Age/Maturity Appropriate Gift ?

[guidofatherof5]

I'm certainly not trying to start an argument but I felt this topic needed to be address.
Garters are a wonderful addition to a home but I don't think they are appropriate for young children as a pet. I can't give you an age when I think they would be, but age can't be the only deciding factor. Maturity both physically and mentally should be figured in. This is not to say any parent would leave the care of one of these wonderful snakes to a child too young to give them the care they need. Most of my concern is when young children handle/hold garters. As we all know holding a garter isn't so easily done. Young children don't understand the concept of holding a garter but allowing it to move. Garters are wonderful for children to observe or even touch but only under the supervision of an adult. We've all seen how garters can become rather person specific and to hand one over to an unknown/untrusted person/child is risky.

[Zdravko092368]

I think with adult garters handling isn't an issue, at least with mine anyways, they are very tame and will sit in my hand and don't feel any more difficult to handle than a ball python. I think the age is more a requirement because of their care, garters need to be fed and cage needs to be cleaned multiple times a week. Ball pythons for example it can be only one large rat every 3 weeks and as a result they will only defecate once every 3 weeks or so as well and forgetting to give them water or food for a long period isn't as detrimental as it is for a garter. I think BPs are much more tolerant of husbandry mistakes personally, some people may have different opinions than me however.

[d_virginiana]

I think something like a BP is much easier for kids to handle since they are pretty much un-droppable (mine just coils around my wrist, and I can walk around and use my hands for things with her just kind of hanging on).
I've got a couple garters that are pretty docile when I'm holding them, but get really jumpy around other people. Especially my blind one. I definitely wouldn't trust kids to hold anything younger than an adult garter, probably a female.

I don't like the idea of getting/giving animals as gifts. Only time I'm okay with it is when the person asked for the animal and whoever is in charge of the care knows ahead of time.

[chris-uk]

In the last month or so I've just started letting Joseph touch some of my garters. Joe was two in September. He certainly doesn't understand that be could hurt the snake, so he's very much just sitting with me while I hold the snake close to him. Occasionally he wants to reach out and touch, but mostly he just likes the sensation of the snake on his skin - "snake feet daddy", so I let the snake slither over his feet, "snake nose" means he wants it to flick it's tongue on his nose... He basically tells me where he wants to feel the snake.
At the moment I see it as a process of acclimatisation, the more he's around the garters and sees me with them the sooner he'll be ready to help me look after them. It's the long game though and I can't envisage trusting him alone in the snake room before he's much older. I'm also fussy about the snakes he has contact with - Lipwig (adult umale radix) is first choice, Adora Belle (adult female radix) is next choice, he's also touched Binky (3 years old marcianus) and one of my infernal three (they are 2.5 years old).

I think Joe will be ready to help with the snakes sooner than a child who doesn't grow up with them, but it's very much a case of every child being different. For me the risk is harm to the snakes, over enthusiastic grabbing or holding too tight is a risk with small kids (I've had 10 year-old who didn't understand that you don't squeeze). As a rule I think buying a snake as a pet for anyone under 16 is not good (as much because there's a very good chance that in a year mum and dad gain a pet, sor definitely bad if you don't want to end up looking after the kid's pet snake) , except maybe if the child has grown up looking after the family snakes. Again, each child is different.

[butcha]

I let my brothers young children handle young snakes,,,the kids are 4,,7,,11,,,the younger kids only get to handle them outside,,with their hands near the ground,,,if the snake falls,,hes fine and no worried children,,,the oldest 11,,is now even unafraid of adults that bite,,,not knowing her,,,my family has been raising every type of animal you can think of,,,theyre farm kids,,,used to chasin piglets,,but they listen and respect their elders,,they don't even go in the snake room unsupervised,,,

[MiddletonMouse]

I think I got my first garters when I was around 12 years of age (due to their diet they were the only genus my parents would allow me to have as they didn't want a freezer full of dead mice). I managed fine with my guys but when young children visit me I generally don't offer the garters for handling. Some are still a bit flighty and some are quite wee. Usually I haul out a corn snake for letting kids handle a snake, in saying that i'd have no problem offering my girl infernalis uf she was a bit older and larger. She is an absolute sweetheart.