Why do you think garters are so underrated and overlooked in the hobby?

[snake man]

Reading the other forums so far it looks like everyone is saying nice things.

[Greg'sGarters]

Here are some of my top reasons

1. Garter Snakes won't take a live large rat and constrict it to death.
2. They are long, thin snakes that don't look very intimidating.
3. To most people, they are just that snake that they could find under the wood pile in their backyard, nothing special - same reason why green anoles aren't very popular pets in Florida.
4. The babies have to be fed very often, and are often harder to get to eat than other rodent-eating snakes.
5. There are hardly any pattern mutations for garter snakes, mainly lucy and pied. Most are just color mutations. Compare the number to ball pythons.
6. Not very easy to find at reptile shows. Only a select number of breeders of them, a lot of which are on this forum.
7. They won't bring you big bucks.
8. They can be picky eaters.

But I still love them!

[Selkielass]

Funny, points one and two are why they appeal to teachers and kids, in my limited experience.
personally I find a you.ng butlerat stalking and subduing a worm nearly its own size even more exciting than constrictors. Squeezing prey.

[Greg'sGarters]

I think that they are both cool in their own separate ways. The big constrictors are cool because...well who doesn't want to see a snake 3 times your size eat a chicken? Garter Snakes are cool because of how delicate they are while stalking, they are like surgeons.

[jscott67]

I think they may not be overlooked on purpose, but instead because in my area they are hard to find in the pet trade. There are the Narcisse Snake Dens, but collecting from there is illegal. I didn't realize they were available as pets until a little while ago. Wxpis, pets stores and the online classifieds are full of corns, boas and pythons, never have I seen a garter.

I have bbeen looking for a snake that stays small, can be kept communily and is active during the day. These little guys meet my criteria perfectly! Now to find more!

[Invisible Snake]

Jonathan Crowe recently wrote this article on why garters are under appreciated in the hobby (He runs the garter snake FB group)

Why Don't Reptile Keepers Appreciate Garter Snakes? - Gartersnake.info