New red garter

[twostripes42]

So after the untimely death of my baby garter i was a little scared to get back into keeping them. but today when i was out looking for frogs and toads i saw a, IMO, very beautiful red garter snake (maybe a red "phase" eastern). Well i have her in a 10 gallon tank with eco-earth and terrarium moss. shes about 1 1/2 ft long. what should i feed a snake this size? how can i get her to eat f/t mice? is she a morph? and should i change anything? here are some pictures of her and her encloser.

[katach]

Very pretty!

[thamneil]

Nice looking snake! Just a friendly reminder to make sure that the coconut fiber doesnt stay moist. Wet substrate can cause skin problems.
I wouldnt really call her a morph but a "phase" would probably be a more appropriate term. Lets wait until the more experienced herpers chime in on that one. Easterns exhibit much polymorphism and no two look alike. As for feeding, worms as well as thawed fish should do it for now. Just make sure the fish are considered "safe" (this is covered in our care sheet).You can wean her on to mice by slowly adding scented mice to her feedings.

-Neil

[Scott F]

Very nice, what state do you live in ?

Scott

[guidofatherof5]

Nice looking snake! Just a friendly reminder to make sure that the coconut fiber doesnt stay moist. Wet substrate can cause skin problems.

-Neil

Good call Neil.;)

[chris-uk]

Nice snake you have there.
Have you buried some hides? I don't see any in the pics and I'd imagine she'll find it quite stressful coming from the wild to a tank where she has nowhere to hide.

[twostripes42]

thank you all, im in Saratoga springs NY. the coco is almost dry on top. there's a hide buried under that pile of moss on the right. i didnt think she was a morph thats why i said red "phase" but i dont care what she is shes beautiful :D thanks for all the help

[EasternGirl]

I would guess if you are in NY that you probably do have an eastern...it is the garter most likely to be found on the east coast. From the pics...she looks like an eastern...but it is hard for me to get a really good look at her...if you could get some close up pics of the side of her face and her body...I could tell you for sure. From what I can see of her head...she does look like a T.s.sirtalis to me...and easterns often have some red in between the scales. If she is a female...she would be young though..otherwise she is a he...adult female easterns are usually quite larger...around 3 feet long. For a snake that size...I would start with worms...if she is an eastern, that is what she will be used to eating in the wild. Make sure they are earthworms or nightcrawlers. 1-2 every 5 days. You can also feed 1-2 pinkies every 5 days...you may want to cut them up. Or, you can feed fish fillet...I feed mine tilapia and trout, and occasionally salmon...always fresh from the seafood counter...raw...cut up into pieces...the equivalent of a pinky or two worth of food every 5 days. If she won't eat the pinkies right away...you can sent the pinkies with the worms...but you might want to consider feeding her a varied diet of pinkies, worms, and fish...that is what I like to feed my snakes.

[twostripes42]

thank you I did my best to get a close up of her but i don't want to stress her out. im only calling her a "her" because i don't know what it is and her is just easier for me. i also gave her a larger tank which i will also post a picture of. thanks for the help and kind comments.

[kibakiba]

Face says male, but would need tail pics to be able to tell 100% :)

[twostripes42]

ill try to get a tail pick soon for now im just gonna let it settle in. the tank i have it in is a 15-20 gallon is that to small to add another on of about the same size? also if i wanted to breed would the babys come out red to?

[guidofatherof5]

It's possible.

[RicMartin]

If both parents are red, the babies should show it, or at least many of them will show it. Otherwise they will carry the red gene of one of the parents, but will not look red. Red seems to be a cumulative feature, rather than a simple recessive gene. I have some hets with some red parentage in their background, and you can tell/guess some brown-reddish pigment tones here and there, but they are not red snakes, they're like "blushing" normals.

[twostripes42]

oh interesting. after my last unexpected baby (even though it didn't end good) i now really want to get into breeding garter snakes as they are such awesome snakes and seem to be very underrated. if this is a male is it of breeding size? and if i get a female of breeding size what should i do to breed them?

[guidofatherof5]

oh interesting. after my last unexpected baby (even though it didn't end good) i now really want to get into breeding garter snakes as they are such awesome snakes and seem to be very underrated. if this is a male is it of breeding size? and if i get a female of breeding size what should i do to breed them?

And we love that fact.;)

[twostripes42]

this is the best i could do for a tail shot. male or female?

[guidofatherof5]

From what I see I say male, but....... time will tell for sure.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/male6.jpg

[kibakiba]

Male.

[katach]

I say male also.

[chris-uk]

Nothing in the photo says female. So it's likely a male.

[twostripes42]

so the snake escaped for a week. but i found it luckily and it seems while it was out it had shed and now has white spots down its sides :) the day i got it back in its cage it took a pinky with no problems :D but since hasn't eaten. I've only tried worms and mice so far so i'll try to get some fish and see if he'll take that. yesterday i went out with my dad to do some herping. while we we'er out we found 1 normal eastern and 2 of what i believe aremaritime garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus) but upon further research I've found these snakes aren't supposed to be in my area.. one is kinda normal garter coloring (greenish) but the other is a tanish-red color. there both smaller then the easterns, i have them in a 10 gallon and the two easterns are in the 30 gallon. ill take pictures of them when i get my camera back.

[guidofatherof5]

Looking forward to seeing some photos.

[twostripes42]

got 2 more today, just cant get enough. one is little and the other seems to be a female I'll be getting photos tomorrow. now i have 6 garters. I put the possible female in with the males temporally. Is this a big no no or is it fine?

[twostripes42]

ok so I finally got my camera back and took a few photos 548154825483 this is all i have so far i will try to get some vent pics tomorrow and some more pictures of the other snakes to. in the first picture i want to know what the lighter snake is its next to what i suspect is a normal eastern.

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks for the update,

Good looking snakes.

[twostripes42]

thanks I released the baby back where i found it.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice job.

[twostripes42]

i took some more photos. the first 3 are of the 2 male easterns (red phase Naigini, normal Scout) the 2nd to last is the one i think is a female eastern, Nagaina. and the last one is of the baby i named Kaa, it was released today. Oh yeah and the 2 in the first picture on my last post are named Philip and Andrew. do they all look healthy?

[guidofatherof5]

They all look like they are in good shape.
Can you post some closer photos of Philip and Andrew.
Why are you so certain they are Maritime (T.s.pallidulus) garters?

[twostripes42]

well I'm not certain but Philip (the red one) doesn't look like an eastern, but I"m not an expert by any means. I was looking at pictures of red maritimes and it looked more like that. But Andrew shed and now looks like a regular eastern. I'll get some better pictures today of Philip.