hey guys new here-and i need help!

[FitnessFreak]

Hey guys I am new to this forum and i live in calgary alberta canada
i am 15 and going to be getting a baby garter in 2-3 months!!:D

i have a few questions i would like to ask before i get it though lol:confused:

1.aquarium size

2.what to put in the aquarium(trees rocks moss sticks????? helppp)

3.is regular tap water ok to put in a pool i will build for it to bask in/drink?or shud i get river water from the bow and put that in the pool??

4.how often to feed it earthworms?(when its a baby)-im not sure if one earthworm a day is good or 2 or 1 a week-helpppp

5.how often to feed it crickets?(when it gets bigger)

6.how to feed it? i heard you need to force feed some baby garters???

7. what to name it????


thanks guys i really appreciate the help!!!!!

awsome forum too! really glad i registered:cool:

[FitnessFreak]

oh ya and how much would they cost?

theres a place about 25minute bike ride form my house that no1 around here knows about-but theres thousands of wandering garter snakes, just pick up a stone and theres tons

so i can either wait till like june? and catch a baby

or i can go to petland a try and buy one... but would they have babies? and how much would the babies cost?

oh also-can i feed it minnows i catch in the river?

and are heat lamps necessary if my house is pretty warm?

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard.

http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/../../caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet)

Plus there are discussion threads on every relevant subject.


1. About the same length as the snake. Bigger is better.

2. A couple of hides and maybe a something to climb on. Fake plants if you feel like it, it's all the same to the snake as long as there are hides available.

3. Regular tap water is fine.

4. Worms should only be given on occasion. Fish and mice is the best alternative. How often depends on what and how much you are feeding it.

5. Never. Fish and mice.

6. It's rare and you shouldn't try to force feed it unless you know how to do it correctly and even then only if it's absolutely necessary.

7. That's something you have to figure out for yourself. Some don't name their snakes at all and others (like me) don't even use the names they give their snakes.

[FitnessFreak]

Welcome aboard.

http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/../../caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet)

1. About the same length as the snake. Bigger is better.

2. A couple of hides and maybe a something to climb on. Fake plants if you feel like it, it's all the same to the snake as long as there are hides available.

3. Regular tap water is fine.

4. Worms should only be given on occasion. Fish and mice is the best alternative. How often depends on what and how much you are feeding it.

5. Never. Fish and mice.

6. It's rare and you shouldn't try to force feed it unless you know how to do it correctly and even then only if it's absolutely necessary.

7. That's something you have to figure out for yourself. Some don't name their snakes at all and others (like me) don't even use the names they give their snakes.
ok thanks man!
so if i went and bought some minnows from petland and fed a baby garter 1 a day, would that be good??

[adamanteus]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. You haven't got your Garter Snakes yet? Spend some time reading through the care sheets section on the forum, and follow some of the threads, you'll find all you need to know right here.

[Sid]

:) Welcome to the forum. I feed my adult Garters once a week. Young and /or juviniles, I feed smaller amounts and feed every 3 to 4 days.

Sid

[FitnessFreak]

:) Welcome to the forum. I feed my adult Garters once a week. Young and /or juviniles, I feed smaller amounts and feed every 3 to 4 days.

Sid

ok, so how much do you feed the small onse every 3-4days?

if i put in say 2 minnows in my lil pool and just leave them there and every 3 days add another 2 is that good?

will a baby be able to catch a minnow lol??

oh and they don't need the lamps right? my house is pretty hot so is that good enough?

and you can start finding the babies around june at fish creek park right?



ty for th ehelp guys!

[drache]

Hi there and welcome here

[drache]

oops
I meant to add to that

the smaller they are, the more frequently they need to be feed
- and smaller prey
minnows might be too big

it's better to get temperature readings a bit more exact and to get your enclosure to have a gradient - low at one end of the enclosure, higher at the other end, so that the snake can choose what it needs
Also - the temp should go down at night
if the snake is too hot all the time, it will become stressed and ill

I don't know about fish creek park, lol

[Cazador]

Hi Mike, and welcome to the forum.

#3. I'd suggest that tap water is probably even better for the snake than river water. If you've ever looked under a microscope at river water, you've probably seen the amoeba and protists swimming around. That's something you want to try to avoid with captive snakes.

There have been some members on here who have had very bad experiences with water that is left unchanged in their snake pen for long periods of time. Just to be totally clear, you want to be able to remove and clean the water container periodically. One of the members here (boeh) has a really horrifying tale to tell because cryptosporidium colonized the standing water. The entire collection was lost, and it was a very impressive collection. As I recall, Fons (Thamnophis) also has either had, or know people who have had, bad experiences after making non-removable pools and not cleaning them regularly .

It's also not a great idea to leave fish in the water bowl indefinitely. If they start to develop "ick," they'll pass the fungi on to the snake. Also, it can be quite a challenge for babies to catch live fish if the water is fairly deep.

I'd offer a second opinion on feeding frequency for baby snakes, though there's nothing wrong with feeding them at three-day intervals. I'd suggest feeding every other day for the first month or so. Then switch to every 3 days. I like to feed newborns small portions, but more often. There isn't a real rule, so have fun. It's hard to overfeed a newborn.

Definitely stay away from crickets, and finally, I like to name all of my snakes "Rick's the man #1, #2, #3, etc." Pretty catchy, eh?

Rick

[ssssnakeluvr]

yea, avoid crickets....garters won't eat them, also, if the crickets get hungry at night, they might nibble on the little snakes tails! Garter snakes water dishes need frequent changing.....y ou may not have noticed yet...but the love to poop in the water dishes!!!!! :(

[adamanteus]

I once had a small Gecko that was killed and partially eaten by crickets during the night. They weren't big either, just bite size.

[FitnessFreak]

THANKS SO MUCH!! that helped tons!!

ok today i bought a(guessing) 6 inch by 4 inch neat looking water bowl(about 2.5inches deep)
so i will take it out and srub it every morning and rinse it then refill it with new water


i will do the every other day feeding you sugested, one day i will feed it a minnow in shallow water so the baby can catch it, the next feeding day i will feed it a worm and just put it on a rock in the tererrium or somethin

the terrerium i bought is about oooo i'd say 2.2-2.8 feet and about 1.5 ft high-is this good for a baby?its a pretty large terrerium like 50 gallons i think?

will it be ok for the baby garter, and as it grows bigger?

oh i'll tell you about what i put in it now,

i got the wood chip floor and 1 log hiding place, and 1 rock cave hiding place,i got that 6 by 4 inch 2.5inch deep fish catching/pool i told you about and another little pool that i will put at the other end of the terrerium. i got some fake moss i think not sure, and some fake plants/vines and some fake trees/sticks so it can climb


sighhhhh now i just gotta wait until mid june before the garters at fish creek have babies lol -.-
at least i will be well prepared though!
lol nice snake names:rolleyes:
kk ty every1!!!


Hi Mike, and welcome to the forum.

#3. I'd suggest that tap water is probably even better for the snake than river water. If you've ever looked under a microscope at river water, you've probably seen the amoeba and protists swimming around. That's something you want to try to avoid with captive snakes.

There have been some members on here who have had very bad experiences with water that is left unchanged in their snake pen for long periods of time. Just to be totally clear, you want to be able to remove and clean the water container periodically. One of the members here (boeh) has a really horrifying tale to tell because cryptosporidium colonized the standing water. The entire collection was lost, and it was a very impressive collection. As I recall, Fons (Thamnophis) also has either had, or know people who have had, bad experiences after making non-removable pools and not cleaning them regularly .

It's also not a great idea to leave fish in the water bowl indefinitely. If they start to develop "ick," they'll pass the fungi on to the snake. Also, it can be quite a challenge for babies to catch live fish if the water is fairly deep.

I'd offer a second opinion on feeding frequency for baby snakes, though there's nothing wrong with feeding them at three-day intervals. I'd suggest feeding every other day for the first month or so. Then switch to every 3 days. I like to feed newborns small portions, but more often. There isn't a real rule, so have fun. It's hard to overfeed a newborn.

Definitely stay away from crickets, and finally, I like to name all of my snakes "Rick's the man #1, #2, #3, etc." Pretty catchy, eh?

Rick

[adamanteus]

Sounds like a pretty good sized terrarium you have there. It should last you a good long while. It's really good that you have got everything set up before you get your snake. That's a lesson I could do with learning myself!:D :o

[FitnessFreak]

ya, i think this whole waiting 2-3 months thing is guno kill me tho lol!
ah well it'll be worth it!

Sounds like a pretty good sized terrarium you have there. It should last you a good long while. It's really good that you have got everything set up before you get your snake. That's a lesson I could do with learning myself!:D :o

[adamanteus]

Yeah, the wait won't be easy, but by the time you get the snake you'll know exactly what you're doing, without having to resort to "trial and error". Good for you. Probably a good idea to start planning more vivs....Garter Snakes are addictive!

[FitnessFreak]

Yeah, the wait won't be easy, but by the time you get the snake you'll know exactly what you're doing, without having to resort to "trial and error". Good for you. Probably a good idea to start planning more vivs....Garter Snakes are addictive!
haha my mom would murder me!

i hope it likes its home, and i cant wait to say it own up a minnow lol

man the babies r cute lol will i miss it being so small when it gets big? lol

[Nova89]

ya, i think this whole waiting 2-3 months thing is guno kill me tho lol!
ah well it'll be worth it!

Question, why do u have to wait so long? And 50 gallons is a good sized tank. I did hear though that baby snakes should not be housed in big enclosures because they may feel insecure. As long as you have a tight hiding spot that should be fine though.

[FitnessFreak]

Question, why do u have to wait so long? And 50 gallons is a good sized tank. I did hear though that baby snakes should not be housed in big enclosures because they may feel insecure. As long as you have a tight hiding spot that should be fine though.
ya i have a bunch of hiding spots for it, uhh don't the snakes have babies in like june?

and calgary is pretty cold, its been hot mostly, but then it has random patches where it snows for 1-3days then gets hot again, so not sure how that effects it..

so i guess i needa wait till june before they have babies so i can go catch 1

[Cazador]

Probably a good idea to start planning more vivs....Garter Snakes are addictive!

Ditto on James' comments. The rotten thing about keeping garters is that even though you set up an enclosure that you really like, you (or at least I) always seem to keep one eye looking out for something cooler and am always fiddling around with their enclosures. One snake leads to two, and on and on and on...

P.S. Your enthusiasm is really contagious :).

[RedSided]

Getting your first snake is pretty exciting :D , you will find that once you've got one and other owners and breeders in the area know you have one , you will walk into the pet store one day and someone will offer you a friend for your garter or tell you about someone who is looking to re-home another snake and so on and so on......


It sounds like you are gonna have one lucky snake on your hands :p .
Its good that you've asked all these questions rather than risking making mistakes later on.


This may have already been asked but what type of garter is it likely to be, can you google some pics and post the ones that look most like what you may be getting?

[FitnessFreak]

Getting your first snake is pretty exciting :D , you will find that once you've got one and other owners and breeders in the area know you have one , you will walk into the pet store one day and someone will offer you a friend for your garter or tell you about someone who is looking to re-home another snake and so on and so on......


It sounds like you are gonna have one lucky snake on your hands :p .
Its good that you've asked all these questions rather than risking making mistakes later on.


This may have already been asked but what type of garter is it likely to be, can you google some pics and post the ones that look most like what you may be getting?
im 90% sure its a wandering garter snake, for some reason i cant paste things into this text so i cant show a picture =[
but the picture in "ssssnakeluvr" on his avatar-that looks exactly like it, i'm not sure if its a wandering one though yet

[RedSided]

Im not very knowlageable on the habitats of all the different garter variations , but im pretty sure Wandering garters are big fans of slighly cooler climates and seeing as you live in Canada it would make sense that these are the snakes you are seeing :) .

[FitnessFreak]

Im not very knowlageable on the habitats of all the different garter variations , but im pretty sure Wandering garters are big fans of slighly cooler climates and seeing as you live in Canada it would make sense that these are the snakes you are seeing :) .
ya im kinda worried though-the place where we catch them is a sewage tunnel, theres a bunch of rocks around it and they hide under the rocks-last year there was a flood that went over the rocks

the rocks r strill there and everything but do u think the snakes all got washed away?

the rocks where they hibernate under is like 6 ft deep and has wire mesh around it, the babies r usually found basking on them or under little rocks at the sides.

[RedSided]

How long have you been seeing the snakes there?

If they are there every year then I wouldn't worry. They are not affraid of a little water and will most likely still be around.Didn't you also say you could get one from a pet store?

[FitnessFreak]

How long have you been seeing the snakes there?

If they are there every year then I wouldn't worry. They are not affraid of a little water and will most likely still be around.Didn't you also say you could get one from a pet store?
i started trying to catch them since i was 6, so as far as i know they have been there over 9 years

i checked 2 of the neighborhood petlands, and they only have corn snakes =[

do you know what the differences are between garters and corn snakes?

i heard corns get like 6ft long =\

[suzoo]

Hello and welcome!
I just wanted to ad, that when I had garter babies, they didn't know how to fish. After a couple of days, I put a fresh killed one on the edge of the water bowl, then left one slightly in the water. I did this with a couple live guppies in the bowl. And now they can't wait for me to put fish in. They actually get in the water bowl when they see the fish net. I feed them as much as they'll eat, every 2 days.

[ssssnakeluvr]

the snake in my avatar is an albino red sided garter....

[ssssnakeluvr]

this is the snake in my avatar.....



http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/alb_red_1_1.jpg

[Cazador]

Man, that red looks practically "electric!" Nice photo,

Rick

[Odie]

Woowa, really cool mon.

[drache]

that snake is intense looking