Help!!

[Garter_Gertie]

Good luck with the 'live' bit. Make sure you're WAY outta the house and FAR away from where ever you've got your snakey. I've read on here ittiz NOT PLEASANT listening to the wee one... Ah... Ah... Getting ingested.

Just me. I couldn't do it. Talk to Lori.

I'd get the f/t (frozen/thawed) wee mousies and do what Andrea said. May not work as well, but I could never go live. (shudder)

[infernalis]

Steve at Humboldt herps would know, and he is right there..

Just a thought..

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Huh? Who said what? HumboldtHerps? Oh!

Hi Cecilia! And welcome!

I, of course, am always very interested in the well-being of our northwestern Californian snakes! I live in Humboldt County and am familiar with most of the specific ranges of the local species and subspecies of garters.

I suspect that the snake is one of two possible species.

My first question is where exactly did you find the snake? (Name the closest city, town, or river). This might be enough to pinpoint an ID. The Northwestern Garter (T. ordinoides) has a limited range in Humboldt County.

The other suspect would be the Coast Garter (T. e. terrestris), which is found throughout the western portions of Humboldt.

Both species may have light to heavy red flecking dorsally, dorso-laterally, and/or ventrally. Both come in a variety of colors and patterns.

Things to do:

Count the upper labial scales - please see: Thamnophis 3)

Compare colors and patterns at California Reptiles and Amphibians or Thamnophis 2 incomplete - for additional color morphs among species and subspecies see Thamnophis - Sightings

You may also use the Peterson's guide to count scale rows (at neck, mid-body, and caudal region).

If you could get a macro shot of the head (top and lateral) and one of the belly, that might help me zoom in on an answer as well.

For now, know that Northwesterns will take earthworms, slugs, tadpoles, young frogs, small salamanders, and possibly small fish. They are a bit trickier than most garters (being one of the smallest). Coast Garters are opportunists, and although they may take amphibians and fish, they are a subspecies (that subspecific status may have been lost) of the Western Terrestrial Garter and, true to their namesake, relish lizards, small snakes (occasional cannibalism), small rodents, and occasionally small birds (possibly eggs).

I have one of each species. My Northwestern currently feeds on earthworms and tadpoles. Note: WC tadpoles may carry pathogens.
My Coast took small pinkie mice right away and continues to do so...

Hope all this helps.

Steven

[Loren]

Hi Cecilia, pretty much every thing Steven said, and I will tell you that my northwestern garters love slugs. They also will eat pinky mice that are generously rubbed with slug slime. Make sure you get slugs and worms only from pesticide/herbicide free areas too.
Heres another link on I.D. Key to California Gartersnakes
Look this over and you should be able to verify the species. It might take a while if the little guy is squirmy though.
The peterson field guide(to western reptiles and amphibians, by Robert C. Stebbins) Steven mentioned is a must (in my opinion) for anyone in the western U.S. who catches wild reptiles and amphibians. Its available through book stores and amazon.com. I believe 2003 is the latest edition.
Californiaherps.com (run by Gary Nafis) is basically the online equivelant to this book in my opinion. And that humbolt herps site looks pretty cool too.

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Cecilia

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard, Cecilia.

[xXMapanareXx]

Thanks you guys for everything, you've been a great help!!!

[bio6464]

Welcome...always nice to see new members join the club!