Hi all! You may have noticed I haven't been around as much. Well, that's due to some technical issues with the computer, as well as some family issues. I largely use my phone to browse the forums at the moment... making it rather tedious to post large amounts of text.

But anyway, this topic has come up before I am sure, but I am genuinely curious as to what our current members think. Having worked with many types of garters both as adults and babies, I have definitely formed opinions on which ones I like the most and which ones I do not recommend regardless of their beauty. *cough, california redsideds are evil, cough*.

Think about the species you have worked with and what you enjoy most about them. Sure, I love all of them but I have developed a clear favorite... and it just might surprise you!

Thamnophis marcianus.

Yep. That's right. What is wrong with me?! The most common snake in the trade? Really?! Yes. definitely. You might be wondering why that is. I do too at times, until I go into my snakeroom and remind myself why. For one, they just plain thrive. Not saying others don't, cause we all know many species do, but you have gotta hand it to the checkereds, you have to try really hard to kill one! They will eat just about anything. Heck, I am pretty sure some of mine would eat pizza if I offered it with tongs.

My favorite thing about a checkered is of course, they way they look. No, I am not talking just about your run of the mill dirt colored snake with some black dots scattered about. But if you get a really good looking checkered, in my opinion, it's impossible to beat. I just love a lime green checkered with thick, black, perfectly square checkers, thick labials, and rich red eyes. But there are other variants that I love equally that are hard to come by (but mark my word I will change that). One of my males is mustard yellow. A female that someone recently caught for me and brought to hamburg is an extremely pale tan/cream color, with very faded checkers and an equally pale head. And of course, if you are into morphs, there are are few exciting variants of checkereds, my favorite of course, being pastel.

Between their stunning looks, their ability to thrive and tolerate beginner's mistakes even as babies, (meaning I am very comfortable selling babies) their willingness to eat even pizza (kidding), and their sweet temperment, for me, it will always be marcianus.

So now it's your turn. What's your favorite garter? And no, I am not talking about just your favorite -looking- snake, I mean, as a species/subspecies, on a whole. So if you haven't kept it before, don't call it a favorite. I used to think cali- redsideds were my favorite until I started keeping them. Now they might be a least favorite...even the prettiest snake can ruin it's reputation with it's personality! and while I went through a phase where I was heavily into morphs, I have come back to my roots and now focus on normals and naturally occurring variants of them. I like morphs, but racing to produce the latest and greatest morph does nothing for me, and to be honest, I really don't like albino's too much. Unless they are T positive. I like my snakes with melanin!