Considering a garter

[kueluck]

You're going to be very happy with garters. I have 3 girls that are super friendly, have never been musked or pooped on except when babies and that's because they were feed daily and were just sitting in my lap to long. Only bitten when I smell like food, like having frog or toad scent on me. (the frogs and toads are friends NOT food) Two of my girls will hang out for hours wrapped about my neck while I clean the house, watch TV or sit at computer, but then I do handle my snakes just about every day. The 3rd one prefers to just sit in your hands or lap. Oh, and watching them explore their home when I rearrange their place is very entertaining. I call them the cat like snakes, so curious.

[Rad snakes]

Garters are epic! I love them especially because they are very easy to take care of. I couldn't bear watching a snake eat a live little baby mousy, so I feed mine fish and night crawlers. Garters are an awesome choice for a pet

[guidofatherof5]

Frozen/thawed pinkies are a great option in that case. They are a great source of nutrition for your garters also.

[KDale]

No, but to prevent crossbreeding, keep only same sexes together unless they are under 1yr old.

whats bad with cross breeding

[guidofatherof5]

What's not bad about cross breeding! Muddies the gene pool and creates "mutts" that are worthless in the hobby and can only continue to impact the gene pool if allowed to breed.
The variety offered by all the garter species negates the need to cross breed. There have been accidents in this area and the snakes look like watered down versions of the parents.

[ConcinusMan]

We try not to let 2 different species or subspecies of garter snake, mate and produce offspring. It usually produces undesirable results. There are over 50 distinct species.