Ribbons and regular garters living together mass hysteria!

[8clutchfamily]

So I wanted to get in the Garter snake game and I got a beautiful green boy at Petco. I named him Loki and got him all set up and even fed him some fish. I know that Garters are communal snakes so I wanted to get him a buddy. Here’s where it gets interesting. The tank at Petco did not specify that the green boy I got was a Ribbon Garter Snake! (I love him just the same don’t worry) I’d still like to get him a buddy, but I’m not sure if I should get him a Ribbon buddy or if it would be ok to get him a regular garter as a buddy. Does anyone on this forum have any experience keeping a ribbon and a regular garter together? Any advice y’all could give would be super helpful. Thank you!

- Chance

[Aaron_S]

I don't have experience but same species would be best if you wanted to do it that way. Ribbon snakes are small and slender. Garters tend to be a bit heavier bodied.

Also, I appreciate the ghostbusters reference in the thread title. If it's a reference to ghostbusters then fake it and say it was.

[craigafrechette]

I cant help with advice on cohabitating those two species, but I thought it was worth chiming in to suggest buying from a reputable breeder rather than the big box pet stores. The big box stores are just notorious for treating animals improperly and I can't justify putting money in their pockets to support their poor habits.
Buying from a reputable breeder will pretty much guarantee you a healthy animal, from the big box stores it's really a roll of the dice...

Just food for thought...

[MnGuy]

A good rule is to keep the same sex and the same size together. Check out the Thamnophis forum for old threads on this issue. It’s kind of a dead forum so posts get few responses.

I keep two garters together. Never had a ribbon snake before but they seem skinny relative to a garter. Always watch out during feeding or feed in separate containers.

Good luck.