Natural Viv Almost Done!!

[chris-uk]

Very nice. I'd like to find the time to build something similar for some of my garters.

Regarding sand - in water it behaves differently, so the scale/eye iritation should be a non-issue. I also find it hard to believe that sand is so bad considering that the natural habitat for many garters will be sandy soils and even desert regions. As Didymus pointed out above, all substrates have some drawback or another, but if you're considering the sort of ground my marcianus and cyrtopsis would naturally inhabit sand may be a more natural choice than aspen.

[Pottifer]

Well it's not like I just decided to throw some snakes in there haha.. I did a lot of research and of course I'll be monitoring them when they go in. I've kept many many reptiles/amphibians in my life and I know what needs to be done to keep them safe and happy. I've bred corn snakes and my brother even bred some checkered garters for awhile. I promise the little snakies won't be in any trouble. As for the sand, I'll watch them closely and make sure it's not a problem, and it's only in the water. I want to thank you all for your concerns and comments, keep them coming please! If it doesn't work out it's ok, I haven't put too much money into it so far. I have a warm and cool hide both in the tank now. The warm hide is actually a pvc pipe that I have hidden in the background of the tank with a heat strip that's on the back of the tank (outside). I have it connected to a temperature controller so that it doesn't get too hot. I've read a lot of people have a different range of temps they like so I'll just have to test what they like the most and keeps them active . Anyways I'm typing too much now. Thanks again everyone!!

Drew

[d_virginiana]

If you plan on leaving the sand in the water feature, you may not want to leave fish in there (I think you mentioned that?). IMO it just wouldn't be worth the risk of the snake ingesting the sand when it goes after the fish. Mine used to eat fish, and we would feed them in a fairly deep bowl, and he often would pin them on the bottom before taking them out to eat them...
Just keep an eye on humidity. If it gets too humid or the substrate gets moist, it can cause scale-rot and irritation.

One more thing about keeping fish with your garters... They're going to end up being feeders, which I'm sure you know But there are a lot of fish which can be toxic to garters, so you'll want to check out the safe-fish list on the forum.

[guidofatherof5]

The safe fish list can be found on the care sheet. Here's a link.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet