Calmest Garters

[Glen]

What are the tamest species of Garters, my daughters are interested in Garters and Ribbons but i dont want to get them something that tries to eat them!

[KITKAT]

In my opinion, some T sirtalis (Eastern Garters) are quite tame... but avoid the "Florida Blue" variant. There are several "morphs" of the eastern garter, as well as some beautiful subspecies.

[abcat1993]

but avoid the "Florida Blue" variant.

Why is that? I was either going to get them or a melanistic eastern as my next garter. (According to Scott Felzer, Florida Blues are the biggest of the garters he sells).

[KITKAT]

Why is that? I was either going to get them or a melanistic eastern as my next garter. (According to Scott Felzer, Florida Blues are the biggest of the garters he sells).

I had a number of Florida Blues before Ohio decided they were native to Ohio.

They would rather strike and bite than be handled, without exception. My 42 inch Florida blue bit my right hand when I was sexing her. She left an imprint in bloody tooth marks where she bit me, which was in the web of the thumb-forefinger. She got my hand all the way into her mouth, and bit so hard that the tooth marks made a perfect imprint of the inside of the roof of her mouth... you could even see where her eyes were, the rows of teeth, etc.

A herper who was teaching me to probe said, "Are you allright?!?" and I replied... "Not the first time I've been bitten, and won't be the last...

[adamanteus]

Hi Glen,

Many of the Garters you'll see on this forum are not readily available in the UK. If it is for your children you probably don't want to spend a small fortune on one of the more rarely seen species. Might I suggest Checkered Garters Thamnophis marcianus? They are bred in some numbers in the UK, therefore should be easy enough to acquire. Nice looking, easy to care for. They're not too big either!

James.

[adamanteus]

Glen,

You don't mention the age of your daughters, or what their interest in Garters actually is....If they're quite young and if you're looking for a snake which they can handle frequently, Garters would be a poor choice.

I see from your earlier threads that you've been asking around for baby Garters, and yet you want a snake which is placcid enough for a child to handle. I think a baby Garter would be wholy unsuitable in such an instance. They are too small and fragile to be handled by a young child. Might I suggest a sub-adult Royal Python (Python regius). Or perhaps a Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata) as a first snake, both readily available in the UK.

James.

[adamanteus]

Florida Blues are notoriously aggressive.

[Thamnophis]

In my case the Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia are the calmest and the Thamnophis atratus atratus are the most nervous.

[Gijs & Sabine]

In my case the Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia are the calmest and the Thamnophis atratus atratus are the most nervous.

That's funny, our tetrataenia and atratus behave just the opposite from yours, Fons

I agree with drache, the plains garters (radix) are in our opinion really quite and easy to handle. We have one huge female that likes to be hold.

I also agree with ssssnakeluvr, our melanistic easterns are also calm and friendly, except when we feed them, then they'll bite for sure.

And to jump in on cazadors reply, our infernalis group (sub-adult) are nice ones also, they're calm and curious.
But the T.cyrtopsis ocellatus is very shy and gets frightened real easy, so that's most certainly not a garter to start with. By the way they're also difficult eaters.

[mikm]

I would say Radix overall as well ... I have owned several variations of this morph and they all had a very nice temperament. I have also found the Red Spots to be quite variable and the nw BLUES to be sweet as Rick mentioned.

marian