Lots of Yard Garters here in Iowa. Help!

[DaBaum]

My fear of having scared off all the garter snakes from my yard have been greatly exaggerated.
There are at least 4 adult individuals.
Gee, do they like pinkies.

All ate thee or four pinkies except one.
That individual (a youngster) wasn't interested in the pinkie at all so I offered "him" some salmon.
He chowed down on that salmon. I hope it doesn't make him sick.

In the process of checking up on the juvenile who would only eat salmon, I found out that someone had babies!
Actually, I knew there were babies in the yard earlier.
While trimming around my old honey-locust tree I found a neonate who was clearly unhappy about my presence.
Damn, was he an angry individual. He did his best rattlesnake imitation and struck at me repeatedly.

Anyway, while checking on the salmon eater, I found another tiny neonate and caught him.
I know there are ethical issues involved with removing a wild snake from his habitat but I think I might keep him over the winter.
I'd love to hear some thoughts from you knowledgeable folks.

[DaBaum]

baby garter.jpg

Sorry this is such a poor photo.
We are both figuring this out.
The little snake is alert and active and seems to be curious about me.
I ran down to petco and got a little plastic reptile carrier.
I'll see if I can get him to eat.
I got night-crawlers at the gas station and tilapia from the grocery store.
Water is coming from the sump-pump and then boiled/cooled.
I should have just bought bottled water.

[guidofatherof5]

A little hard to identify from the photo. Nightcrawlers are your best bet. When you get a chance post up some well-lit photos and we'll see what you have there.

[DaBaum]

NIghtcrawlers it is.
I bought some at the local Fairway of all places.
(Casey's didn't have any.)

I will post some photos when we get settled in.
I'm 93.2% sure it is T. Radix.
The variety we have around here (my yard at least) are very dark brown with black checkers.
They seem to get darker as they age.

The Dorsal strip (?) is super bright yellow - almost school-bus yellow.
Their belly's are bright cream colored.
The side strips are yellow with a tiny tinge of green.

I'm off the get a heat pad and find an empty cartridge box.

[DaBaum]

As promised, here is a slightly better photo of my little buddy.

We are two weeks in and I finally got "Him" to eat.
The first meal was nightcrawlers chunks and yesterday he had pinky slices and more nightcrawler.
He's a violent eater (and hungry again, I think), but won't eat from a dish.
I have to tease feed him with small tongs.

We are slowly getting used to each other's comings and going.
He's a little spazzy and I suspect he would benefit from the company of another garter.
So ... I have a Checkered Garter Buddy for him on way from Texas.

2 week old.jpg

Oh yeah, my little one seems to be pooping and may have shed as well.

[DaBaum]

4 week old.jpg