Common garter snakes (thamnophis Sirtalis)

[muggy2419]

I know most people on here have plains garters and red sideds etc. But how many people have common garter snakes, and if so what morphs have you found, as I have never seen morphs for common garter snakes.

[d_virginiana]

So, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis is actually the Eastern garter :) It has two sirtalis on the end because there is another subspecies also in the hobby, Thamnophis sirtalis similis (Florida blue stripe garter). There are some other subspecies too I believe, that's just the one that came to mind. There are a ton of morphs out there for Easterns; more than any of the other species actually!

[slipknot711]

i own a few eastern garters, a cpl of which that are WC.

[muggy2419]

I was referring to the common garter snake (maybe I got the name wrong) which is black and yellow. It is the only wild garter I've ever seen up here in Canada where I live.

[d_virginiana]

A picture can help us identify it, but I believe you're talking about the Eastern Garter (I think that might be the only one in Canada actually). There's no such thing as a 'common garter'. Wherever you are, you'll always hear people calling them that regardless of what species they actually are lol.

[Zdravko092368]

The common garter you are referring to is also known as the eastern garter snake and it is the most variable garter snake and has more morphs than any other garter snake.

Here's a few morphs you can look up:

Florida Blue Eastern Garter.
Flame Eastern Garter.
Erythristic Eastern Garter.
Melanistic Eastern Garter.
Albino Eastern Garter.

[muggy2419]

Oh ok makes sense. I'm still very new to this and have only been caring for snakes for just over a year. Thanks for all the help, they are most likely easterns

[Zdravko092368]

A picture can help us identify it, but I believe you're talking about the Eastern Garter (I think that might be the only one in Canada actually). There's no such thing as a 'common garter'. Wherever you are, you'll always hear people calling them that regardless of what species they actually are lol.

Canada actually has a lot of garter snakes... eastern garter, butlers, red-sided, plains, wandering, puget sound, maritime, eastern ribbon, northwestern, valley, etc.


So, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis is actually the Eastern garter :) It has two sirtalis on the end because there is another subspecies also in the hobby, Thamnophis sirtalis similis (Florida blue stripe garter). There are some other subspecies too I believe

Has nothing to with the hobby, also there are 13 subspecies of sirtalis... most are available and many are common in the hobby. Such as red-sided, blue stripe, california red-sided, oregon red spotted, puget sound, eastern and San Francisco(EU).

[d_virginiana]

Has nothing to with the hobby

I know that, I meant the reason that there are two sirtalis tacked onto the end of the Eastern's scientific name is because there are other subspecies. The reason Eastern has a second sirtalis instead of a different subspecies name is because it was classified as a species first. I had just woken up and the similis was the first one that popped into my head as an example.

[Tommytradix]

A picture can help us identify it, but I believe you're talking about the Eastern Garter (I think that might be the only one in Canada actually). There's no such thing as a 'common garter'. Wherever you are, you'll always hear people calling them that regardless of what species they actually are lol.
Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis and Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis are the only garters ive ever heard being called the common garter

[Tommytradix]

I was referring to the common garter snake (maybe I got the name wrong) which is black and yellow. It is the only wild garter I've ever seen up here in Canada where I live.
black and yellow is too loose of a description. can you upload a photo?

[RedSidedSPR]

its probably a red sided with no red