wild caught garters?

[garterman07]

i heard some things that people who have had caught garters had loads of problems such as not eating, real agressive, parasites, deformaties, and some of them just dieing for no reason.

idk if i got lucky or what but why is it that rico (my t.sirtalis. sub-eastern) eats great he eats right out of my hand, and hes not under fed in no way to make him starve to do that he just does it. hes also not aggresive at all, a very social animal, comes to the opening of his cage and waits for me when i come to get him. and there are no deformalities and parasites on him, trust me i had him looked over good by a few reputable people.

but what i am geting at is i hear many bad things about garters that were caught or "rescued" from the wild, show many problems and other major struggles in their balance of life. but how come is it that i never hear any of this, any where! even from the people on here that have wild caught garters don't even have problems. is it because some people feel that wild things should remain wild and left wild say that to discourage people? (i completely agree with that) but how come is it that i never see or hear of any of these problems around?



and does any one else have wild caught garters?

[Sid]

I have a couple of wild caught T.s. sirtlis. No problems getting them to eat or settle into a captive enviroment. Neither are as easy handled as the one you describe, but are rather skidish when first picked up. Neither offer to bite and do calm down rather quickly.

Sid

[garterman07]

sounds you have some very nice t.s. sirtalis. but in alot of books i read they tell me not to keep captive snakes for horrible reasons, and even some professors at my school are like "they are horrible specimens" but when i show them rico they say "whos your breeder?"


theres alot of contradictory ideas floating around that i would like to clear up if not for my benifit of any one elses.

[adamanteus]

I have had many wild caught snakes, some of them Garters and some not. Generally speaking, if it's a species which readily adapts to captivity (like Garters do) it makes little difference if the animal is wild caught or captive bred. Obviously some individuals settle down quicker than others, but on the whole, a wild caught Garter, given the correct captive conditions, should settle down well enough.

[garterman07]

thank you, thats all i wanted to hear, it took me so long to actually find that answer.

[Cazador]

Whenever people make generalizations, there are always exceptions. Many times snakes can eliminate parasites that don't have a direct life cycle if they're not re-exposed to the intermediate host. Sometimes wild snakes are just as healthy as captive born ones. This is not always the case, though. When someone has already established a collection and has invested time, money, and emotion into their pets, and then a wild snake brings parasites/pathogens into the collection (usually due to inadequate quaratine techniques), it creates such a negative experience that people swear away from keeping wild caught snakes at all.

When wild snakes become the source for the pet trade industry, it can severely limit the population size of the wild snakes. This has been proven over and over again, but if an individual takes a few snakes, it doesn't have the same impact as an individual who supplies a nation.

[adamanteus]

Yes indeed Rick, wholesale collection for re-sale is very damaging, but taking one from the wild for your own collection is not going to be a problem.

I agree, wild caught snakes often carry parasites and pathogens, naturally one would treat a new acquisition for these, if they prove to be present. Also, I believe Chris has no established collection which could become contaminated.


given the correct captive conditions,

Otherwise I believe my "generalization" to be pretty accurate....Wild caught Garters usually settle readily to a captive environment. Generally speaking!:rolleyes:

[garterman07]

its like my chilean rose. its a tarantula from the rain forests in chile. they are extremely hard to breed in captivity, and for that reason people have over harvested them. now chileans are extremely close to being endangered if their not already. mine is captive bred, i bred her my self, (i think i got lucky) but rossie is doing great and she extremely healthy

[GartersRock]

I have never really had a problem with a WC snake. I have two WC garters and a WC TX rat snake that were eating well within the second day. Garters even take unscented pinkies after a very short time. The garters appear to be very healthy and they are parasite free and unagressive.

[ssssnakeluvr]

I have had numerous w/c garters and occasionally have one that won't feed or adapt to captivity, but overall they seeem to do well. I do quarantine new w/c snakes so that they don't transmit anything to my others.

[Odie]

I have a couple of wild caught northwesterns T.Ordinoides. No problems getting them to eat or settle into a captive enviroment(2 weeks). Only the male was rather skidish when first picked up(3 weeks). Neither tryed to bite and did calm down rather quickly :D

[darcy]

i've got a WC T. elegans vangrans. I wouldn't have kept him if he hadn't adjusted well but he did.... He has never musked me, acted aggressively and is relatively calm. He's worth his weight in gold(or I guess I should say platinum since he's still so small), especially with a 5 yo boy as his "owner". I have caught several other larger specimens and just let them go as I didn't want to stress them.

So far no diseases, but he's the only snake I've got so I guess I wouldn't know if he has anything communicable, I worry about his nutrition alot as he only eats rosies.... seems to be shedding on a regular basis with no issues.... Not that I would even no what it would look like but I'm always checking out his belly scales to see if anything has changed.

I use aspen shavings for his bedding which he seems to love. He makes all kind of burrows in it and seems to be able to regulate his temperature well in it.

[Odie]

I've been lucky both of are's are fine after 2 to 3 weeks weeks they started to eat :D

[ssssnakeluvr]

I was given a w/c wandering garter when I was in high school, just before graduation. I had that snake for 7 years. She was an adult when I got her.... Most w/c garters will do fine in captivity...there are a few tho....

[mikm]

Hey Darcy ... sounds as if you are doing a wonderful job :) .

best wishes

[salzar]

Hi all
I just got a wild one:) the day before easter.
he /she has shed twice, and eats slugs,earthworms very well, he is very nice and kind.
likes to be held and is doing well in a 40 gallon tallboy.
seems to be fine , but would like him to get more accustom to where the water dish is.
but other wize he is doing great. he is a maritime garter snake baby about 10 to 11 in. long
will post pix as soon as I can have him pose long enuff to snap his bloody shot!:cool:
bye
salzar

[Cazador]

Hi Michelle,

Congrats on your success with your maritime garter. Based on its shedding rate, it sounds like it's growing and shedding well. You might also consider buying some liquid vitamin supplements to add to the water or some powdered calcium/vitamin supplement to add to the worms & slugs just to ensure a more well-rounded diet. Take care,

Rick