Hello

[Ogri]

Hiya folks,
just registered and thought I'd introduce myself. I was directed to this site by Gregmonsta after i asked him a question on his site. My wife has recently bought a Garter Snake having seen how nice and easy my Corns are to keep which is why i'm here (i have no experience when it comes to Garters at all).
So I may be picking your brains if I cant find what i need on the forums. Get ready for lots of noob type questions.

Regards
Mark

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard.

[indigoman]

Glad to have you on board, guestions are welcomed what species of garter?

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you on the forum.
Here's a link to the care sheet. It may answer some of your question. If not, please post them.
Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet)

[Tyrel26]

guestions or questions! whatever you got! lol Sorry I had to.

I too have a corn snake and garters, its like comparing a goldfish to sailfish lol

[drache]

welcome to the forum, Mark

[infernalis]

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

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Mark :)

[gregmonsta]

Greetings ;) .... welcome aboard.

[ConcinusMan]

Welcome!

Only one garter snake? We'll see how you feel about that after hanging out here for a while. Nobody ever stops at just one. That's crazy.:p

[Ogri]

Thanks for the warm welcome folks.

as for the species it is an Oregon red spotted with a blue stripe down its back.

We are still trying to get him to come out of hiding in the Aspen all the time but this may be a slow process. The wife has several questions already regarding what snakes can be housed with him but i'll address these later in the year when the Herp shows are starting to come around.

Regards
Mark

[gregmonsta]

Similar sized thamnophis males other than Thamnophis elegans vagrans (NOT terrestris :p) - the wandering garter snake ;)

[Stefan-A]

Similar sized thamnophis males other than Thamnophis elegans terrestris - the wandering garter snake ;)
vagrans, Greg. :rolleyes::D

[gregmonsta]

Ooops :P ... too much terrestris on the brain. I was reading about them earlier

[Ogri]

ok so any similar sized garter of the same sex but not the wandering one. She will be pretty upset when i tell her she cant have a hognose in there.
I'm guessing she will insist on another viv (again)

[gregmonsta]

;) have a look through here - Photographic Library - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Photographic_Library) and browse our galleries .... Once you show her what's out there in 'garterworld' I'm sure she won't be dissapointed anymore :D

[Ogri]

Been looking at the various garters around but it'll have to wait until they are for sale in this area (which is few and far between). Might go to some of the reptile shows and see if there are any there but there dont seem to be that many being bred in the uk atm.

[gregmonsta]

Best thing to do is to contact breeders directly. They can be almost impossible to find (apart from checkereds which are bred very regularily in the UK). For better choice/availability mainland Europe is the place to go.

Check the breeder list in the links section of my site. Alan francis is known to shed surplus snakes every so often ;)

[ConcinusMan]

I'd like to see that red spotted garter snake. Their stripe is usually yellow, off-white, or maybe slightly greenish. The only ones I've seen with blue stripes are anerythristic(lacking red) and are blue all over, like my avatar.

maybe it's not an oregon red spotted. Quite often, any garter snake with red spots is misidentified as an oregon red spotted. Red phase puget sound garters are very similar, and sometimes have blue stripes and red spots on their sides.

[Ogri]

I'll try to get some pictures of him and post them. He's still very shy and is nervy when handled. I'm just taking it slow and steady with him until he trusts me more to handle him.

Yes it seems people in U.K. are reluctant to admit to breeding garters for some reason as if theres something to be embarassed about (which is stupid since they are at least as beautiful as corns and live bearing is an added bonus). I'll check your links and possibly look to Europe to supply maybe head to a Euro show next year (hey it's an excuse to go over there)

[ConcinusMan]

oops. I thought you were in the U.S.

Looking forward to pics of all your critters!:D

If you're interested, you can see mine here, including lots of various Oregon Red Spotted morphs:
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/7090-concinnusmans-garters.html

[Ogri]

Ok i've taken some pictures. With the flash his stripe looks more yellowy green but under the UV strip it looks more pale sky blue.


http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/4056/1000339d.jpg

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7062/1000334m.jpg
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/9374/img0043sc.jpg

Then theres Percy (Persius)

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/7878/1000309y.jpg

and Romi (Andromeda)
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/7130/1000320d.jpg

I dont have any pictures of the others yet but will get some and share them.

Take care and have a great New Year folks.
Mark.

Oh yes Greg I tried what you said about leaving my hand in the viv with him and it seems to be working a treat. I've also put a lot more 'toys' in with him. The viv now looks like a junk yard but he has lots of places to hide and climb and seems much happier wandering round and exploring.

[Mommy2many]

Welcome to the forum!

[gregmonsta]

:D Glad he's starting to warm to you. Nice collection of snakes there. A very striking concinnus. It looks like he's another one with an 'x' :D.
I think the blue you're seeing is definitely down to the UV light.

@ Richard - an interesting thing to consider. I dissected a concinnus a couple of years back in order to ascertain cause of death. Her stripe was the same limegreen as Xerxes' (they were siblings). I kept the skin - without the pink flesh underneath the dorsal stripe is blue :rolleyes:. The UV bulb seems to be bringing this out on this individual.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice looking group of snakes. Thanks for sharing.

[ConcinusMan]

Cool. Thanks for posting the pics. That's the stripe color I described as "off-white, or maybe slightly greenish". When you said "blue" I was picturing something like this:
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/8271/morphs017large.jpg

But anyway, I can see what you mean. Sometimes I could swear that my anerys are green, sometimes I see blue, depending on the lighting.

[kibakiba]

I'm the same way with Ember. Usually he looks lime green, but I let him come outside with me on a warm day and his reddish colour went to orange and he had blue lips with a blue stripe. He's such a pretty boy. :D

[mustang]

Cool. Thanks for posting the pics. That's the stripe color I described as "off-white, or maybe slightly greenish". When you said "blue" I was picturing something like this:
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/8271/morphs017large.jpg

But anyway, I can see what you mean. Sometimes I could swear that my anerys are green, sometimes I see blue, depending on the lighting.
if im not green with envy im red with jelousy
STOP SHOWING OFF!!!:mad:
...sorry just kidding:p
got a little carried away:rolleyes:

[ConcinusMan]

OK, next time I wan't to show example of color, I'll just cut out a tiny section. Wouldn't want you to ruin your keyboard by drooling on it.:rolleyes:

Would it help if I did it like this next time? http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/4530/23440052.png

[mustang]

OK, next time I wan't to show example of color, I'll just cut out a tiny section. Wouldn't want you to ruin your keyboard by drooling on it.:rolleyes:

Would it help if I did it like this next time? http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/4530/23440052.png
wise @$$:rolleyes:

[EasternGirl]

Welcome Mark! ConcinnusMan said it best...I have one garter and I've been on here for a month...I'm ready for another one! You will meet wonderful people on here! Let us know when you have questions...we're here to help!