New to garters

[Summerslove8090]

Hello everyone. Im Ericka, new to garters and this forum. My sons recently found a baby garter snake in our backyard. Its a tiny little thing. Probably only about 8 inches. We are in central columbus ohio. Any help with its care would be so greatly appreciated. Ill be posting in the husbandry forum soon because i have a few questions about it.

[Eddie]

Hello
That is a Northern brown snake.
Good luck with it!

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you with us. As stated, not a Thamnophis but Storeria dekayi is always welcome on this page. Care is much the same as a garter but these guys are slug eating machines. The heat requirement isn't as pressing as with Thamnophis. Clean fresh water and lots of places to hide. They don't get very big at all. Slugs and small earthworms are very good foods. Some have even taken extra small pinkies. We have a S. dekayi expert on the page, hopefully Infernalis will come on and ad to the thread.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//744/medium/welcome.jpg

[Tommytradix]

HI and Welcome to the forum!!
personally i would release it. they are very hard to care for cause most don't eat in captivity. if you want a garter its the perfect time of year cause it breeding season so there will be many species of captive bred garters available in the next few months.

[Tommytradix]

anthony luison also has had success with this species.

[Summerslove8090]

Thanks for the replies guys. I've been looking up info on the web about the northern brown snake. Learning a bit. Actually seems like a lot since i knew nothing about them to start with.

[Zdravko092368]

As others have said, that is a brown snake. They are cute little snakes that most people have never really though about. They eat various different types of worms and slugs. I keep a small group of them and just collect slugs from my garden to feed them with, I have probably rid my garden of a thousand slugs over the last year feeding them.

[Albert Clark]

Ashley ( Slipknot) has bred them successfully in the past. I will send her a pm and maybe she will respond.

[Summerslove8090]

Hey guys. We have had Slyther for 15 days now. It has shown a bit of interest in garden worms and very small slugs. It opens it's mouth but thats as far as it goes.It also has a ring of dead skin (edit: its more of flakes of dead skin not really a ring.)around it's neck (that's the only spot) but it's eyes have not changed (edit: or anything else.)

[Tommytradix]

Hey guys. We have had Slyther for 15 days now. It has shown a bit of interest in garden worms and very small slugs. It opens it's mouth but thats as far as it goes.It also has a ring of dead skin (edit: its more of flakes of dead skin not really a ring.)around it's neck (that's the only spot) but it's eyes have not changed (edit: or anything else.)
try giving it a luke warm soak to loosen the dry skin

[Summerslove8090]

It actually started it's own soak in it's water bowl.
(Edit: It's also started to rub against the bark in it's tank and it's dead skin is becoming more prominent.)

[Albert Clark]

I reached out to Ashley (slipknot) but haven't recieved any response.

[Summerslove8090]

Today we found 2 more northern brown snakes!! :) one rather large thick one and one a bit smaller and lighter than slyther. We are letting them settle down with Slyther right now before handling too much. Don't want to stress them out.
How many can fit in a 10 gallon tank comfortably?

[Summerslove8090]

Also Slyther ate 1 garden worm yesterday
I feel like a proud momma. Digging up the back yard now :D

[Tommytradix]

the big one might be a gravid female. if she is gravid i suggest putting her back to have the babies

[Albert Clark]

Today we found 2 more northern brown snakes!! :) one rather large thick one and one a bit smaller and lighter than slyther. We are letting them settle down with Slyther right now before handling too much. Don't want to stress them out.
How many can fit in a 10 gallon tank comfortably?
Hey Sl, it's exciting to acquire either captive born and bred reptiles or wild caught reptiles. However there is something you should be aware of with the wild caughts. They should be quarantined and housed separately until such time (usually 60 to 90 days) to screen them for any illnesses or health issues. This is done typically to safeguard existing collections or established collections. Wild caught reptiles are loaded with parasites, mostly internal but they can have them externally as well. In or between the scales. I am not trying to discourage you but to just inform you. They all should be housed separately to adequately screen them. Just be careful with them as you handle them be wary of their potential risks of being ill. Captive bred and born are also quarantined as new additions but usually are a safer bet than wild caughts. Prevention is the best medicine.

[Summerslove8090]

The "big" one, is there a way to tell whether it is gravid or not? I can't tell the difference in sexes yet. If it is a gravid female i want to let her go, if its just a nice size male I'd like to keep it. 13324

[Summerslove8090]

I'm pretty sure it's a female. It has a tail that has a very noticable taper after "that one part i can't remember the name to".

[Qwerty3159]

The rear end?
It's the vent. If you posted a clear photo of the underside of tail I bet someone could help.

[Tommytradix]

its nice and fat like a female.

[Summerslove8090]

Might not be clear 13325

[Summerslove8090]

13326

[Summerslove8090]

Crap the last one didn't come out clear at all.

[Zdravko092368]

Looks like a female. Just like garters, brown females have a quick taper on the tail and are much larger.