I too saw Scott's ad and would like everyone's opinion.

[dieselbaby]

As everyone knows i have two checkered garters, and they are pretty easy keepers Nick started them out awesome. I have always wanted a blue puget sound garter. Now my question is would the better choice for me be the blue baby puget's or the florida blue stripes. I think they look pretty similar color wise. Its the blue im after. Since shipping is going to run me a pretty penny i want to make to right choice, i also asked for Scott's opinion in an email to him as well.

[infernalis]

It depends on what you would prefer as the (likely) temperament of the snake.

The Similis have a reputation for being feisty, nippy to downright mean, they get fairly large.

Pickeringii (Puget sound garter) are somewhat more mellow but in my limited experience are still a little nervous when handled.

A Blue Axanthic Plains Garter Snake (Blue Radix) is most likely to be the mellowest and tolerate handling the best.

Richard may chime in with his experiences with the blue concinnus he kept.

[ConcinusMan]

Richard may chime in with his experiences with the blue concinnus he kept.

Sorry, I missed this until now. The blue concinnus' are pretty much like any other sirtalis and they (all concinnus') are genetically nearly identical to Pugets. The thing is, nobody is currently producing blue concinnus'. I only just discovered them in the wild in 2010 and there are only a few pair of adults in captivity, which haven't produced any offspring. I believe that Don and Shannon are the only two people that got pairs which were carefully selected for their very blue coloration. Scott doesn't work with concinnus' at all, of any color. Another thing to mention is that with pugets and the blue phase concinnus', there's no guarantees as to how intensely colored, or how blue or greenish they will be if you buy babies. Exeptionally blue pugets or concinnus' are not exactly typical. Often they turn out to just be a pale bluish green or just pale green and there's no way to know which babies will color up as adults. If you're counting on a very blue snake, then I suggest you buy an adult puget that has already colored up because as I said, very intense blue individuals are really the exception and they only occur in a very small part of the total natural range. That goes for concinnus' and pugets.

You know how those diet or "get rich quick" advertisements put fine print that says "results not typical" ? Well, unfortunately, when people show pictures of the blue snakes, they fail to put in fine print "color not typical of this subspecies" and so people get the wrong impression and rush right out to buy a puget, thinking it will be blue, when in fact, most are not.

Just wanted to be clear on that since it seems that the pictures of exceptionally blue pugets on his website, aren't even his.

[dieselbaby]

well as far as biting goes i would like to avoid a mean biting snake, and as far as handling goes, we really dont handle our snakes much, other then for tank cleanings, or when i take our little male out for private feeding so his sister doesnt eat him. (and bath him when he is done so he doesnt smell like food) I am a watcher not a handler lol i love to sit and watch the snakes for hours observing their little personalities.

[d_virginiana]

Houdini wanted me to remind you that there are also Florida blue sirtalis

If you don't want to have a nippy snake you should probably stay away from the similis though. I've never heard anyone talk about having a sweet, calm, similis...

[infernalis]

as far as handling goes, we really dont handle our snakes much, other then for tank cleanings, or when i take our little male out for private feeding so his sister doesnt eat him. (and bath him when he is done so he doesnt smell like food) I am a watcher not a handler lol i love to sit and watch the snakes for hours observing their little personalities.

I am like that too.

[dieselbaby]

I am like that too.

They are just so fun to watch, and i love it when they come out to check out something new i put in there tank. I like to mess with their tank set ups once a week, adding something different, whether it be something old i took out or something new i bought. since all their goodies wont fit in the tank all at once.

oh and as for size i like the big garters im hoping my girl lexi will get as big as Steve's Speckle. But a big snake that is mean, ill pass on that lol.

[chris-uk]

I also saw Scott's ad and wanted people's opinions, so rather than start a new thread I'll add it here.

I was quite curious about the melanistic Cuitzeos. That would mean a completely black snake, right? I can't possibly imagine why anyone would want a melanistic Cuitzeo because they are pretty much all black in their natural colourings, and the charm of them is the white chin and pink tail - take that away and you just have any other black snake. Personally, if my Cuitzeos bred melanistic babies I'd be disappointed and selling them for less than the natural coloured babies. Am I missing something?


Edit - Just looked back on the ad, and I think I misread it due to a missing carriage return. I think melanistic relates to the black-bellied snakes that should be on the line above.

[dieselbaby]

I also saw Scott's ad and wanted people's opinions, so rather than start a new thread I'll add it here.

I was quite curious about the melanistic Cuitzeos. That would mean a completely black snake, right? I can't possibly imagine why anyone would want a melanistic Cuitzeo because they are pretty much all black in their natural colourings, and the charm of them is the white chin and pink tail - take that away and you just have any other black snake. Personally, if my Cuitzeos bred melanistic babies I'd be disappointed and selling them for less than the natural coloured babies. Am I missing something?

I too love their white chins and lil pink worm tails. i thought that tail was an awesome idea.

[dieselbaby]

i dont think i saw blue sirtalis or blue radix on the list. which is why i chose the florida blue stripe and blue puget. Myself im leaning towards the puget i think, i just love their color and markings. and those table manners, remind me so much of lexi and indy my two checkereds, but i would still like to hear what everyone has to say. I always like to keep an open mind, and hearing others experiences.