1. You have to borrow money to purchase the snake.
2. The snake is being fed goldfish and earthworms, those 2 have the potential of having already introduced parasites into the snakes gut, which the snake may need treatment for by a vet, which means you will need more money.
I would recommend that you tell the person selling the snake about this forum so he/she may join and/or read the care sheet on here for the proper care of garters, and the person can post a classified for the snake on here instead of selling the snake to some random on CL who may know nothing about garters.
P.S. If money wasn't an issue then I would say go for it!
Thats a good point. reptile vets are probably expensive.
I may call and ask some questions about the little guy.
After much thought I have decided to avoid this snake. I would love to rescue him. Give him some comfort and the proper care, but I have gotten no response from the seller.
I just think that it is not a good idea after all.
Lots of people on this forum feed their garters earthworms (nightcrawlers). Are we now having to address parasite issues with them?
People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff.
From all I've read the risk of parasites from night crawlers is very low.
Many of my wild caught radix were negative on a fecal float. Night crawlers are the main food source for them in the wild and here on the Ranch.