Colors in Garters

[Ctah_Lu]

Hi everybody, i have read that are colors like hypomelanistic, anerythristic, amelanistic, etc. and i want to know what kind of coloration must have a snake to be considered in any of these groups and how many color variations are (only the main ones). I been loking for this info for a long time but wasnt able to find a well explained article.

Thanks, see you.

[RedSidedSPR]

The term would be morph, rather than color, and there's a ton of variations for most species/subspecies.

Here's a list of most, if not all, of them: Scott Felzer's Garter Snakes, specializing in aberrant garters

It all has to do with genetics, if you want a detailed explanation, here's a good article: Garter Snake Morph

[Ctah_Lu]

Thanks, that information was what i been looking for.

[ConcinusMan]

the traits you mentioned are often mutations. There are a lot of color variations and phases that aren't mutations too. Such as, red T. radix, which technically you could call "erythristic" but I don't think it's a mutated gene that's responsible. Same goes for erythristic T. oridnoides. They're not mutants either but melanistic ones do have a mutated recessive gene. It's complicated and there are a lot of different things to learn but stick around for a year or two and you'll know them all.

[Artic Exotics]

Oh and there is polymorphism. Essentially where a snake in the wild has the ability to be several different colors or patterns naturally. For example in my T. Ordinoides, all three of my adults are bright bright red. Their babies were 5 yellow, one orange-yellow, one blue ( the only FTT :/) and one red.

I can not find the photo credit for this and I hate to post something that does not belong to me, but it is a great example of what i am referring to and if anyone does have the photo credits for this please do post it so that they can get credit for their work.
northwestern-gartersnake-polymorphism-thamnophis-ordinoides.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Ordies are awesome.

[Artic Exotics]

I know right? I was soo stoked when that blue was born. Male too im pretty sure (im badly female heavy). He made it looking completely healthy for 3 days and mysteriously passed without warning. It was like SIDS for garters or something- im just calling it a FTT. But the rest of the babies just thrived so I will be repeating the pairing this year. Been hoping for a lime for years (for sentimental reasons)but yeah I just love the polymorphism.

[d_virginiana]

A fair amount of Eastern morphs are naturally occurring too. Erythristics can be found near the NC/SC coasts, Florida blues are pretty common, and I think flames can be found in the wild too. For some reason I'm thinking Canada? Could be wrong.
They don't usually look the same in the wild though, most of these are made from crossing wc snakes with those traits with each other to get extreme versions.

Garters eventually turn into an expensive version of pokemon. Once you realize there are so many kinds, you have to get them all.

[SilasBannook]

You are right on the Pokemon analogy. With all the diiferent colors and personalities I feel the same way. Totally jealous of the forum members who are able to manage large collections.

[ConcinusMan]

I'm not jealous of those who manage large collections. I seriously have my doubts that they can truly know each individual. The more snakes you have, the less time you have for each one as an individual. If one gets into large collections right from the start, they miss out on that insight which years of working with few snakes can bring. Luckily, I've been keeping the local garter species for decades before I ever had more than 5 or so at a time and I have always in the past kept individuals long term (years) You really get to know them as a species, and still to this day, every new snake brings familiarity of the species but at the same time, if I keep the numbers limited, I never cease to find the quirks of the individual personalities. This is the main reason I have my limits on the size of my collection. Going beyond a certain number (that number will be different for every person) something is lost. It's like the difference between owning a few family dogs in the household, and owning a kennel full with several hundred. Personally I get much more joy out of owning just a few.

Each snake doesn't care if we give them the attention. They're not mammals. But if we get to know them individually, over long term, the joy is all ours. I'm pretty sure the snakes could care less about attention but if we can't get to know them long term as individuals, we don't necessarily cheat the snakes, but we might be cheating ourselves.