Eastern Black-Necked garters

[Steveo]

Why are these beautiful creatures not more prevalent in the hobby? Even the breeders and dealers who say they have them never have any available.

I was looking at the regulations in Texas yesterday and they're not on the white list, the black list, or the T&E list. The Western variety is on the white list and can be collected for personal use or commercial use with an inexpensive commercial permit... but nothing on the smaller Eastern variety. The Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research says it has no protected status.

Is it just that the limited range has prevented widespread collection? If they're not protected, anyone could buy a hunting license and round some up. I travel to the area periodically for work and I might even be able to convince some coworkers down there to keep an eye out and mail some to me. I'm generally not in favor of large-scale collection, but a few males and half-dozen females would help get some numbers in the hobby.

[Invisible Snake]

I think it consists of limited range and some keepers have trouble converting them to rodents.

If you're interested in purchasing some I can steer you to a couple of breeders from whom I've purchased in the past. I have a few that will hopefully breed next year.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I have two friends who have adult pairs that have 30-40 babies they sell each year. I know that one thing that cuts those numbers down, is that EBN are more finicky than most garters as newborns and can be a pain to work with at first. They have more of a tendency to be flighty, not want to eat at all or they spook and then won't eat, and are very bullheaded about wanting fish or worse, frog as a meal. I have never seen one touch an earthworm either. I don't find them to be that uncommon, but I do find that a lot of people buy the babies because they are so pretty and lose them because they are a bit delicate for their first few months of life and they're not a species that can be as easily convinced to eat, or to eat something else, as others. Once they get going, they tend to do really well. It's just the babies are on the higher maintenance side of garters, which are already high maintenance to begin with.

[BUSHSNAKE]

each breeding season is different but they were very common last year...maybe again this year.

[Steveo]

Well, I'm not interested in buying any this year. I'm out of room for the time being. It just seems like many regard them highly but few have them. I figured if I was in a position to help out, I could do that.

After looking at some maps, I realized something: there's so much private land in west Texas and so few public spaces. I'd either have to ask ranch owners for permission or stick to road cruising. I've been down there a few times and nobody is going to want some out-of-state schmuck running around on their property.