My intro and new garter

[jwolfe152]

Hello everyone my name is jimmy I am from North Central West Virginia (the state not a part of Virginia)So every year i drive to my mo and dads to mow and trim and i usually see a few garters every year usually they get caught in my mower or trimmer. This year i made a point to be extra careful, well, i found my first one at the end of the trimmer with a chunk of tail missing. So i stopped the trimmer and caught it and brought it home. I am pretty sure its a female from the way the tail from the vent down is tapered and uniform small. but i want to know mostly about the look of her tail its been 2 weeks now and she seems fine the first time i picked her up only slight pulling and trying to get away. i have never been sprayed or striked at. My questions are, how often do they shed? is once a week good for feeding of a nightcrawler? and how do i know if something would be wrong with her tail where it has been

[guidofatherof5]

Shedding depends on age and the amount of food. Most of my adults shed 3-4 times a year. Adults can be fed a couple times a week. Night crawlers are very good garter food. I'll put a link in this thread to the forum care sheet. It will give you some ideas on other foods.
No way to advise on the tail unless we can see a photo. Keep an eye on the injury and look for signs of infection(swelling, redness, discharge, smell) Antibiotic ointment could be used.
How much distance between the vent/cloaca and the injury?

How certain are you that you have a garter snake?
Can you I.D. the snake from this link?
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet

Snakes of West Virginia

[jwolfe152]

oh i know its a garter i have already looked into it its a common checkered. here are the pics

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[jwolfe152]

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also i still dont have a name for her some suggestions would be good. almost forgot the cut is about 1.5-2 inches from the vent and its scabbed over she actually scraped it a little earlier being stressed from nieces and nephew looking at her all day and there was a few small drops of blood but she is acting fine.

[guidofatherof5]

I don't think that injury looks like anything to worry too much about. T.marcianus - Checkered Garter doesn't range anywhere near West Virginia. Probably a Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis - Eastern Garter.
Do you have any betadine?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betadine

[RedSidedSPR]

Looks just like the Easters I find in West Virginia.

[Selkielass]

Pretty Eastern garter!
They can become very docile quickly, and mine learn to beg at the glass for food.
A dab of antibiotic ointment or a betadine bath may help if you notice swelling or discharge, but it looks like she's recovering nicely.
Congratulations and welcome!

[Natrix]

"Pretty Eastern garter!
They can become very docile quickly, and mine learn to beg at the glass for food." Unless it was an Eastern 'flame', then the jury would be out for ever and a day on temperament

[jwolfe152]

"Pretty Eastern garter!
They can become very docile quickly, and mine learn to beg at the glass for food." Unless it was an Eastern 'flame', then the jury would be out for ever and a day on temperament

what does the flame refer to? ok i must have misread something somewhere or jumped to the conclusion she was a checkered. but i probably jumped to it because the pattern on the top of her back looks checkered more than most of the ones i have seen in other pics. and does anyone know of a good site for names because last fall me and my girlfriend found a black kitten in a go-mart parking lot that took 3 nights of feeding for her to come to us and it took over a month to come up with the name jynx for her lol

[guidofatherof5]

This is a "flame" eastern.
Here's something to keep in mind, cats and garter don't mix well. The garters always come out on the losing end of the deal. You must make sure the cat/s don't have a way of getting to the snake. There have been plenty of horror stories on this forum about injured or killed garters because of cats.
Just a word to the wise.