Help getting temps right for Checkered Garter

[ObsidianDragon]

Another suggestion--get some eco earth or something in there rather than the reptile carpet. My little checkered loooves to dig. That plus some fake plants might help her out a lot!

[Rushthezeppelin]

Definitely going to look into some fake plants to lush up her home a bit. She was in a good mood today to be handled (plus she wasn't full like the other night) so I managed some photos.

559138BE-E312-435C-A27C-C6CEE11963E3.jpg6253A0B0-43B4-4838-95C0-E99B56294C13.jpgE42D04F7-A07A-40CA-98D5-C1844C23132B.jpg

Shes (I figure yall can confirm that for me based off these pics) absolutely beautiful and doesn't have a single scar on her as far as can tell, prolly pretty impressive if she is a yearling.

She's been eating mostly live guppies and mosquitofish with some worms mixed in. Going to have to try soon to get her on F/T stuff but it might be a bit till I can pull that off as she usually likes her privacy while eating (at least with fish, she's a little more of a gogetter with earthworms) so I wouldn't be able to induce movement for her.

[d_virginiana]

I'm glad she seems to have adjusted to captivity so well! If she's eating other foods, it's good to get her off guppies/mosquito fish as soon as possible. They can be excellent to get them started eating, but the ones sold at petstores are kept in unsanitary conditions and often have parasites that can be transmitted to the snake (not as much of an issue if you're raising your own).

[Rushthezeppelin]

I'm glad she seems to have adjusted to captivity so well! If she's eating other foods, it's good to get her off guppies/mosquito fish as soon as possible. They can be excellent to get them started eating, but the ones sold at petstores are kept in unsanitary conditions and often have parasites that can be transmitted to the snake (not as much of an issue if you're raising your own).

The guppies came from a friend who has had them for years and keeps them super clean. These were some offspring of her main momma fish. The mosquitos were from a high end aquarium store that mostly focuses on saltwater and as far as I could tell were kept in good conditions (not sure if they bred them or not though). Still best to get to pinkies if possible I know so that I can still get some complete nutrition without risk of parasites. Is she big enough to take a whole pinky down or would I have to part it out for her?

[d_virginiana]

The guppies came from a friend who has had them for years and keeps them super clean. These were some offspring of her main momma fish. The mosquitos were from a high end aquarium store that mostly focuses on saltwater and as far as I could tell were kept in good conditions (not sure if they bred them or not though). Still best to get to pinkies if possible I know so that I can still get some complete nutrition without risk of parasites. Is she big enough to take a whole pinky down or would I have to part it out for her?

That should be fine then. The main parasite risk is when you get feeders from chain petstores.

I personally keep cutting pinkies up for mine long after they could take a whole one, so that's what I'd recommend When in doubt I think it's always better to feed them smaller bites than larger.

[Tommytradix]

mix worms with whatever you want her to eat. she seems to like them alot so it will work

[Albert Clark]

Beautiful checkered girl. Looks to be in great shape.

[Rushthezeppelin]

Well, have the vivarium much more filled out now.
CBE27473-E668-4C98-9B02-02011ACD3045.jpg6CB1B448-3AF9-4C25-9049-56826C827B68.jpg
Her dish is kinda off in the back left corner now, might rearrange that to be less secluded but I'm sure she will love it. Still left her basking area mostly clear, makes sense that hot be sunny and shade be cool.

The more I'm looking at pictures and videos of other peoples stuff the more I want to basically make a wood framed vivarium that would have hinged front doors like the exoterras. I also want to make one of those waterfalls that somebody had.

[d_virginiana]

Setup looks good I like how you actually bothered to organize the decor. Other than putting in hides, I pretty much just throw fake plants on the cage floor and tell mine to pretend it's leaf litter lol.

[Rushthezeppelin]

Setup looks good I like how you actually bothered to organize the decor. Other than putting in hides, I pretty much just throw fake plants on the cage floor and tell mine to pretend it's leaf litter lol.

Just trying to make her feel as comfy as possible I guess. I wish she was bigger already as I really want to build a nice larger vivarium for her but from what I understand it's good not to go too big on an enclosure. Hopefully she grows fast and I get an excuse to do some woodworking lol.