I finally caught one this year.

[Cobra Kai]

Greetings from Boston! I'm new here. This is a great forum and I look forward to learning from you guys.

This handsome little beaut was just waiting for me to pick him/her up. I was surprised he was out today, because it was only 50 degrees and cloudy in Boston. I was cutting the lawn and he was sitting motionless on the pea stone patio. I picked him up and he never tried to bite, probably because he was too cold. He did manage to skunk me. They always do that to me. My wife was taking the pictures and asked what that smell was. LOL! I wanted to keep it for my kids (really me - hehe), but I figured I better let him go to catch him another dayhttp://cornsnakes.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

Would you guys say it was a Common Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) or an Eastern Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)? I never knew the difference if there is one.
Thanks!
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/9785/gartersnake10508001smalms3.jpg
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1462/gartersnake10508002smallj2.jpg
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4087/gartersnake10508006smalyj3.jpg

[infernalis]

That certainly looks like an Eastern (Sirtalis Sirtalis)

Salutations and kudos on the release, future wild litters should be many:D

Judging by the surroundings, she is a clever snake to have gotten this far with all the people around.

That is an awesome specimen BTW

[Aundrea]

Welcome to the group!!! :D Very nice snake you found there and BTW Your dog is a cutie :D

[jitami]

Welcome :) Beautiful girl and, as Andrea said, cute puppy :)

[Stefan-A]

Would you guys say it was a Common Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis) or an Eastern Garter (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)? I never knew the difference if there is one.
There is a difference, but not the way you might think. Eastern garters ARE Common garters. One of 12 subspecies of Common garters, to be exact.

Oh and welcome aboard. :) That's a nice Eastern.

[Cobra Kai]

Thanks very much for the warm welcome. :) This little beaut definitely made my day. I bet she knows my dog Elvis pretty well. BTW…Thanks for the doggie love too. The neighborhood we live in is suburbs north of Boston. We have a lot of rock walls and ledge behind our house, where I usually find them. Finding this one was very encouraging, because we built our house 2 years ago where there used to be woods. I do hope they continue to breed. By the look of this one, I think they are a thriving population. This girl looked very healthy.


Welcome to the group!!! :D Very nice snake you found there and BTW Your dog is a cutie :D
I noticed you have an Ornate Boxie. That's great, because I have a Florida box turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri) & a Three-toed Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis). They are the only survivers of my youth. I've had them for over 25 years. WOW I'M OLD!


There is a difference, but not the way you might think. Eastern garters ARE Common garters. One of 12 subspecies of Common garters, to be exact. Oh and welcome aboard. :) That's a nice Eastern.
Yeah...that makes sense. Thanks for explaining it.

[Sid]

Welcome to the forum. That's a very nice Eastern girl. Great photos too.

[bsol]

She is a beaut! Welcome to the site pal!
Glad you found her and not some snake hater wanting to kill anything with scales and no legs!

[Lori P]

Welcome, and what a great looking snake! Hope you enjoy it here. I like the pup, too. :-)

[GartersRock]

What a big girl! How cute!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

she's lovely!

[dashnu]

Hey man! Welcome to Tham! Your are the closest guy to me on this forum I think, so welcome neighbor:D

As far as the musking goes, I do not think I have _EVER_ caught a garter that did not musk me. Maybe it is something with the temperment of the "Up North" garters who knows.. And trust me I have caught my fair share. :D

Nice find you got there, look very similar to the easterns I find. Sweet dog in the background to :)

[Cobra Kai]

Hey man! Welcome to Tham! Your are the closest guy to me on this forum I think, so welcome neighbor:D

As far as the musking goes, I do not think I have _EVER_ caught a garter that did not musk me. Maybe it is something with the temperment of the "Up North" garters who knows.. And trust me I have caught my fair share. :D

Nice find you got there, look very similar to the easterns I find. Sweet dog in the background to :)

Wudup bro?

I was in Portland and Freeport this summer with my wife & kids. We love it up there. We love to go to our favorite lobstah pound in Freeport. Oh yeah!:)

You’re right about musking, they always musk me too. Actually, there was a time in Vermont a large gravid female did not musk me, but other than that they always do. In captivity, do they continue to musk you or do they stop once they become tame?

Thanks for the dog love. Elvis is 11-year old apbt. I can’t believe it, because he still acts like a big puppy.

Up in ME, have you ever caught an eastern milk snake?

[infernalis]

Yeah Brett, ever seen any of these up there??

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/milk/babymilk.jpg


Just kidding:D

[Cobra Kai]

Yeah Brett, ever seen any of these up there??
Just kidding:D
WICKED AWESOME!!! I saw your thread and I'm so jealous. Congrats on the pinky feeding BTW. Did you catch the parents in NYS?

[infernalis]

I "rescued" a frostbitten female from a spring freeze.

Thought I'd lose her, she was frozen up bad, a major chunk of her tail fell off from it.

Yet somehow miraculously not only did she fully recover, but dropped 9 perfect eggs that all hatched:D

What really fascinates me about this species, I was always told from childhood that they were dangerous, even though I never killed one because of it, I did keep my distance.

Once I became properly educated on that issue, I looked forever to try and catch one, but no luck.

Carmella (The mom) is scarred up, she does not know how to kill mice properly, and they have bit her all over her back.

Now that I have her, she eats F/T and has gained a whole bunch of weight:D (She eats 4+ mice a week since they don't fight back)

I won't cross one of her own sons back to her, so I would like to get a male, she already proved herself.

If you go to Brett's profile and click "Find all threads started by Dashnu" about the second or third down is his first picture thread, check it out, he has a milk eating a mouse on there.

[Cobra Kai]

I "rescued" a frostbitten female from a spring freeze.

Thought I'd lose her, she was frozen up bad, a major chunk of her tail fell off from it.

Yet somehow miraculously not only did she fully recover, but dropped 9 perfect eggs that all hatched:D

What really fascinates me about this species, I was always told from childhood that they were dangerous, even though I never killed one because of it, I did keep my distance.

Once I became properly educated on that issue, I looked forever to try and catch one, but no luck.

Carmella (The mom) is scarred up, she does not know how to kill mice properly, and they have bit her all over her back.

Now that I have her, she eats F/T and has gained a whole bunch of weight:D (She eats 4+ mice a week since they don't fight back)

I won't cross one of her own sons back to her, so I would like to get a male, she already proved herself.

If you go to Brett's profile and click "Find all threads started by Dashnu" about the second or third down is his first picture thread, check it out, he has a milk eating a mouse on there.
What a great success story. Thanks!:)

[infernalis]

Here is the lowdown, I have to correct the egg count, there were 2 eggs in the middle of the cluster I could not see at the time.

Milk snake eggs (http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/milk.html)

[Cobra Kai]

Carmella is so beautiful. How big is she?

[infernalis]

close to 4 feet. She is a sweetheart, one of the calmest handlers we have.

[Cobra Kai]

Wow! She's a big girl. Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to have one like her someday.

[dashnu]

Wudup bro?

I was in Portland and Freeport this summer with my wife & kids. We love it up there. We love to go to our favorite lobstah pound in Freeport. Oh yeah!:)

You’re right about musking, they always musk me too. Actually, there was a time in Vermont a large gravid female did not musk me, but other than that they always do. In captivity, do they continue to musk you or do they stop once they become tame?

Thanks for the dog love. Elvis is 11-year old apbt. I can’t believe it, because he still acts like a big puppy.

Up in ME, have you ever caught an eastern milk snake?

Haah lobstah pound, been a while since i been there :D

As far as the musking goes they do stop musking pretty quick in my experience.

I have caught Eastern Milks ;) Three this year. I released all due to feeding troubles.

Have fun here man.

[infernalis]

Hey Brett, You still up for one of these captive born babies (That eats)??

Let me know:D

[dashnu]

Hey Brett, You still up for one of these captive born babies (That eats)??

Let me know:D

I do not have room for a milk in my house right now :D However, if you are having troubles getting rid of them I could make room I guess :p

...man im a sucker

[reptile3]

Hey Brett, You still up for one of these captive born babies (That eats)??

Let me know:D

Are they hard to care for? What do they eat? what kind of heat etc..? Just curious:D

[infernalis]

Easier than Garters to care for, They eat mice, and I have already started them on F/T.

They can grow to about 4 feet or so, and if cared for have a decent temperament.

Shannon has a pair, and I'm sure she will chime in sometime.

Here is the mom, I am very fond of her:D

http://www.reformedsniper.net/1/carmelo.jpg

[Aundrea]

WOW I think that is soooo cool that you have had your box turtles for so long :D I have had Lola (Ornate) for 3 years. I dont know how old she is. I got her from the net. She is a great turtle but so shy. She comes to me only probably because I feed her LOL. I just bought a Russian Tortoise Lilly back in Aug for my b-day :D She is 4 months old and soooo cute. LOL Now she loves people and comes to anyone. She is alot of fun.

[Garter_Gertie]

A male... And I will name him Carmello. :)