a 2/3 land, 1/3 water enclosure for them, but they're too small as yet to go in it. I'm going to maintain the water part as a guppy aquarium and see if I can raise snakes and food together!

No names yet, suggestions are welcome.

I don't know what gender they are, hopefully they're both male or both female *fingers crossed*.

[marvelfreak]

:)Congrats ! man they are tiny things, but cute as hell.:)

[emseeKAY]

lol i second marvelfreaks comment

[infernalis]

They are from the exact same bloodlines as my deep red flame.

I got Masubius from Tina in 2008.

Congrats.

Although your 1/3 2/3 concept seems sound, Garters are little pigs and will consume guppies until they are gone.

[Nafun]

I've had these guys about a week, and all I've got to say is "wow." They're not like any snake I've owned. They act more like mammals than reptiles. They're active all day long, constantly looking for food, and checking out their surroundings. They've grown noticeably in just a week, and they're already associating me with food.

I've got a new recommendation when people ask for a good beginner snake. Garters are amazing!

[infernalis]

Not to mention addictive!

[Nafun]

Not to mention addictive!

Can't eat just one!

[shaunyboy]

looking good mate,congratulations on getting the wee guys.look forward to seeing more pic's once they're big enough to get into their new tank.it sounds like its going to be very nice.
cheers shaun

[percey39]

Nice looking snakes, your enclosure idea sounds sweet. I would love to see some pics when you are done and they are in there.

[Nafun]

They won't be in there for a while. Right now, they're too small, they'll be able to squeeze out the screen top.

[infernalis]

So I take it you enjoy your new garter snakes?

Hope the color up like their big sister did.....

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/thamnophis/82942-flame-just-keeps-getting-hotter.html

[Nafun]

I don't know the gender on mine =/ I'm hoping they're both male, or both female so I don't end up with a litter of nascar fans in a couple of years.

[infernalis]

Flames are great sellers, a litter of those equals cash in the bank.

[Evra0914]

OMG! they're sooo freaking cute! lol :)

[Nafun]

These guys are such little piggies.

I put 20+ guppies in their water dish a few hours ago.

Now there are two very frightened guppies wondering where everybody went.

No luck getting them to take tilapia, or scented pinkies though, and they've started refusing worms, I think they've been holding out for guppies.

[.: Laura :.]

:P Aww, remember!
"It's okay to eat fish cos they don't have any feelings"

[dragunov.762]

i love nirvana

[.: Laura :.]

Me too :) especially that track

[Nafun]

After hearing what goes into wayne's garter chow, I decided to make some myself. (had tried fish filet and pinks with no luck).

1.75lbs of raw salmon
38 pink mice
a handful of turtle pellets
a dusting of calcium

Combined it all in the food processor and.....

It smells exactly as bad as it sounds... but the garters seem to love it, and now i've got a couple pounds in the freezer in individual serving bags. So hopefully I won't have to make more for a long time.

[infernalis]

They will grow quick on that....

[ineedsoap16]

Man, I've lived in DE most of my life and have been catching garters forever. I've never seen something like that in the wild! Are they a captive morph, or am I not looking in the right areas?

[Nafun]

They're a naturally occuring morph from canada

[ineedsoap16]

Wow, they were my first caught snake, and probably most caught. That is soooooo sweet.

[infernalis]

Man, I've lived in DE most of my life and have been catching garters forever. I've never seen something like that in the wild! Are they a captive morph, or am I not looking in the right areas?


They occur frequently in certain parts of Canada, but often not as red.

The deep candy apple reds are the result of selective breeding, For instance when I breed my flames, I am using my extreme cherry red male to sire babies with my high red female.

This will produce a litter of outrageously red babies.