Collection care with other snakes

[The Snake Whisperer]

I find garters are very social creatures & really want the company of other garters. One I used to house alone escaped three times, each time I found her curled atop the nearest enclosure that housed another snake. In the wild, I rarely ever see a garter alone.
Garters are also very curious creatures, they love looking at contrasting bright colors & occasionally when my garters are restless and I know they aren't hungry, just putting a magazine cover against their wall for them to look at or laying the Sunday comics across the top of their is enough for them to stop "cruising for escape possibilities" and happily check out the pictures. They also absolutely love looking at themselves in a mirror. I keep a small mirror taped to the outside of my garter cages and often a group of snakes in a community enclosure will all be checking themselves out in the mirror together.

[ConcinusMan]

Good point to bring up.

Quarantine period- set a length of time and don't violate it. I do 90 days. You don't want to introduce problems into your other snakes. You can lose them all doing that.

A WC snake can live with parasites for years with no apparent ill effects and so, simply quarantining them for 90 days isn't necessarily enough. A WC snake can deficate in the water, which can then be drank by the CB snake, thus risking parasites being transferred to the CB snake. The CB snake might not have the immunity or ability to keep the parasites from doing harm to it.

I keep WC snakes together. NO WC snake has, nor will ever be kept in the same container as any CB snakes of mine. Internal parasites or not, I do not treat WC snakes for parasites. There's no need if the snakes are healthy and thriving. Same room is not really a problem if the snakes are mite-free. Even babies born of WC parents are separated immediately and all precautions for keeping the babies parasite-free are observed. Hand washing and bleaching of items being transfered from a WC tank to a CB tank is a good idea.

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't place WC snakes in with your CB snakes unless they have been confirmed to be free of parasites by fecal exam, vet visit, and have had a substantial quarantine period. "Nasties" that WC snakes can carry without harm, could do harm to CB snakes especially CB snakes that are many generations removed from the wild.

WC snakes of the same species, from separated populations, can have different immunities to different parasites as well. Just look at history and see what diseases that europeans brought over and introduced to the native Americans. Those diseases nearly wiped out the natives but have almost no effect on the europeans. Same thing applies to different populations of WC garters.

[mustang]

how much does it cost to test and possably treat parisites

[ConcinusMan]

I don't know. Never did it. No vet here where I live will even look at a garter snake of any kind. Even if they would, prices are as variable as garters snakes are.

You'll have to consult your local veteranarians and compare prices for initial visit/physical, and then there is the price for the lab bill for fecal exam.

My dog vet says most fecal exams to look for common parasites(hookworms, flatworms) run about $65. Personally, any snake I've had that carried parasites didn't need the exam. The snakes either suffered no ill effects, or if they did have ill effects, parasites were obvious by finding dead worms passed into the water or tank.(That only happened to me once, earlier this spring and those snakes were released where I found them, instead of keeping them)

[mustang]

I don't know. Never did it. No vet here where I live will even look at a garter snake of any kind. Even if they would, prices are as variable as garters snakes are.

ouch rough vets

[ConcinusMan]

Well, not only do almost none of them have any knowledge of treating snakes, but as soon as you mention a garter snake, that's it. They won't treat any animal that is native. Since garter snakes live here, to them ANY garter is the same thing, native or not.

We really don't have all-around vets here. Most are dog and cat vets, or they are livestock vets.

I've been with the same vet for so many years, and built trust, that I have brought my garters in for a quick look-over and weighing when I bring my dogs in for routine stuff. The vet really likes my garters and says they are in perfect health. It's just that he can't officially treat them due to laws. He still looks at them(unofficially) and gives good advice. He says it's best to NOT treat my snakes with pancur or deworming if they are not having any problems. I'm sure if one of my garters got sick, he'd help me out under the table. He said he'd be willing to do fecal exams and label it as "reptile" feces. There really hasn't been any need for that as all of my garters are thriving and WC are kept separate from CB.

[mustang]

stupid law you could deffinatly argue on that one since not all garters are the same

[ConcinusMan]

Yes I know, but the vets don't want to argue about it. They just refuse to treat garter snakes period.

[guidofatherof5]

A WC snake can live with parasites for years with no apparent ill effects and so, simply quarantining them for 90 days isn't necessarily enough. A WC snake can deficate in the water, which can then be drank by the CB snake, thus risking parasites being transferred to the CB snake. The CB snake might not have the immunity or ability to keep the parasites from doing harm to it.

I should have clarified my statement with the fact a clean fecal examine should be done before a WC snakes in introduced into a collection, any collection WC or CB.

[mustang]

Yes I know, but the vets don't want to argue about it. They just refuse to treat garter snakes period.

then screw them apparently hypocratic oath aint nothn to them...when i get my doctors degree ill be sure to visit your city andbe publicly output about tretaing non indiginous garters