I'm finally a garter snake owner! (For real this time!)

[Floof]

So Petsmart's Black Friday sale took another victim yesterday morning... I went in to take advantage of their killer sale on 3' Exo Terras, and walked out with a garter snake in tow! I know, I'm an evil, dirty impulse buyer... Lol! So much for my first garter being a concinnus--guess it will have to be the next one. ;)

So I finally have a garter! Just a little overdue, considering I joined up here to learn about them over 3 years ago now. Lol!

All I have are not so fantastic cell pics, so here goes...
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90332/143797_329505_Large_2v8jTGTFnu.jpg

His set up... Just a simple 15 qt tub for now.
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90332/143797_329501_Large_FYxMhULQmV.jpg

Forgot to ask when he'd last eaten (or what he was eating) when I got him, so opted to feed him this afternoon. Just pinky parts for now, which I'm so thrilled he took! Can't wait to try salmon next... In part because it means I'll be having salmon for lunch for a few days! (My aunt went fishing in AK this year, so the freezer is full of wildcaught salmon and halibut!)
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90332/143797_329502_Large_bZzUV5c1zn.jpg
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90332/143797_329504_Large_b5HFAhPfc4.jpg

If anyone has any suggestions/advice on care, set up, diet, etc--please, please share! This newbie can sure use them. Garters definitely seem quite different from the corn/rat snakes I'm used to!

[infernalis]

Congratulations! That's a nice looking albino.

[guidofatherof5]

Congrats.
Good looking Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garter. Night crawlers would also be a good diet mix.
How sure are you it's a male?

[rickymar81]

Sweet looking checkered.....:) What part of socal are you from?

[Floof]

Thanks, guys!

Steve, I haven't actually checked. Just a bad habit of defaulting to "he" when referring to unsexed critters. :) Which reminds me, what is the ideal way of sexing a little guy like this? I know popping works well for corn snakes, but he's sooo tiny.

Ricky, I'm living just outside of San Bernardino currently.

[Floof]

Oh, and thanks for the tip on the nightcrawlers. I'll have to pick some up. (The skinks will be very happy about that, lol!)

[Eddie]

Checkered's are awesome first garters! If I were you since it is taking unscented pinky parts I would just stick to mice. It makes them grow fast and keeps the poop stabile. lol
Good luck
Ed

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks, guys!

Steve, I haven't actually checked. Just a bad habit of defaulting to "he" when referring to unsexed critters. :) Which reminds me, what is the ideal way of sexing a little guy like this? I know popping works well for corn snakes, but he's sooo tiny.

Ricky, I'm living just outside of San Bernardino currently.

Check out this thread. It will show you how to visually sex your snake or at least show you the kind of photos to post for us to lend a hand.

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/5069-sexing-pics.html

[Floof]

Thank you for the link, Steve! I will post tail pics once he's digested his meal. I think I overdid it a little with that second pinky part! Definitely a bit of a learning curve, haha. Fortunately he doesn't seem to have any problems keeping it down.

Oh boy. I could see myself getting in trouble with these guys very easily. I stopped in at the LPS for nightcrawlers and mealies (the dubia colony is having trouble keeping up with all the skinks, lol), and as always cruised the reptiles. This time around they had garters... A "Canadian Garter" and an albino checkered baby. I was sooo tempted to snag the Canadian... It didn't help the urge that their care is atrocious (as it always is). Gravel substrate and no hides for either. But at the same time, that's exactly why I try not to support them any more than necessary. (They're the only place that stocks nightcrawlers, and for mealworms it's them or Petco.)

[guidofatherof5]

Canadian Garter, aka Thamnophis parietalis - Red Sided Garter probably. Garters are addictive to say the least. No other snake like them. The best kept secret in the snake hobby. Maligned even by other snake keepers. Their loss is our gain.
Make sure your worms are Canadian night crawlers - Lumbricus terrestris
Lumbricus terrestris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumbricus_terrestris)

[Floof]

Wish I had taken a pic. There was no red pigment that I could see. Off-white/yellow stripes, otherwise black coloration. Plain coloration but beautiful nonetheless. :)

[guidofatherof5]

Not all red sided garters show red.

[Floof]

Duly noted. Thank you.

[guidofatherof5]

T.sirtalis sirtalis - Eastern garter also ranges in Canada but I've never heard of one being called a Canadian garter.

[rickymar81]

Thanks, guys!

Steve, I haven't actually checked. Just a bad habit of defaulting to "he" when referring to unsexed critters. :) Which reminds me, what is the ideal way of sexing a little guy like this? I know popping works well for corn snakes, but he's sooo tiny.

Ricky, I'm living just outside of San Bernardino currently.
I live just outside of San Bernardino. I'm in Ontario. I got a really gorgeous femle checkered from Steve a few months back. And she had 4 babies in August

[Floof]

I'll have to get a pic if it's still there next time I go in. Probably just a red sided with low/no red, but still very curious. :)

Ricky, I'm in Highland--other side of San Bernardino. That sounds great! Live birth with reptiles must be a very unique experience. Can't wait til my Golden skink pops... They're my first live-bearers, quite a change from the fire skinks and corn snakes!

[slipknot711]

congrats thats the kind i picked up from petsmart. is it male or female. i scored a gorgeous fastly growing female. she wasnt a baby when i got her tho (young but was pushing a foot long) now shes about 16 inches and only had her a few weeks

[slipknot711]

Forgot to ask when he'd last eaten (or what he was eating) when I got him, so opted to feed him this afternoon. Just pinky parts for now, which I'm so thrilled he took! thats great! those petstores pretty much just feed the garters minnows which is no good. go back to the store and ask for his feeding chart they should have one

[Floof]

congrats thats the kind i picked up from petsmart. is it male or female. i scored a gorgeous fastly growing female. she wasnt a baby when i got her tho (young but was pushing a foot long) now shes about 16 inches and only had her a few weeks

I haven't sexed him/her yet. I did get a very rough length measurement of 9-10". Excited to see how much he weighs after digesting this meal. (It'll be neat to see just HOW MUCH smaller than a corn snake hatchling he really is!)

[Floof]

Oooh, and I almost forgot. He's taken quite a liking to his little vine canopy...
http://www.iherp.com/Gallery/90332/143797_329660_Large_JalH2JcXdDhvz3.jpg

Which reminds me! One big thing I've noticed is he's VERY active, even after such a big meal. Is this normal for Garters? It's a huge difference from the rest of my snakes, who will all vanish into hides for a solid 2-3 days after eating. They're such unique snakes, I wouldn't be terribly surprised to learn this is pretty standard... But I want to be sure he's not trying to tell me something is wrong with his set up.

[BUSHSNAKE]

Checkered's are awesome first garters! If I were you since it is taking unscented pinky parts I would just stick to mice. It makes them grow fast and keeps the poop stabile. lol
Good luck
Ed

totally agree with Ed, pinkies are superior over worms

[drumcrush]

I wish I could mine to take pinkies -.-

[Floof]

Ah, but variety is the spice of life! If garter snakes' natural diet includes a large quantity of worms/fish, I'd love to provide that now and then. Not unlike how I've started switching my larger colubrids' mice/rats for chicks every few feedings.

I will be keeping a close eye on feeding response and cutting off the "extras" if he starts showing signs of getting "stuck" on a particular food item.

I did offer a few nightcrawler chunks tonight. Was cutting up nightcrawlers and had a couple that were a little too fat for the skink hatchlings. He loved them! So thrilled to have lucked out with a total pig for my first garter... :)

[guidofatherof5]

Ah, but variety is the spice of life! If garter snakes' natural diet includes a large quantity of worms/fish, I'd love to provide that now and then. Not unlike how I've started switching my larger colubrids' mice/rats for chicks every few feedings.

I will be keeping a close eye on feeding response and cutting off the "extras" if he starts showing signs of getting "stuck" on a particular food item.

I did offer a few nightcrawler chunks tonight. Was cutting up nightcrawlers and had a couple that were a little too fat for the skink hatchlings. He loved them! So thrilled to have lucked out with a total pig for my first garter... :)

Most garters are.;)

[Floof]

Even better! :D I was a little concerned when I was getting ready to feed him the first time--he was a pet store pick up, after all! I was totally prepared to start hacking bits off a salmon filet if he refused the pinky, lol!

[Floof]

So, it only took almost 2 months... But I finally got around to getting some decent tail pics. Would one of you wonderful folks mind helping me sex this baby? :)
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k596/CrazyReptileLady/52ee1843-cbae-47ae-a664-d156b229ad78_zps18732677.jpg
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k596/CrazyReptileLady/20140126_130745-1_zps7ea8c417.jpg

S/he has settled in very well! Hasn't grown as much as expected, and has only shed once for me--but I think that's my fault. I'm used to feeding my hatchlings every 7 days! It's still brand new adjusting to the garter metabolism. S/he weighed 5.5 grams the other day.

Come to think of it, I think I neglected to ask before. How often is ideal to feed a garter of this size? Does prey item affect frequency.. i.e. more often for nightcrawlers, less often for pinks? I've mostly been feeding pinky parts, but the last few feedings have done nightcrawler chunks every 3 days.. Easy to remember, when you have to chop them up every couple days for the skinks!

Here's a pic of him/her before getting fed today...
http://i1117.photobucket.com/albums/k596/CrazyReptileLady/4026d9c2-ac30-431a-9aae-86b0fe95d162_zpsb938c087.jpg

[Floof]

Ooh, btw... Don't mind the weird, pushed-out vent in the tail pics... S/he was busy trying to musk the crap out of me. Yummy! :)

[rickymar81]

I want to say you have male

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I hate to confuse you, but i am going to say female looks like she has a nice little taper going. It's hard to say 100% with a young snake, but she looks female to me!

[guidofatherof5]

SHE is beautiful.

[chris-uk]

First picture is clearly female.

Feeding frequency, it's OK to vary slightly, but for a 6g the garter I'd be feeding twice a week and possibly throwing in a third feed every now and then. Lack of shedding isn't your fault, they shed on their own schedule, if she doesn't look underweight don't worry. And my view is it's far better to under feed than to overfeed.