I bought my first garter snake in the end of January this year, a female thamnophis proximus orarius. My question is, can my garter be kept with any other thamnophis subspieces, or can she only be kept with other thamnophis proximus subspecies, or only snakes of her very own kind, t.p. orarius? Also, I've heard she's a ribbon snake, but still a part of thamnophis. How does that work? Can ribbon snakes be kept together with garter snakes?

Finally, I don't think she is full grown yet. Should I wait until she reaches full size before I introduce another snake? Or is it better for the snakes to get used to each other from a young age? Is there a risk that garter snakes with too big of a size gap can try to hurt or even eat each other? There is an expo coming up in May where I live, and I'm considering investing in a checkered garter snake, depending on the response I get from you guys, of course

Sorry for the heap of questions, but I can't seem to find a thread on this subject anywhere.

Thankful for any help!