garter compatability

[blazenbs]

I know many garters can be kept together if they are similar size but can a female ribbon snake be kept with a few female garters?

[Stefan-A]

Generally speaking, yes. The important thing is that sexes shouldn't be mixed, especially not if you mix species.

Just a side note, but ribbon snakes are garters.

[guidofatherof5]

Yes, what Stefan said.

[chris-uk]

Yes, what Stefan said.

Don't you know a man who keeps a ribbon with some garters?

[guidofatherof5]

Don't you know a man who keeps a ribbon with some garters?

Why yes, yes I do.:D

[PsychedelicTarantulas]

Garters will eat newborn ribbons. I made this mistake a few years ago when I housed a gravid proximus with some easterns. Lost a number of newborns before I was able to remove them.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Hey patrick welcome to the forums! Could the baby ribbons have had some scent on them from food or was this fresh out of the sac? Just trying to figure out cause eastern garters are not usually cannbalistic. I wonder if it had somethng to do with the amniotic fluid?
garters will eat newborn ribbons. I made this mistake a few years ago when i housed a gravid proximus with some easterns. Lost a number of newborns before i was able to remove them.

[d_virginiana]

Weird. I have one eastern that will strike at anything that moves when food is in the room (albino, and has horrible aim when it comes to tong-feeding, so poor vision might play a role there) and has struck at some baby blacknecks through the glass of his tank before. As worked up as he gets, I have no doubt he could accidentally cannibalize a newborn/small snake if there was food around.

[PsychedelicTarantulas]

Hey patrick welcome to the forums! Could the baby ribbons have had some scent on them from food or was this fresh out of the sac? Just trying to figure out cause eastern garters are not usually cannbalistic. I wonder if it had somethng to do with the amniotic fluid?

Hey Shawn! This was fresh out of the sac and no food was present. I was living in an area of Arkansas where Eastern Garters and Western Ribbons were both native. In fact all specimens were caught in my yard. The habitat in the area was superb! I miss that house. It had a nice pond in the yard, woods that were next to the property, and a nice stream. I was teaching High School Science classes at the time so I caught several of both species in my yard to bring in and share with my students. Adults were all housed together and I never had a single problem with them or a single sign of aggression towards one another.

One day I realized an adult female proximus was in the middle of giving birth. Then I noticed the eastern garters eating the babies. I had to quickly remove the Easterns to let the Proximus finish birthing. After this I did not house them together any longer. Oh and let me note that it was not a single Eastern eating them. Multiple Easterns started attacking the babies.

They were indeed covered in Amniotic fluid still and the Easterns were obviously picking up some kind of scent. I assume this could very well be the cause....

[chris-uk]

I think the key to this one is that a gravid female should be on her own as she gets close to giving birth. It's always seemed like a sensible precaution if a gravid female is cohabitating to move the rank mates before the female gives birth.

[joeysgreen]

Ophiophagy is much more widespread than typically thought. Of course your kings, ringnecks, indigos etc practice it, but so do corns, garters, copperheads, hognose, bullsnakes etc. Often times these animals can be kept communally for years, and then an event like a fresh shed or parturition leads to a feeding response in one snake on another. Sometimes, the trigger isn't understood. It's a risk anyone takes with communal enclosures.

Ian