my new garter!

[setfree]

I found this large garter snake and brought it home and put it in my prepared aquarium tank. I think it's a female but not 100% sure. it is about to shed so it will look really good soon. After a day it readily accepted 3 or 4 worms. the next day I tried feeding it a large frozen mouse that had been thawed. it did not accept it and only ate worms. any comments on that? anyway the snake is really calm and likes the habitat. here are some pics...

[Natrix]

Try a pinkie mouse and small pieces of fish. :)

[chris-uk]

I found this large garter snake and brought it home and put it in my prepared aquarium tank. I think it's a female but not 100% sure. it is about to shed so it will look really good soon. After a day it readily accepted 3 or 4 worms. the next day I tried feeding it a large frozen mouse that had been thawed. it did not accept it and only ate worms. any comments on that? anyway the snake is really calm and likes the habitat. here are some pics...

They don't eat rodents naturally in the wild, I don't think there are many wild-caught garters that would readily accept mice after a day in captivity. The good news is that it is readily accepting worms, sometimes a garter can take weeks to start feeding after a change of home.
If you want to include pinkies in the diet (as part of a mixed diet) you need to scent the pinky with worms or fish. Try feeding it fish, there's a reasonable chance it will accept fish, and if it does fish is a better food to scent the pinkies with (worms don't have as strong a scent).

Enjoy, and ask if you need any more advice.

[EasternGirl]

Where are you located? I'm not sure of the species by looking at the pics....but it could have something to do with the type of species as to why it is only eating worms...might be what it is used to eating in the wild. You can try senting the mouse and fish with the worm...rub the worm on the mouse before feeding. You may also try cutting the pinky into smaller pieces. It was a pinky mouse?

[EasternGirl]

Oh...one more thing...this should help you in caring for your new snake: Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

And like Chris said, if you have any other questions...just ask.

[Selkielass]

Very nice! Yes, she will look bright and shiny after a shed.
If you can put up some shots of the underside of her tail and vent there are people here who are very good at identifying male vs female.

All my snakes started out with worms, and they still are a favorite, but all that I've had for a while come to adore frozen and thawed rodents- my small snakes will pick out chunks of rodent when they are mixed up with cut up worms. (Cut up the mice while still frozen, its much easier.)

[katach]

Congrats on the new addition! More pics please! :D

[setfree]

I believe it is a t. radix (plains garter snake). I got it in central Iowa. thanks for all the helpful information and interest. If I have anymore questions I won't hesitate to ask you guy's for help! I will try to post some pics soon!

[Light of Dae]

If you want to scent a mouse with worms I found it best to mince up a worm or two, basically like a mush. Then slather it all over the mouse. I feed out of a dish so I put the worm mush + thawed mouse chunks + a few larger pieces of worm. My snakes love the mixture. That is how I got my little Radix to eat both mouse and fish lol.

[Light of Dae]

OH and unlike boas or pythons Garter Snakes LOVE their food served cold, not frozen but not warm either. A nice Cool temp. meal is their favorite.

[guidofatherof5]

I scent pinkies for Shyblue (T.proximus orarius - Gulf Coast Ribbon) by spraying the worms with water, then I give them a little stir. Then dip the pinkies in the water and slime.
I do this when I don't need any cut up worms.

[kibakiba]

A couple of my snakes required blood to be on the pinky when I was switching them over. All of them are different, so if the slime doesn't work, I'd try a bit of worm blood slathered over the pinky.

And, Dae is right (at least this is true for all of my snakes), they like colder food. My mom, when she helps me feed, takes a pinky and puts it in hot water and thinks they want it warm, but none of them will take it. If it's cool, they happily take it.

[guidofatherof5]

A couple of my snakes required blood to be on the pinky when I was switching them over. All of them are different, so if the slime doesn't work, I'd try a bit of worm blood slathered over the pinky.

And, Dae is right (at least this is true for all of my snakes), they like colder food. My mom, when she helps me feed, takes a pinky and puts it in hot water and thinks they want it warm, but none of them will take it. If it's cool, they happily take it.

That's interesting about the food temp. May snakes will take them hot or room temperature and it's not just a radix thing.
So don't anyone be bad-mouthing my over zealous radixes.:D

[kibakiba]

northwesterns live in a cooler climate, usually... At least here they do. Well, it's either freezing cold or deathly hot here... There isn't really a happy medium. Hah. But, most of the food is pretty cold, except for the field mice.

[EasternGirl]

I've never tried warming food...but I have given it to my snakes cool and room temp and they seem to like it either way. I think Cee Cee would eat any food any temp...the girl ain't picky...if she can eat it...she's gonna eat it! :D

[setfree]

I guess all the snakes have different preferences so I will have to experiment with these great ideas. Thanks!

[ConcinusMan]

They don't eat rodents naturally in the wild

I disagree. And just for the record, about 75% of the WC T. s. concinnus', T. elegans, and even some adult T. ordinoides that I have kept, have readily accepted pinky mice and/or rats, unscented. They do seem to be put off by hair though, and prefer naked rodents. Furthermore, T. s. fitchi has been photographed and/or observed feeding on live rodents in the wild.

It's just that this particular snake is probably not familiar with rodents and probably hasn't been finding or eating them. Washing the pinkies and smothering in worms should get the snake to eat them. Once they get familiar with them, no scenting is usually necessary.

I'd have to see more pics, but that doesn't appear to be a T. radix at all. If it was found in Iowa, then I'd say it's probably a T. sirtalis parietalis that is low red, or lacks red completely. It just doesn't look like a radix at all to me.

[kibakiba]

They do here. It's the only food available during summer. When it's raining everywhere else, it's dry here (usually) and the only food available is the tiny field mice. That's just here, though.

[setfree]

I finally found the species of my garter.... it is a red-sided/eastern garter snake. I will try to post pics soon. thanks for all the help!:D

[kibakiba]

Red sided and easterns are not the same thing. It would have to be one or the other, or a mutt.

[EasternGirl]

Yep...and if I remember correctly, you are in Iowa...I don't think there are easterns out there are there? They do have red-sideds though I believe. Steve would be the one to ask. But Chantel is correct...you are talking about two different subspecies...T.s.sirtalis and T.s.parietalis.

[Didymus20X6]

I looked it up once. There are Easterns in Iowa.

[EasternGirl]

Cool...I know they have a pretty wide range...I guess I just thought Steve would be finding more easterns! Lol... Well, it could be either one then, I guess....weren't we looking at pics and saying that it looked like one or the other?

[EasternGirl]

Okay...I'm looking back at the pics and it's another one of those snakes that looks like Chris's...looks like it could be an eastern, or a red-sided minus the red, or a radix...we are going to need more pics and we are going to need a close up pic of the side of the snake's face so that we can count the supralabial scales (we need to be able to see the side of the snake's mouth close up in a photo). Then we can tell you the subspecies of the snake.

[setfree]

48504849 these are a couple of pics that actually looked decent. And I have seen pictures of garters that look like this with red-sided/eastern garter snake below. Here is a link to one... Intergrade Eastern/Red-sided Garter Snake | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brekhus/4145286056/) so let me know what you think please.

[kibakiba]

... Is it just me or does the intergrade just look like a normal redsided? Maybe it's my new pills but I'm not seeing it as any different from any other brown and red redsided.

[setfree]

there are just to many red-sided garter snake subspecies:eek:. I also saw pics of a eastern garter that looked like mine but the one that makes sense is the redsided/eastern garter:confused:. but thanks for your input!

[kibakiba]

It's the subspecies. Redsideds are "thamophis sirtalis parietalis", where easterns are "thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis" Since they can technically crossbreed, it's really possible... But redsideds (t. sirtalis parietalis) can look differently than one that someone else may have, as do some other species of garter snake. They can be high black, low black, high red or low to no red, and not to mention the other sorts of morphs that they can be. If that makes sense.


It's just way too hot here, it's frying my brain! Haha...

[setfree]

Hey thanks! that was surfacing on my mind but I wasn't sure:rolleyes:. that explains a lot. thanks a lot!:)

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...the pic you showed on flicker...if someone actually has a snake that is truly an eastern red-sided garter...then that means that someone out there crossbred an eastern with a red-sided...which we highly frown upon in the garter snake community. If you found your snake in the wild, it shouldn't be a crossbreed. Like Chantel said...and I said before, you are talking about two different subspecies of snakes...an eastern garter, or a T.s.sirtalis, an a red-sided garter, or a T.s.parietalis. Your snake looks like a red-sided garter from your pics. It doesn't look like an eastern to me at all. I have two easterns...and they are my favorite garters. I have been studying them quite a bit. Easterns don't usually have the pattern or the coloring of your snake. Given the supralabial scale count and the colors...I would say red-sided, T.s.parietalis.

[setfree]

hey! ive got a new snake I just caught at my church but it is not a garter... the only thing that it looks like is a northern water snake. which is non venomous. any help would be great!

[guidofatherof5]

Any photos?

[ConcinusMan]

yeah, hey, a hint would be nice:rolleyes: what snake? how big? what does it look like?

[setfree]

NEvermind I figured it out.