The Very First of Her Kind.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

At least, that's as far as Scott Felzer, myself, and numerous others I have spoken with say.

In late august of 2007 I was on vacation at Arrowhead Lake in the pocono region of PA. We (my boyfriend and his family) had a lakeside house complete with a canoe, paddleboat, golf kart, and two bicycles. We used them all, even fell out of the canoe into the lake once. But the bicycles were our favorite. A few times a day I would drag him out and we would bike to an edge of this small lake that was bordered by light grey rocks/ boulders.

The area was teeming with thamnophis. Garter snakes everywhere! All we had to do was to walk back and forth at the the edge of the rocks where they met the grass. My first find was an erythristic female. She was the only other snake i dare take from this wonderful place.

On the second to last time we visited these rocks, a very special snake turned up. I was about 15 feet from her upon sighting, and instantly, I knew she was different. She stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the lush emerald blades of grass she was foraging in. But within seconds of spotting her, I was making a MAD dash for her and she in turn was making a mad dash for those rocks! I caught her by the very tip of her tail as she delicately attempted to slip away into a crevice.

Upon picking her up for examination, my boyfriend, who has not long been familiar with the world of snakes, exclaims "what's the matter with it's skin! it looks sick."

But no, she was indeed not sick, but hypomelanistic, or so it is beleived. And to put the icing on the cake, she at that time was carrying a very precious cargo of five little ones! At just fourteen inches, the fact that this garter was carrying young was astonishing for me. She's almost still a baby herself!

So I took her home. A month passes. She gives birth to five bouncing babies. All, as expected, are dark standard looking easterns. Two of them however, have the most peculiar little markings on their heads. On top of their heads between their eyes, they have two little parallel black lines, very close together and about a millimeter in length. They are not something I have ever observed on a garter. Mom shows no sign of these lines. What are they? are they genetic? I didn't think so. Until recently. The two babies that display these lines are slowly lightening up as they grow. Nothing drastic. But it is a noticeable change worth documenting.

Now here we are, it's january, mom is hibernating in preparation for the '08 breeding season and her five children are eating from my hands every three days. I intend to breed back a son to her, to (hopefully) prove the trait.

Instead of describing her to you, why not just show you all some pictures?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/xxAngelinblackxx/camera/P1000378.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/xxAngelinblackxx/camera/P1000305.jpg

http://a205.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/81/l_4c20858bb3f819c97c0dcfa8e072df0c.jpg

http://a883.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/29/l_df48b91545cf58e0b4aa525a5c7f8d7a.jpg

[tikichick]

She's beautiful! I hope she proves out for you :)

[NFS07]

Nice snake. Nice find!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

thanks. any suggestions on a name? I am stuck and I name every snake I own!

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

well say shes hypo and she mated with a normal male wouldnt that mean that they are all het for hypo and none would show the gene right? unless she mated with a het hypo male right? then half would be hypo which could be the case here if you said 2/5 are starting to get lighter and are you going to breed together whatever you can of this litter? i hope that some or all have some form of the gene, then we would be closer to a super hypo :D

[GarterGuy]

Well for a name, how about Nigma....short for enigma...being that she's one of a kind and such.
I do have to say though, if you live here in PA, I would not advertise the fact that you're breeding native T.s.sirtalis, for it is illegal. Updated Fish and Boat Commision Herp laws state that you are only allowed to have one specimen of a native species in your possesion. I personally think the law is rediculous, even though it is meant to help preserve native species and keep "collectors" from hurting native populations. It hurts those who are trying to establish CB populations of native species, so wild collection is no longer needed. But it is the law that's on the books now. Also if you were to try and sell her or any of her babies, you'd not only be in violation of this law, but if the sale were across state lines, you'd also be in violation of the Lacey Act....which would make charges a federal offence. Sorry to be a downer, just making sure you'r aware of the laws here in the state.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

for these reasons, I am actually hoping she's a pallidus. It's hard for me to tell. But I don't think pallidus are found in this range. I am aware of this native species law, but she's not a normal sirtalis. This is how I was able to obtain a white-sided black rat snake in this state. I don't plan on living here much longer anyways.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

In response to reed_kamsler, I beleive she is hypo. So she will be bred to her own son to prove the trait true. this is the only breeding I can do until the females from her litter are of breeding age.

[GarterGuy]

Ok good to hear that you already know the laws.....oh and the white sided black rat (actually called an eastern rat now) is actually on an exempt list of animals that can be kept. No thamnophis "mutations" are on this list, just the eastern rat and eastern milksnake. (Actually had a hand in helping get the laws to where they are now through my herp society.....as much as they suck....they were going to be A LOT worse!) As far as it being pallidulus....yeh, it's WAY too far south for that. It is a real shame, I'd love to be able to work with various T.s.sirtalis morphs, but because of the laws, I'm working with pallidulus....and they're A LOT harder to get.:cool:

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

im thinking maybe i should actually continue to breed maritimes, i might be selling my adult pair to don in the spring after babies come, but maybe i can keep some babies and breed them back to each other?? i read some where that maritimes change color as they get older is this true?

[Stefan-A]

Thanks for the pictures and the story. :) That really is a nice looking snake, definitely a keeper.

[Odie]

Totally a keeper and I want one too :D

[GarterGuy]

im thinking maybe i should actually continue to breed maritimes, i might be selling my adult pair to don in the spring after babies come, but maybe i can keep some babies and breed them back to each other?? i read some where that maritimes change color as they get older is this true?

I think this it true of a lot of garters. It seems that as they mature, they get a lot of their colour....unlike other snakes that start out colourful and then they fade as they get older. I know my pallidulus have really coloured up as they've been growing. I'm hoping on getting some real intense reds and grees to put with my mine (more intense then what you have ;)) and also hope to maybe be able to get some melanistics or other morphs. They seem to be "almost" as variable as sirtalis.....and they're legal for me....LOL.:D

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

lol good luck with that

[Sid]

Really great looking Eastern:D. Love the coloration.

[adamanteus]

Great pictures, do you have any 'habitat' photos of the area you found her? I'd like to see a picture of the unusual head markings you described on some of her babies.

[Sid]

James, I believe the marking refered to are like the photo of my vagrans.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/100_5300.JPG

These markings are very common on the young Easterns here in SC.

[Thamnophis]

That is a very pretty eastern...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

no no no no no, those head markings are not what are on my baby! They are two little black lines. I know how most easterns are born with yellow spots on their heads. This is something completely different. I know eastern garters better than the back of my hand. But I took a very close look at the one that has these lines very prominent today. I have come to realize that she is about half as dark as she used to be. She is definately lightening with age! This is FASCINATING! The others are also getting lighter, but not as quickly. I even made sure I wasnt tricking myself into it by taking her and her brother and showing them side by side to my mom. She even said wow that one's really light, is it related to that hypo you found? This may mean that I can get supers in the future!!!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW EXCITING THIS IS FOR ME!!! lol, sorry, had to get that out of my system! I will try and take some closeups of her so that you guys can see. Didn't get to it tonight, was too busy running around my house with her showing my family members and jumping for joy.

[Zephyr]

Very nice snake! :D
From what I've read of the Michigan herp laws, I can have up to 6 wild caught snakes in my possession and I cannot sell them. However, I do believe I can sell their babies, seeing as they'd be captive bred if they are in my possession they don't count toward the limit. :P

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

super hypo!! woo cant wait, possibly lead to hybinos too

[Sid]

Totally understand your excitement over the speciman you have. If I'm ever fortunate enough to find one like it I'll probably do cart wheels.

[GarterGuy]

Hmmmmm....very interesting...they're lightening up as they get older? Wonder if they're something else then a hypo? I would have thought that a hypo would have started out light ( I may be wrong, not real great with all the different "morphs" and how they express themselves in garters). Definitely a cool find anyway you look at it. Can't wait to see more pics of the babies and see how they're developing.

[Serpentine99]

nice snake, makes me want to go and try and find a rare garter right now:rolleyes:theres over 2 inches of snow on the ground so im thinking my chances of finding anything are pretty slim right now:D

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Well the standard hypomelanistic gene as seen in most reptiles is simple recessive. That means they are born looking hypo and they stay that way. If mated with another hypo they will produce more that look exactly like them. Now if this gene is something else, something more complex, it may not be hypomelanism. Maybe something like a pastel? I know in BP's, when you breed two pastels you can produce super's.

[adamanteus]

I must confess, Shannon, my knowledge of genetics is patchy to say the least. I've never been a great fan of the artificially produced or enhanced morphs you see in certain snakes, especially Corns.
But there's no denying you've found something very special there, I wish you all the success in the world with it.... looking forward to seeing the results.:)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

thanks very much :) I will definately continue to use this site and keep you guys filled in on this breeding project. at only 19 i live many herper's ultimate dream to pioneer a new color morph. I am a little confused as to how I got so lucky.

[snakeman]

If you go by the scale counts that is not a sirtilis.It has 8 supra labials.Maybe it has mutant scales too.You never know.If fish and game bugs you.Tell them to do the scale count.

[Stefan-A]

One problem with the supralabial scale count, is that it's not absolute. Sirtalis usually has 7, but it can have 8 as well. You probably also know that the scale count isn't necessarily the same on both sides, either.

[adamanteus]

If you read some of Shannons' earlier posts regarding this snake, you will see that that upper labials are unusually (but not completely) divided, as can happen sometimes. I think she is correct in her identification of this snake.

[Odie]

thanks. any suggestions on a name? I am stuck and I name every snake I own!
Arrow :confused:

[drache]

I'd forgotten about the name part
how about Cream
'cause that's what she looks like

[adamanteus]

How about Stheno, or Euryale? (Medusas' sisters).:)

[snakeman]

I see your point.I just never saw any from the eastern side of the country.Garters have some of the weirdest morphs.Reminds me of the blue maritime somebody posted on here a while ago.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

this one ?
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/574-blue-eastern-garter-snake.html

I see your point.I just never saw any from the eastern side of the country.Garters have some of the weirdest morphs.Reminds me of the blue maritime somebody posted on here a while ago.

[Lori P]

Oh wow, that's what the people at the Richmond Expo were talking about; they said there are blue and red morphs like that on the Eastern Shore of Va and Md. That is one gorgeous, gorgeous snake!!!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

That pic of that blue maritime/eastern looks a lot like a garter that I had for years. Her name was shoobie. When I look back at her now, I know that she was not a normal colored sirtalis at all, she was light and bluish, with orange on her sides a lot like that one. I caught her as a baby when I was still a child and I had her for years. She passed away at about 8 years old. She may have lived longer had I known what i was doing when I was 9... I now realize that she would have been of enormous breeding potential much like this "hypo" that I now have. Too bad I was too young to realize it.

My grandparents farm is loaded with sirtalis. loaded to the point of I can walk over to the side of their house EVERY hour, and lift up this one board and there will be about 5 or 6 sirtalis under there. And when i am there visitng, these garters get so used to me doing this that they don't even leave when i put the board back down!

They live in NW PA and from what I understand maritimes do not come from that area. What I was getting at is that up there, only about 1/4 of the population of sirtalis have a dorsal stripe of any kind. Many of them also have bright orange cheeks. This summer when I go I will take photos while herping to show you guys what I mean :)

[Sid]

I'll really be looking forward to the photos and sure many of the others here are as well.