I.D. possible garter?

[ConcinusMan]

I just now saw this. Posted in july, then *poof* Nobody hears from them again? Shoot. Better pics would be nice. Also "western washington" covers a lot of area. The possible species/subspecies really depends on where in western WA you are but head / snout does seem like T. ordinoides. Can't really say for sure. Too many unanswered questions and really cruddy pics.

Very well could just be an albino ordie that happens to have quite a bit of red. I don't know what all the "white sided" talk is about.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Have you ever seen some of the other white sided snakes? They have this same look to them and that's why we said it could be a white sided garter! I agree it looks like an ordie, but I think the white sides and the pattern on the head is very close resemblance to some of the other white sided snakes. Like you said though the pics are pretty hard to see! With white sided snakes they keep the same pattern on top, but with white sides and white on the head. Here is a pic of a white sided rat snake for comparison!

[Mommy2many]

It is definitely not a gator.

I would have to agree. Has no legs...

[ConcinusMan]

I think it's just probably an erythristic albino if it has pink eyes that is. now you know why I'm having such a fit about wanting to get just one friggen het out of all these damn albinos that have been found the last few years. Everybody's like not really interested and I don't get that at all because this snake is what you could come up with among a million other combinations and one-of-a-kind morphs. If I could just get my hands on the albino gene. But no, they keep being found by people who are never heard from again, or they flat refuse to cooperate or breed them and give up a baby. Oh what I could do with that when you have all the other colors and patterns going on with them.

This one is a good example of just one of many possibilities. Sure would like to hear from this person again but I doubt that will happen. I think it's like 4 or 5 albino northwesterns that have been found recently and who knows where there at now. I just never hear from the people again or they flat refuse to cooperate and/or make babies for a project or just don't know how. They just ride off into the sunset with their albino and nothing ever becomes of it.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I must be color blind because all I see is black and white, but like you already stated these are not the best pics! Well I do see what looks like tiny red flecks, but that could just be dirt or it could be a white sided with some red flecks in it! I just don't think this one is an albino which makes it even more desirable! I agree that ordies are awesome and should be worked with more and I can't wait to get a group in the future!

I think it's just probably an erythristic albino if it has pink eyes that is. now you know why I'm having such a fit about wanting to get just one friggen het out of all these damn albinos that have been found the last few years. Everybody's like not really interested and I don't get that at all because this snake is what you could come up with among a million other combinations and one-of-a-kind morphs. If I could just get my hands on the albino gene. But no, they keep being found by people who are never heard from again, or they flat refuse to cooperate or breed them and give up a baby. Oh what I could do with that when you have all the other colors and patterns going on with them.

This one is a good example of just one of many possibilities. Sure would like to hear from this person again but I doubt that will happen. I think it's like 4 or 5 albino northwesterns that have been found recently and who knows where there at now. I just never hear from the people again or they flat refuse to cooperate and/or make babies for a project or just don't know how. They just ride off into the sunset with their albino and nothing ever becomes of it.

[ConcinusMan]

I must be color blind because all I see is black and white

You must be. That snake is red on white. At least, that's what I see. Not the rat snake, the garter.

Poster says it's brown and white. ****, with those photos it could be purple for all I know.

[xStatic]

I'm pretty sure that it's some species of rat snakes. But there are so many rat snake species and they all look so similar it's sometimes really hard to tell. It has an interesting pattern though, but it's definitely not a rosy boa. It has a rat snake head and rat snake scales.

I would suggest posting this on cornsnakes.com as they are much more familiar with all the rat snake species than I am, and they might have information on what the mutation resulting in the strange coloration might be.

It's a very cute snake!

[ConcinusMan]

I'm pretty sure that it's some species of rat snakes.

It's not. this is western WA. It's a northwestern garter. Just an unusual color but "unusual" is a pretty common thing that pops up with that species since they are so highly variable / polymorphic anyway.

I would suggest posting this on cornsnakes.com as they are much more familiar with all the rat snake species than I am

And they still can't tell you with any certainty what kind of rat snake they have in their collections, let alone tell what species it is from a lousy phone pic. It's a garter snake anyway. There are no rat snakes here and it's tiny. Definitely not a juvie rat snake.


Definitely not a rat snake. If it was, the size would make it a hatchling and it looks nothing like a hatchling rat snake. Seeing the pic and with the locality info it's 95% chance it's just an unusual Thamnophis ordinoides. Still can't figure why I see a red and white snake but nobody else does I guess.

Maybe you're looking at the wrong pic xStatic. The one right above IS a white sided morph, black rat snake we already know that. This is a very small snake and he says it's brown and white, found in western WA. I think it's T. ordinoides.