Hi garter people!

[KittyKitsch]

Hi garter people! I'm also new here lol

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard.

[chris-uk]

Welcome aboard.

I assume you are a garter person too? How about telling us what garters you have, how long you've had them etc? And I expect you'll get the usual requests for photos of your garters, the rest of the tham-ily here like photos of garters.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you on the forum.
Here's a link to the forum care sheet.
As Chris suggested a little info. on you would be great if you don't mind.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

[mikem]

what chris said! welcome to the forum :)

[RedSidedSPR]

Demanding aren't we.

[EasternGirl]

Hi and welcome to the forum! We would love to know more about you and your snakes if you have any....if you don't have any, that's okay too.

[indigoman]

Welcome to the forum!

[KittyKitsch]

Actually I don't have any snakes right now! I know, I know! I'm here because I am interested in learning about garters as I feel they are way underrated and everyone I know is all about pythons and boas etc.
What kind of info would you like? I'm 22 year old married lady from CA living in TX... Any questions for me? :P

[chris-uk]

What would you like to know about garters? Are you looking at getting one/some?
You're spot on, garters are underrated. And you're in the right place to learn more about the little beauties.

[KittyKitsch]

Well I am interested in getting one maybe more... I pretty much know NOTHING about them so bear with me!

[chris-uk]

Having an interest is a good starting point. You'll start getting one, then you get drawn in and get another, and maybe a couple more... That's what happened to me and the wife anyway. :)

[guidofatherof5]

Well I am interested in getting one maybe more... I pretty much know NOTHING about them so bear with me!

Then the care sheet link I posted is a great place to start.

Here's a couple of big no no's.

No insects-garters can't digest the exoskeleton.
No goldfish- Goldfish and some other fish contain thiaminase, a substance that will kill garter snakes.

[EasternGirl]

Well, we are glad to have you here! So wonderful to see another person who can appreciate these wonderful, and as you very correctly stated, underrated snakes. They truly are a treasure to have, and it is so fun to learn all about them. It is okay if you don't know anything about them...that is why we are here. And as Chris said, you will soon learn it is very hard to have only one! Feel free to ask any questions and to browse our threads.

[KittyKitsch]

Aha! I figured goldfish would be bad due to the thiaminase(sp?)! I was thinking of getting some guppies for my community tank to have some fish, and my local fish shop sells feeder guppies and minnows... which I assume are okay?
I am going to read that care sheet right now. Thank you guys for being so welcoming!

[guidofatherof5]

No minnows as a rule.
Heavy parasite load and most(no all) minnows also contain thiaminase.

[KittyKitsch]

I just read that :/

[katach]

Welcome to the forum family! I'm Kat. Our thamily has 6 garters and another on the way next week. We have 2 Pugets (T. s. pickeringii) 4 Northwesterns (T. ordinoides) and the one on the way is a Checkered (T. marcianus), she is an albino. We are looking into getting even another 1 or 2 in the spring. You will find yourself saying "just one more" a lot! :D They are wonderful, sweet (most of the time), curious, and interactive. You will love having one..... or more!

[KittyKitsch]

Are the pugets blue and black? I LOVE those black with blue stripers, I love the look of the red sided too.

[katach]

Our Pugets are black with a neon yellow/green stripe. The blue variations only occur in a very small population of them. If you want to see ours, they have their own threads. Ours are unique in the fact they have almost no lateral striping.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/8812-cotton-pics.html
(http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/8812-cotton-pics.html)http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/8813-toothless-pics.html

[gregmonsta]

Greetings :D

[Mommy2many]

Welcome to the forum from snowy Connecticut! Yes, I said it! We finally got some on Thursday night.

[EasternGirl]

Well...if it's going to be that kind of party...I have two eastern garters (T.s.sirtalis), both wild caught, a male, Seeley, and a female, Cee Cee. I also have a captive bred albino checkered male (T.marcianus), Hermes. If you would like to see pics of them, I also have a thread for them: http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/9846-marnies-snakes.html. I also have another snake coming soon, an Albino Snow Plains (T.radix), who I am naming Possum. And I am hopefully going to be getting another radix and a northwestern in the spring. Garters are very addictive!

[chris-uk]

If we're playing that game...
I (sorry, we) also have an Eastern. We also have an albino checkered (popular aren't they!). We also have two normal checkereds. We also have two Western Blacknecks. And my personal favourites, two Lake Cuitzeo garters. It all started with the albino, which the wife forced me to buy her in September, from there it snowballed from a single viv, to the current 4 vivs in the house, and with today's purchase of the Easterns... 8 snakes. It's a slippery slope, enjoy the ride. :)

[KittyKitsch]

Very pretty snakes :D Love the albinos of course!
Darn! I wish I could get a blue striped puget, they have got to be the prettiest garter I've ever seen. The Lake Cuitzeos are gorgeous as well.
What is everyone's feelings on live plants in vivs?

[chris-uk]

The blue Pugets seem to be the morph that's available in Europe, we're lucky in that sense.
Cuitzeos are great snakes, look great, feed well, but they do seem to be programmed more jumpy than most.

Plants have some pros and cons, and I know several people on here use live plants. The main issue is whether they are bringing any parasites into the viv. I don't use live plants because I tend to kill plants, so I prefer silk ones.

[EasternGirl]

Chris...time to update that signature for those easterns!

[PINJOHN]

Welcome from a sunshine blessed Liverpool....and profuse apologies for the unseemly delay in your greeting:o
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR4y1dPtN-EVPENg1BYYsLqoHg5jOJOmruRHFC-G6D7nGLBSxPphAhttp://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSaz93quM1Ay0V0d7uMRqvUm3CpZZtMC wWq2SdiSWB_eWH5brgjzg
TODAY'S SCOUSE FACTOID


Liverpool has a thriving film industry. Films that have been shot there include The Hunt For Red October, The 51st State, The Parole Officer and Letter To Brezhnev, the dark knight, captain America, capones boys, Sherlock Holmes, and many many more including a coca cola advert, the city has doubled for new York, Chicago, Moscow, Dublin, Paris and even Venice.

[snakehill]

Welcome to the forum from snowy Connecticut! Yes, I said it! We finally got some on Thursday night. But then it started to rain and was gone! It was beautiful while it was here though!! :)