Hey

[alex_c]

Hey, I'm Alex and I've finally got my parents to let me get a snake. They won't let me get a ball python even thought that's what I've been researching about for the past 4 weeks. Now I'm thinking about either getting a garter, green, or lavender/leusitic(?)/bloodred corn snake. They don't want me to get one that gets big, even though corns can get bigger than balls.

[Odie]

Well you have picked right site to find out about garters!!

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard, Alex!

ps. "leucistic"

[Sid]

Welcome to the forum Alex.

Sid

[Cazador]

Hi Alex,

If you're looking for a snake that will get large, garters might not be your best bet. There are individuals that get up near 4' long, but for the most part, they stay under 3' long. On the other hand, they're very energetic snakes and won't just ball up whenever you're near. Personally, I think they're great fun and very interesting. Best of luck with your choice,

Rick

[adamanteus]

Hi Alex, welcome to the forum.

[drache]

Hi Alex. Good to meet you.
And it's true: garters don't get that big physically, but they're so much more active and awake than most other snakes.

[RedSided]

I have seen some very overweight garters ,or wannabe pythons :P.

You are basically choosing between very interestingly colored garter snakes ,often with more attitude than two corn snakes put together :D.You can feed them many different things , fish(make sure you read the posts on fish as some are poisinous) ,worms,mice, various amphibians and more.Very active snakes and they dont become a handfull.
Lots of different variations.

Florida blue
Chequered
Red sided
Flame
Black neck
and many more...

NOTE: Garters are not constrictors.

Or you could go with a Rat snake(think corns come under rat snake,correct me if im wrong.) ,which are usually pretty docile,slow(when it suits them), and layed back creatures.They are constrictors of course which is also very interesting to watch whether you feed live or dead food :p.They do of course grow a lot bigger and stronger than garters and can often exceed 5ft in length.

Quite a few different Rat snakes you can go for

Fox snake (looks a lot like a copperhead,you can look the other pics up your self , just happened to have a fox snake pic on the comp that I googled)

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/Fox.JPG

Black rat
Corn snake

and a heck of a lot more go here - Rat snake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_snake)

I have no idea if some of those are endangered but still, some of the more common ones are there too.


Both garters and rat snakes suitable for first buys :D. When you finally descide make sure u show a big interest in caring for the snake and your parents will probably realise how much you are reading into it and will let you get something bigger next time.

Best of luck

[Stefan-A]

Offtopic, but somebody should do something about that wikipedia article. It doesn't take the splitting of Elaphe into consideration. The North American ratsnakes belong to Pantherophis, some European ones to Zamenis and then there is Orthriophis, Coelognathus etc. Most snakes on the list don't belong to Elaphe anymore.

[Snaky]

Welcome to the forum, enjoy it here.

[RedSided]

Wow I need to cut down on post size :p , hope I didn't confuse your descision any more .

[GarterGirl]

Howdy
Welcome to the forum, alex c

[suzoo]

Hello and welcome Alex! I hope you enjoy this forum and stay with us even if you don't choose a Garter.