Puget Sound or Ordinoides?

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, fe1dman

[bkhuff1s]

Looks very similar in color/appearance to about six of mine. I have a completely blue one as well.

[ConcinusMan]

Like shannon was saying, the head gives it away as a sirtalis. Ordinoides have very small, short heads for the size of their body, and sometimes "squarish" noses. Ordinoides head is not offset from the body when compared to sirtalis, and it sometimes gives the impression of having no neck.

More pugetsthamnophis sirtalis pickeringii)

These are pretty much the same color and pattern as your puget. Many people get the impression that pugets are blue. The reality is, most of them look more like these guys and sometimes they even have red spots on their sides. In the wild, intense blue pugets tend to come from a relatively small area confined to the southernmost portion of the Puget Sound and they represent only a small portion of all pugets.

[fe1dman]

Well, it definitely looks like I have me some Puget Sound garters. Thanks for all the help!

[ConcinusMan]

No problem. You have one of the finest garters anyone can own. Western T. sirtalis subspecies such as infernalis, concinnus, pickeringii are great. Get that little guy eating pinky parts and he'll grow like there's no tomorrow.