my new garter!

[EasternGirl]

Yep...and if I remember correctly, you are in Iowa...I don't think there are easterns out there are there? They do have red-sideds though I believe. Steve would be the one to ask. But Chantel is correct...you are talking about two different subspecies...T.s.sirtalis and T.s.parietalis.

[Didymus20X6]

I looked it up once. There are Easterns in Iowa.

[EasternGirl]

Cool...I know they have a pretty wide range...I guess I just thought Steve would be finding more easterns! Lol... Well, it could be either one then, I guess....weren't we looking at pics and saying that it looked like one or the other?

[EasternGirl]

Okay...I'm looking back at the pics and it's another one of those snakes that looks like Chris's...looks like it could be an eastern, or a red-sided minus the red, or a radix...we are going to need more pics and we are going to need a close up pic of the side of the snake's face so that we can count the supralabial scales (we need to be able to see the side of the snake's mouth close up in a photo). Then we can tell you the subspecies of the snake.

[setfree]

DSC01197.jpgDSC01193.jpg these are a couple of pics that actually looked decent. And I have seen pictures of garters that look like this with red-sided/eastern garter snake below. Here is a link to one... Intergrade Eastern/Red-sided Garter Snake | Flickr - Photo Sharing! so let me know what you think please.

[kibakiba]

... Is it just me or does the intergrade just look like a normal redsided? Maybe it's my new pills but I'm not seeing it as any different from any other brown and red redsided.

[setfree]

there are just to many red-sided garter snake subspecies. I also saw pics of a eastern garter that looked like mine but the one that makes sense is the redsided/eastern garter. but thanks for your input!

[kibakiba]

It's the subspecies. Redsideds are "thamophis sirtalis parietalis", where easterns are "thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis" Since they can technically crossbreed, it's really possible... But redsideds (t. sirtalis parietalis) can look differently than one that someone else may have, as do some other species of garter snake. They can be high black, low black, high red or low to no red, and not to mention the other sorts of morphs that they can be. If that makes sense.


It's just way too hot here, it's frying my brain! Haha...

[setfree]

Hey thanks! that was surfacing on my mind but I wasn't sure. that explains a lot. thanks a lot!

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...the pic you showed on flicker...if someone actually has a snake that is truly an eastern red-sided garter...then that means that someone out there crossbred an eastern with a red-sided...which we highly frown upon in the garter snake community. If you found your snake in the wild, it shouldn't be a crossbreed. Like Chantel said...and I said before, you are talking about two different subspecies of snakes...an eastern garter, or a T.s.sirtalis, an a red-sided garter, or a T.s.parietalis. Your snake looks like a red-sided garter from your pics. It doesn't look like an eastern to me at all. I have two easterns...and they are my favorite garters. I have been studying them quite a bit. Easterns don't usually have the pattern or the coloring of your snake. Given the supralabial scale count and the colors...I would say red-sided, T.s.parietalis.