Herping for Garter snakes

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I have been looking for a few new eastern garters for some breeding projects. I went out this weekend in hopes of finding some and i found about seven garters and six northern water snakes. I decided to keep 2.2 of the garters so i will post pics soon. The two males i caught are real nice one has some greens/blues and the other is hypoish. The two females are real nice one has black bars behind her neck like a chicago garter and the other is stripeless. I can't wait to see what i get out of these guys.

[aodaisho]

13 snakes in a week-end... that' s a lot of fellows When you go harvesting that way do you have some restrictions like buying a permit or can you bring back whatever you want?

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I don't know of any restrictions, but i would not recomend keeping all of them because i don't like to take too many out of the wild. I just kept two pairs for breeding projects.

[guidofatherof5]

Water snakes are awesome.
Sounds like a good outing.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

The watersnakes was so glad to see me that they tried to eat my hands off.

[guidofatherof5]

The watersnakes was so glad to see me that they tried to eat my hands off.

They are so sweet. Any musk?
That's also sweet.:D

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Washed my hands ten times and i'm still wearing the fragrance.

[guidofatherof5]

The smell of success.:D

[RedSidedSPR]

The smell of success.:D

Darn right. I'd be lucky to find that many in a week! I love garter snakes and water snakes, but they are probably the snakes I find the least. I'm even thinking about keeping a banded water snake.... maybe...

Nice finds, man... well, I'm assuming they are... Post some pics.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

1791

1792
Here is a pic of the stripeless female i kept for breeding. Sorry for the bad setup but it was late when i got home for herping so i just took a quick pic of this little beauty.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I forgot to mention that the stripeless one is gravid. It looks like it will be a small litter though.

[sirtalis01]

WOW she is awesome......

[RdubSnider]

Are you coming off any of those babies?

[RedSidedSPR]

Awesome. That's just a normal eastern?

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Yes she is normal but still a nice looking girl. It's getting harder to find them without stripes so thats why i decided to keep her. I want to breed her to my albino or a flame male next year if all goes well.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Are you coming off any of those babies?

Not sure what i will do with with the babies yet she is such a small girl she may not have but a few this year. I'll let you know when they are born.

[RedSidedSPR]

It's getting harder to find them without stripes so thats why i decided to keep her.

I've never found one. They're pretty cool though

[BLUESIRTALIS]

1796
Here is a group shot of the 2.2 garters that i kept. They are seperated in quarantine now and i'm hoping to have some nice projects with these guys. Keep in mind that they have not shed yet so they will look much better when they shed. I want to run some albinos over these and see how the albinos will look.

[RedSidedSPR]

Can't wait.

[ConcinusMan]

I'm rather partial to stripeless easterns with that general "maritime" look to them.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

They do look like maritimes that's for sure.
I love the stripeless ones myself. I can't wait until i get my stripeless similis in those are awesome.

[charles parenteau]

very cool snake!!look like maritime!

[BLUESIRTALIS]

The 2.2 garters that i caught have all shed and they look nice. Both females are gravid and i'm hoping i will get some more stripeless ones out of them.

[RdubSnider]

Figured this would be a good place to post my new find. I caught her today while I was working stuck in a water meter pit. So calm and took an unscented mouse 3hours after I got her homehttp://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/IMG_20110516_183411.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

Great looking female. And gravid too. Almost looks like a yellow "flame"

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Great looking snake randy!

[RdubSnider]

Thanks guys. I rarely keep any I find but given her beauty and the fact she was worn down a bit from being stuck down in that water with no way out I Just had to take her home. I'm sure ill be using her to outcross now one day

[Mommy2many]

Nice save! Very pretty girl. Good luck with her.

[d_virginiana]

Nice looking snake! Never seen that sort of color in a wild caught one before.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

She is a beauty!

[charles parenteau]

NIce find!!Keep the snake until she have her babies probably you will have very nice orange garter snake babies!!!

[aodaisho]

Excuse me my lack of knowledge but what do you mean by "maritimes"?

You are quite lucky to look for your own breeding stock.That's a kind of dream for me to do that.

Do you do, guys, a deworming when you catch new snakes or do you have a more passive attitude like "wait and see"?

[guidofatherof5]

Maritime Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus)
Awesome snakes. Wish I had a couple.


I deworm any rescued snakes that come into the Ranch.

[ConcinusMan]

Maritime Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus (http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/jd/jdweb/Herps/species/USsnakes/thasirpal.htm)

[RdubSnider]

Found this girl today. Although its hard to capture in the photo the red in her is like fire engine all the way down her. http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/IMG_20110524_082929.jpg

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Nice looking girl.

[RdubSnider]

I don't know what's going on but I'm finding at least one eastern almost every day while I'm working. The funny thing is I'm constantly in different areas daily and I'm not really evan looking. http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/IMG_20110524_082141.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

Just lucky I guess?

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Mike and i have met up twice to hunt for garters but the odds have been against us both times so far. First trip we found three northern water snakes and the second trip we found a gray cheeked salamander, 3 or 4 red efts, some frogs, 6 or 7 bark scorpions, a nice looking mantid, and an adult northern copperhead. This second trip was pouring down rain but we decided to hunt anyway since we were so determined. We still had a great time.

[mikem]

Yep, other than a little bit of car sickness towards the end there, I enjoyed it a lot! We will be herping more in the future :) Most of my pics came out blurry :mad: I need to invest in a decent dslr camera and lens. That black widow hanging out on the bottom of that log was a cool find as well!

[EasternGirl]

Sounds like some cool trips even if you guys didn't find a lot of garters. Would have liked to see the copperhead, the black widow, and Mike turning green in the car. :p

[BLUESIRTALIS]

My crazy driving will make you sick. I drive ok most of the time but when i'm road cruising for snakes i tend to brake and back up alot. I just like to make sure i dont pass something cool. Sorry Mike for making you turn green:D

[-MARWOLAETH-]

I'm adding "Herping for thamnophis" to my bucket list after reading this thread.