Why Garter Snakes?

[sschind]

I'm just curious. What is it about Garter Snakes that interests everyone so much. I will admit I was one of those "it's only a stupid garter snake for Pete's sake" people a while back. First off, I have to say that I am not non natural morphs at all. I don't even consider albinos to be a natural morph because they probably would not survive without some intervention. There is no morph of ball python that is as pretty to me as a nice looking "normal" All the hypo Honduran milk snakes and the motley corn snakes do absolutely nothing for me. What changed my mind about the Garter Snakes however was when I started seeing pictures of the incredible variety in the animals you can find in the wild. Red phases, blue phases, striped phases, all evolving for whatever reason and existing an self sustaining wild populations. That is what makes them interesting to me. I wouldn't consider owning an albino T.s.sirtalis but the fact that there are wild populations of melanistics out there make them one of my favorite. I do own a pair of albino checkereds but that is only because I got them at a very cheap price. I was actually looking for a pair of Hets so I could have my "normal" looking garters but when they bred for me I would have some albino babies to offer my customers as well as the prettier normals. (does anyone know where I can get a female het checkered?)

Anyway, thats why I like the garters and why I am having such a hard time deciding to part with mine even though keeping them will mean some inconvenience and possibly eviction if found out.

Steve

[Cazador]

As you know, that's a really tough one to answer concisely because the answer might change from day to day. However:

- Their diversity is a huge factor.
- The fact that they're small allows you to keep more of them... you get to experience more of the variation first hand.
- They eat so many different foods, that they're easy to care for.
- Their activity levels are great, and it helps that they're active during the day.
- I really like how some of these little snakes come in with great big attitudes, but they soon calm down and seek out your company.
- I love the way some of them actually come to the glass and want to be taken out of their enclosures.
- I like that they're fairly cheap, so you can keep more of them.
- This is kind of strange, but it's nice that they don't live to be 25 years old. Again, you get to enjoy more of them.
- The live-birth issue is really cool from a physiological perspective, and it separates them from a lot of other snakes.
- I appreciate their incredible diversity. That lets you set up breeding programs to accentuate different traits over time. (I've been selectively breeding my T.s. concinnus to have brighter red heads).
- I like that they're small and not intimidating to my children. I'm not worried about them getting hurt by one, and at the same time, I can use them to teach my kids a lot about reptiles, ectotherms, hibernation, nutrition, life, death, and so much more.
- There are a lot of fascinating issues that one learns about when keeping any reptile, but garters seem to be good representatives for snakes, in general.

I'm sure there are a ton of other reasons, but those pop right to mind.

Rick

[rwgsnakes]

in plain english they're f**king awsome!!!

i was turned an to them becuase i can find them around here and because they dont need to eat mice so i can keep one as a pet

[abcat1993]

And their musk, boy does that smell good.

[Gyre]

There are so many great things to say about them, the real question for me is, "Why not a Garter?"

And keep in mind, this has been my opinion right along, even before I knew thay came in so many different colors! Six months ago, a Garter snake, to me, was black and yellow.

[drache]

They're so awake and curious

[GarterGuy]

They're active, alert......they're not a snake that you have to find it to show to people. They "look back" at you when you're looking at them. They're a smaller size, which makes things easier to set them up in nice dynamic enclosures. They've got some of the nicests colours and patterns, rivaling all those "designer" snakes out there and it took nothing more than good old mother nature. And finally, they're a snake that can pretty much be found anywhere, so even if you're stuck in suburbia or even in the cities, you've probably got garters around to appreciate in their natural surroundings. Over all they're just great snakes.
Roy

[adamanteus]

For me the attraction must be how active and inquisitive they are....always doing something. Plus all the other factors everyone else has already listed!

[Stefan-A]

They are indeed curious, active and alert. Everything needs to be inspected right away, just in case it's edible. The only drawback is the tendency to flee aimlessly when they get scared.

Most other snakes seem to be permanently stuck in slow motion once you've owned a garter snake.

[adamanteus]

Most other snakes seem to be permanently stuck in slow motion once you've owned a garter snake.

Except Cobras!!