MONSTER garter snakes

[Kantar]

I search on google for the worlds longest garter snake and its listed at 137.2cm, only 4.5 feet.

Throughout my years of loving to go out and find snakes I've probably seen or caught about 1000 garters. Love catching, looking at them and releasing. But there are 2 notable finds I found that rival this 'worlds longest' garter. These 2 snakes must have been around 5 feet

About 14 years ago I caught a monster at this corner before the area became developed with buildings
Google Maps (http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=49.893895,-97.195439&spn=0.000584,0.001725&t=h&z=19)

Almost 20 years ago a monster in this area
Google Maps (http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=50.160106,-95.868169&spn=0.000572,0.001725&t=h&z=19)

Almost all snakes I find are at largest 3-4 feet, but these 2 were absolutel monsters. What are some monsters you have found?

[guidofatherof5]

I have a monster female radix names Speckle. She's close to 4 feet but it's her girth that makes her a monster to me.
Everything about her is big. She's a big snake on a big frame. Even her scales are larger then all my other radixes.
She came from right outside my front door.

[snakehill]

Pictures please!:)

[RedSidedSPR]

The biggest, out of the two :rolleyes:, that i've found.. was a WHOPPING 2 feet!!! Whatever. I find a lot of snakes, but not garters... it's weird.

[Kantar]

I just wish I had my own place so I could have kept one of them. My parents weren't keen on having snakes in their house

[kibakiba]

Mama is my monster. Her had is the size of my thumb, and she's close to two feet, which is big for a garter around here. The biggest I've SEEN was Malady, the moldy snake that made me come here. She was probably a little over two feet with a head the size of a quarter., which is bigger than my thumb.

[ssssnakeluvr]

my melanistic female eastern we 44" when she passed away last fall... was an old snake.
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g302/ssssnakeluvr/DSCF0005-2.jpg

Scott Felzer had a hybino radix that was around 48 inches... here she is
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g302/ssssnakeluvr/PlainsHybinoGravid.jpg

[d_virginiana]

No pics, but I found I wild eastern in the area around Southboston, VA that was so big it took me a minute to realize that it really was a garter. She was probably gravid at the time, making her look a lot bulkier than she normally would've been, but she was over three feet long. One of the only garters I've ever caught actually...

[J@50n]

Those snakes (in the pictures) are HUGE!!! I love the all black one, so beautiful!

[brain]

And doesn’t the T. atratus get to be around 3ft’.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

I used to have a eastern garter that was 3.5 ft long and we would measure him every time he shed but I think he was old cause when I caught him he looked beat up but I brought him home and we had him for about a year and he was doing great and then I think he got sick or something cause we woke up and he had passed. He was awesome and very tame. Even my 4 year old would hold him all the time

[kibakiba]

Sheds are very inaccurate. The snake stretches them as they get out of it. Mama's sheds are 2.3 feet. I don't think northwesterns get that big at all. And, she's not as long as my arm, so it's obviously stretched out.

[RedSidedSPR]

I use this (http://serpwidgets.com/Apps/apps.html)

[Venti]

For measuring, I use string. The snake measurer doesn't work on my computer, so I just snip of a piece of yarn then line it up with the snake. After that you just put it next to a ruler.

[mustang]

wow big snakes!!!!!! checker hasnt grown 2 inches in 2 years haha....but im okay with it now, its okay if he's small...the girls at school still love him :) and i do too hahaha even if he has an adhd brain rigged for escape and explore (I can relate)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

T Gigas.

[Kantar]

both of the giants I found were eastern plain, no pattern

looks exactly like this
http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/prairie/images/egartersnake.jpg

[phillycyclocross]

Just reviving this thread because my mother in law came across this monster yesterday. Eastern garter that she said was the width of a 50 cent piece with two smaller sized garters with her (I'm assuming it's a female). The smaller two she said were much bigger than my one year old who is almost 2' in length.

Anyone ne ever heard of easterns getting this big?

http://i61.tinypic.com/1h8i9g.jpg

[Tommytradix]

I have a 4 foot female radix

[guidofatherof5]

Nice photo.

[joeysgreen]

I read this thread, then realized it was an oldie. Two thoughts; first of course is the ol' fish story. 5' garters eh? The narcisse dens in Manitoba are one of the most studied snake populations on the planet. If you're regularly finding something that isn't matching the documented science, then reconsider your methods. Generally, gartersnakes can be stretched along a measuring tape or ruler.
Second, there is growing evidence that human pressures favor smaller snake size. Larger snakes are more likely to be hit by a car, killed by snake haters, or collected for a pet. The population that I studied this spring had an average size 10-15cm shorter than 15 years ago. Max length was also very much reduced.

[chris-uk]

Reasonable points about wild populations getting smaller.

In captivity though I'm aware of a female marcianus which weighs in around 800g measures well over 100cm and is generally regarded as a big girl. She's bigger than my Cuitzeo girl. I think in captivity it's down to feeding and care, the selective pressures that may produce smaller wild populations are absent.

[d_virginiana]

My biggest right now (my only female is a juvenile) is my old blind guy. He's close to 3 feet. Born from a wc female in a petstore. I always think other males are sickly or stunted when I first see them, because I'm comparing them to him.

May be unrelated, but I imagine populations near large bodies of water are larger than others. Probably why blue-stripes and florida blues have a rep for being some of the larger ones in the hobby. Also, the only really large ones I've ever found in the wild have been near large, permanent lakes. Could be something to do with having a large food supply as well as being less likely to encounter humans if they stay in a swampy environment?

[jmonahan]

Seriously? Would love to see pics!

I have a 4 foot female radix

[jmonahan]

Agree 100%. I've seen way too many people over-estimate the size of snakes. Seems adrenalin plays an important part here. When someone tells me the size of the "huge" snake they saw, I usually reduce it by 1/3 to 1/2. In 40 years and thousands of garters I've never seen one over 38 inches.

[Stefan-A]

Agree 100%. I've seen way too many people over-estimate the size of snakes. Seems adrenalin plays an important part here. When someone tells me the size of the "huge" snake they saw, I usually reduce it by 1/3 to 1/2. In 40 years and thousands of garters I've never seen one over 38 inches.
People tend to over- and underestimate their size by about as much, in my experience. Maybe it just depends on whether people see them stretched out or coiled up.

[Tommytradix]

i used serpwidgets to measure

[Tommytradix]

1142211423

[Tommytradix]

11424​shes 5 years old

[Tommytradix]

shes 100% het hybino she origanlly belonged to scott felzer

[Zdravko092368]

*stuff*

I definitely agree with this, when I search the forests near my city the garters are very small on average, however when I go to wildlife reserves with no roads and very few people average size is probably nearly a foot longer.

[jmonahan]

There is nothing in the picture for reference!

[EasternGirl]

I don't know but all of the female easterns around here seem to get to be about 4 feet full grown. I have heard that the easterns in this area are some of the largest. Like I recently posted, I have a male eastern that is 4 feet and thick...I have never seen a male eastern that big. I will get a pic as soon as I can. He is very skiddish. My female radix, Sadie, that I got from Steve is a big girl. She is definitely around 4 feet long and very thick.

[Tommytradix]

1144111442

[guidofatherof5]

Solid looking radix.

[jmonahan]

Yes, nice snakes. But what, maybe 30 inches?

[Tommytradix]

havent measured her in a couple months shes gravid

[slipknot711]

i have yet to measure her but this is my big girl. 1145911460

[jmonahan]

Here is the largest garter I've seen in a number of years: My son with a 35 inch red-sided. Probably a couple inches of tail tip missing, so maybe a 37 inch snake. Sadly, hit by a car shortly before we found it.


1146311464

[guidofatherof5]

That was a shame. Nice big breeding female. The population will miss her.

[Didymus20X6]

I've never seen any monster garters myself. Although I have heard legends about a garter snake that could turn into a bat and suck blood. I also heard about another one that, if it bit you, you'd turn into a half-human/half-garter snake creature. Then there's that one story about the herpetologist that brought a garter snake to life by sewing together parts from dead garters and hitting it with a car battery.

[guidofatherof5]

I've never seen any monster garters myself. Although I have heard legends about a garter snake that could turn into a bat and suck blood. I also heard about another one that, if it bit you, you'd turn into a half-human/half-garter snake creature. Then there's that one story about the herpetologist that brought a garter snake to life by sewing together parts from dead garters and hitting it with a car battery.


It wasn't a battery it was a car charger:D

[Tommytradix]

just measured my high red plains and shes 42 inches. the biggest garter i have ever owned.
i used serp widgets to measure her. heres the link
Serpwidgets - Snake Measurer (http://serpwidgets.com/main/measure2)

[Eddie]

That is a cool website. Thanks Tommy

[Tommytradix]

That is a cool website. Thanks Tommy
thanks eddie its the best way to measure a snake imo. you just gotta lock the tape measure to like 3 inches and get a photo of the snake next to it. the photo has to be taken from directly over top of the snake too

[joeysgreen]

Wow, 107cm, that's right up there eh. I can't say I've ever seen one near that big.

[Tommytradix]

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13000&stc=1

[Tommytradix]

most of my adult females are 34-37 inches my males i haven't measured yet but look to be around the 2ft mark

[Tommytradix]

Shaun Hayes has 3 huge Lake Chapala males. He said they are about 30 inches. That's two and a half foot!

[Zdravko092368]

I dont have many adult females ... all males but my one adult female eastern is 35". The largest i've seen in the wild is probably39".