New wild caught snake. Lots of questions.

[tstill14]

Okay, so I live in Oregon near Portland and I was out with some friends at a park when a really cool snake, a garter snake we all thought poped up in the forest right next to us and we caught it. It's about a foot or so maybe a few inches longer, and is slender. It also has a single solid orange stripe down the middle of its back, and is dark brown with black spots in a line to the left and right of the orange stripe on the sides of the snake. Also the bottom half of the snake is a lighter brown color then the top half. Im sure it would be hard to know what it is just from a discription so i attached a pic below. Any info would be great. thanks.

So my questions are,

Does any one know what kind of snake it is?

what do i feed it and how offten?

what kind of heat source does it need?

how big will it get?

basicly every thing to keep the little guy or girl happy and alive.

[tstill14]

I stumbled accrost this snake out at one of my local parks with a friend and my girl friend. its about a foot long maybe a little longer. its got an orange stripe down its back and the rest of the snake is darker brown with a line of black spots on both sides of the snake. Also the bottom part of the snake is a lighter color brown then the top half. I took a picture hopfully some one can tell me what it is.


Ontop of not knowing what type of snake it is, this is my first snake and I would like to know the the answers to the fallowing questions.

what kind of snake is it?

What should i feed it? and how offen?

what kind of heat source is recomended?

How big will it get?

and will it ever be able to eat mice even if i give it baby mice?

any help would be nice, thanks

[Stefan-A]

T. ordinoides. Worms and slugs a couple of times a week. Fish and pinkies if you can get it to eat them. The rest of the caresheet applies to this one as well as it does to the other garters.

Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet)

[Mommy2many]

Welcome to the forum!

[kibakiba]

Pretty ordinoides! Ordinoides don't get too much bigger than 2ft long. If you cut up worms and put them in a dish with a pinky mixed in you might be able to switch it to pinkies. If you feed them worms I'd suggest feeding it 2-3 times a week, with pinkies you only need to feed once a week. A dome lamp would do good for heat, depending on how big your tank is a 40-60 watt could be a good for the bask light. Northwestern garter snakes are wonderful :D
You caught a really lovely one that looks like a female.

[guidofatherof5]

Great looking snake.
Here's a link to the care sheet:
Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet)

Welcome to the forum.

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[Selkielass]

Pretty little thing! Congratulations on your find, and welcome to the forums.

[Tyrel26]

Beautiful snake!

I am not being mean but your current enclosure seems too damp and I also see a cricket...crickets are basically trash (low in vits.) and garters won't eat them.

Worms, slugs and eventually fish and pinkies for food. I use dry substrate (coconut husk) and a heat pad. A hide (a box will do) and maybe something to climb on.

These guys are escape artists so make sure its in a good enclosure.

I hope this helps.

Goodluck!!

[New Mutant]

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's a garter snake. You should probably feed it 2-3 times a week. There's a good care sheet in the "Articles" section of the site.

[infernalis]

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/7675-new-wild-caught-snake-lots-questions.html#post143274

[kibakiba]

Yes, I wanted to say that also. Garters can get scale rot and blisters if left in a really damp enclosure. I would change it asap. You could use paper towels if you didn't want to buy some other substrate.

[guidofatherof5]

Soil can also harbor many parasites.

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, tstill14 :)

[Tyrel26]

Just felt I had to say that no one is picking on you here, we realize you are new to garters, as we all were at one time, and we only want to help both you and your snake

keep us updated :)

[mustang]

get the hothands thing out of the cage it has some nasty chemicals in it (and yes they can leak) cool snake

[mustang]

hi, oh take out the hot hands many bad bad chemicals that can and will leak out(i use em when i go hunting) why do i feel like im typing this reply for a second time?

[guidofatherof5]

hi, oh take out the hot hands many bad bad chemicals that can and will leak out(i use em when i go hunting) why do i feel like im typing this reply for a second time?

You are right, Robert. This is your second post to the heat pad problem. I don't know where the other one went.
You're not going crazy anymore than normal.:D

[Snakers]

ordinaries

[HazAnga]

they don't eat crickets either. usually a undertank heater is recommended or a heat light, preferably the undertank heater since they need heat under the belly to digest their food. proper bedding should be used, like reptibark or a cypress multch (usually gotten at a local pet store) They will get around 2-3' long and normally eat cut up worm, guppies and yes, mice. Different size mice, there is pinkie, fuzzie, hopper and regular size mice. It looks to be around the fuzzie feeding stage.

[ConcinusMan]

ordinaries

LoL:p

...ordinoides;)

[Mommy2many]

Welcome and good luck!

[Odie]

Make that Hi, from Hillsboro, tstill14 :D

[mustang]

You are right, Robert. This is your second post to the heat pad problem. I don't know where the other one went.
You're not going crazy anymore than normal.:D
normal?.. whats normal......i (like most others at my school) go insane to stay sane....HOLY $#1T THE POST IS BACKE OH NOOO PHANTOM POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek:AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA:eek: wait i do things in style :cool:aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa !:cool: much better!