Size marigin of safety?

[Fishsticks]

Howdy folks, this is my first post. I'll put up an introduction here directly. To preface, I'm very recently the proud keeper of three Checkered Garter Snakes (Thamnophis marcianus), two medium sized females (20 inches and 24 inches, respectively) and one smaller male (11 inches), which segues into my question quite nicely:

Would it be safe to house the females and male together, or is there a predilection for cannibalism? I have done extensive reading on the subject, and each guide seems to have its own take on the matter, so I'm looking for a consensus either way.

I am interested in breeding them when the time is right out of a desire to not only repopulate my local area with baby garters, but also to look for unique color morphs and albinism, however I want to try and provide as much safety for my tiny male as possible.

What do you good people suggest?

[gregmonsta]

I would generally advise keeping the males and females separate apart from breeding. It helps to stop unwanted pregnancies/males stuck in breeding mode and refusing food/etc.
On another note I would not advocate being on a mission to re-populate the local area. You will be causing an adverse effect in your local ecosystem!

[Stefan-A]

I am interested in breeding them when the time is right out of a desire to not only repopulate my local area with baby garters,
Address the reason why it's been depopulated and it'll repopulate itself. Everything else is a complete and utter waste of time and a potential ecological disaster waiting to happen.

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome to the forum. We'd love to see some pictures when you have time.
I agree with Stefan. Fix the problem that caused the lack of snakes first.
It may be that area can't support garter snakes(food availability) and they left the area on their own. Ecosystems are very complicated. It takes more than the introducing of a species to bring them back.
Best of luck with your snakes.

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Fishsticks :)

[infernalis]

I would generally advise keeping the males and females separate apart from breeding. It helps to stop unwanted pregnancies/males stuck in breeding mode and refusing food/etc.
On another note I would not advocate being on a mission to re-populate the local area. You will be causing an adverse effect in your local ecosystem!


Address the reason why it's been depopulated and it'll repopulate itself. Everything else is a complete and utter waste of time and a potential ecological disaster waiting to happen.


Exactly what these folks are saying. Garter snakes are very prolific and when there is an abundance of food they will populate the area just fine on their own.

[Fishsticks]

It's difficult to quote each of you in turn, so I'll address the consensus here instead. I see what many of you are saying, that there's no point in doing so, or that I would potentially cause an 'ecological disaster' in releasing young garters into what is their native environment, but I really doubt that those actions would be so deeply impacting, and I will explain why. Please don't take offense.

This neighborhood was recently built, and we've seen many of the native garters dead in yards and roads, usually killed by cars or by cats. There's no 'fixing' that. The three I've recently come into are from this area. Rather than keep all of their offspring, should I decide to breed them for morphs, I would like release some of them into the state park twenty minutes from my home.

Please keep in mind, I'm not talking about a massive number of snakes here, don't over-read what I'm saying...but I do want to return some of these snakes to their environment.

In any case, for those of you who took the time to answer my question, I appreciate it very much - I'll keep the male separate for his own safety.

[Stefan-A]

As a habitat, that area is probably gone for good.

Or at least it will be soon. If you study the population over a few years time, you would probably notice a shift in the age class structure. Fewer and fewer young individuals would be found, indicating that fewer of them are born. That's not the problem, it's a symptom. The cause of this could partially be roadkills, collecting and intentional killing (all associated with human presence), but it's more likely that the food source has been knocked out. If that food source is amphibians, this would happen by degradation or destruction of their spawning pools in the area and that's something that occurs far more often than not, when new urban areas are built.

Just sell the extra offspring as pets or food, or euthanize them. But releasing them, no matter how well-meaning it is, can introduce pathogens into a remaining wild population and help deplete an already dwindling food supply and is not going to help.