wild baby albino garter snake care advice

[guidofatherof5]

Beautiful little one. Thanks for taking it in as this is the best way to rejuvenate the albino line.

[Tommytradix]

Looks like a (T+ positive) albino Northwestern to me. There have been 2 other albino Northwestern found but both were T-negative. Great find!

[Eddie]

Nice find!! Good luck with it!!

[guidofatherof5]

Slugs become even more important now for this little one.

[user]

Slugs become even more important now for this little one.

I read that slugs and worms are the Northwesterns proffered diet. Tonight I will go hunt for a slug. If I can find one I will chop it up and offer it along side some chopped worm in its cage overnight tonight. I've had experience with various reptiles but its been a while and never garter snakes. I've read that they are somewhat easy to care for but that the Northwestern can actually be hard to care for compared to the others. How long can it go without eating before I should start worrying? Is there anything I should know about baby garter snakes or Northwestern care specifically?

I do wish I had a better heating pad because this one turns off every like 15 minutes. That will get here on Sunday or Monday though. Right now the coldest looks to be about 76f and the hottest 86f. When I'm asleep I cannot turn it on for about 6-9 hours but I keep my heater on which keeps it above 75 usually. It is fall here and it's pretty chilly all the time so I think if it can survive outside in 55f weather then it can survive in my room overnight. But yeah any info is appreciated.

Nice find!! Good luck with it!!

Thank you. Hopefully the little guy grows up big and strong.

Looks like a (T+ positive) albino Northwestern to me. There have been 2 other albino Northwestern found but both were T-negative. Great find!

Thank you for the identification! I think it may be a Northwestern as well. Any other opinions are welcome too.

Beautiful little one. Thanks for taking it in as this is the best way to rejuvenate the albino line.

Thanks yeah it is very beautiful, I can't believe my brother found it. He almost stepped on it! Could you imagine that! I'd rather not lol.

EDIT: Also your vid from 2013 of you feeding that wild garter in the side of your house is awesome. I've never seen anyone feed wild snakes before.

[guidofatherof5]

These are cold hardy snakes. I don't think heat is a major factor at this point. You can certainly offer the heat but I would also offer multiple hides and let the snake decide what it wants. You should be able to find some small slugs so you won't have to cut them up. There again a goulash of worms and slugs would be good. Best of luck and please keep us post on this wonderful little Tham.

[user]

IT ATE A SMALL SLUG! OH MY GAWD! SO HAPPY!

Just wow. The little snake was sniffing around its cage so I figured I'd offer a slug I had just secured (1 of 3, very easy to find once you know where to look, under trash cans lol). I tried a putting it near it's face, no luck. Tried tapping its face, no luck. It was tongue flicking more than before though so after a while and trying putting it on the rock in the water dish I just put it on the ground and watched the snake continue to sniff around, it started going away from the slug, but then it turned around and went near it again. At this point I suspected the snake may be interested in the food, so I took my tweezers (i need to get some pro tongs like you guys) and put them behind the slug and shook them just a tiny tiny bit very quickly and the snake honed right in on those, came towards them, bumped into the slug and paused for a moment, then mowed down on that mofo.

SO HAPPY!

I have 2 more so I will offer at least one more tonight. SO STOKED IT ATE MAN NOW AT LEAST IT WONT DIE OF STARVATION WOOT WOOT!

I will post some more pics and keep you guys updated.

EDIT: thanks for recommending small slugs!

[guidofatherof5]

That is great. Nice work. Don't overfeed, a nice little bulge in the belly is good. Maybe offer a small dish of slug/earthworm goulash at night before bed. These guys hunt at night. You may be surprised to find a clean plate in the morning. Earthworms are the pale looking little worms you find in the leaf clutter and just below the soil surface. Be sure to collect worms in a safe area. No fertilizer or herbicides.
I love my radixes but ordinoides is my 2nd favorite garter.

[user]

Do you know how often to feed a baby Northwestern? I have read to feed once every 3-4 days, but I've also heard once every other day up to once a day, and none of that aimed specifically at the Northwestern.

I will be conscious of where I collect it's food, that is smart. It wasn't interested in another slug but it is a very little snake. Right now it's under it's hide on the heater side which is the side it prefers so far.

Now I will ask non essential questions. Feel free answer or ignore them

What about radixes makes them your favorite? What about ordinoides makes them your second favorite? And by any chance would you know what the word ordinoides actually means? I read that radix means root in Latin so the full name for Plains Garters in Latin would translate to like Shrub Serpent Root or something lol. Plains garters are beautiful btw, I didn't even know they existed before.

Another user here prefers concinnus to ordinoides because of their personality differences which I find really interesting.

[user]

Another question I am wondering is how rare is it to find a wild albino garter snake? I love catching snakes and have done so quite a bit, but have never seen a wild albino anything.

My brother found this one just down the road on the sidewalk by a community garden in the park while walking home so he brought it back in his shoe because he was not sure if it was poisonous (lol). If there is albino in the gene pool down there I may have to try and catch another Northwestern at some point. Apparently when he was a kid he found a white gopher snake with some black patterning or speckling. Lucky ******* wtf.