just caught this little girl

[drumcrush]

9358 I just caught this baby. it's a female, she apears to be about a year old, maybe a little less. I'm not sure what type of garter snake she is though. If anyone know, please let me know.

[guidofatherof5]

My guess would be Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis - Eastern Garter Snake.

Can you give us the county it was found in?

Garters of Indiana

Thamnophis butleri - Butler's Garter Snake
Thamnophis proximus proximus - Western Ribbon Snake
Thamnophis radix - Plains Garter Snake
Thamnophis sauritus sauritus - Eastern Ribbon Snake
Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis - Northern Ribbon Snake
Thamnophis sirtalis semifasciatus - Chicago Garter Snake

[drumcrush]

Yeah, united states. indiana to be exact

[guidofatherof5]

Actually, I typed county not country.;)

Was it Allen County?

[drumcrush]

Ooohhh yeah. east allen county

[guidofatherof5]

Let me see if The Garter Snake - Evolution and Ecology(Rossman, Ford and Seigel) will shed some light on a possible I.D.

[guidofatherof5]

Here's the range map for T.sirtalis sirtalis - Eastern Garter Snake according to "The Garter Snake - Evolution and Ecology" by Rossman, Ford and Seigel
Allen County is clearly in the Eastern's range.
It's not a Ribbon or a radix and I don't think it's a Butler's

I'll go with Eastern Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis.


http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//744/medium/eastern_range_map.jpg

[jwolfe152]

i would say your correct steve that looks like T.s.sirtalis she looks just like all 4 of mine. even with it being a darker photo i would be confident saying its an eastern

[drumcrush]

9361 here is an over head picture if you guys wanted to see. thanks for all the information.

[jwolfe152]

oh yea thats an eastern nice looking one too. if you give her a bath you will see her true beauty shine there are usually pretty dirty when first caught after i bathed mine, WOW, you can see much more color in the dorsal scales

[drumcrush]

I was wondering if her colors could brighten up more haha awesome, thanks

[EasternGirl]

Yep...they will. It looks like an eastern who is near a shed phase. My large eastern female turns that dull dark brown color before a shed. Then, after the shed, she brightens up nicely. Here is a pic:

9363

This is an older pic of her from last year when she was gravid..but you can see her coloring nicely. Nice find! That is a lovely eastern you have there.

[drumcrush]

Thats a nice snake. do you think it would be okay if I put her in captivity?? I know some people have done it. I just put her in a 10 gallon tank for now. she has hiding places and sticks and a giant rock, and is on paper towel for bedding until Ik she is safe from mites.

[drumcrush]

Also, how do I get her to start feeding?

[ThamGirl]

Lovely snake! Three of my thams are wild caught, so yes- they can do very well in captivity.
In terms of feeding- live fish, such as guppies, mollies or platys are a great start. DO NOT feed her goldfish or rosie minnows as they contain thiaminase and can kill your snake.
Here's a good site for info on that: All About Thiaminase - Gartersnake.info (http://www.gartersnake.info/articles/2012/all-about-thiaminase.php)

I started mine on mollies and guppies, then moved them over to frozen-thawed silversides (available at pet stores like Petsmart). I also offer them night crawlers (do not do red wrigglers) from time to time. Some wilds will eat mice or pinkies (depending on size), but I generally stick to fish since it's their natural food and gets a better response out of them.
Garters have great feed responses. If you have a deep enough dish, you can pop some live fish in it and she'll eat on her own, or you can hold them with forceps and offer them directly (still alive) to her. Once she's eaten a few times, it'll get easier to each time to feed her.
Good luck!

[drumcrush]

Awesome, thanks for the information, I appreciate it:)

[Mommy2many]

Love her! I also say Eastern. Nightcrawlers, salmon, pinkies or minnows (dace) are all favourites. The occasional slug will also be appreciated by the eastern garter snake. Good luck with her!

[ssssnakeluvr]

definitely eastern garter, thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis