Hello from Oregon

[guidofatherof5]

Very beautiful snake. Thanks for sharing.

[Flicker]

I assume by WC you mean wild capture - and yes, she is. I found her while walking during lunch at work, on the Fanno Creek Trail about 9/08. I think she was new born or not much older as she was only the size of a large worm and quite easy to catch.

She grew a lot the first year, but the second it seems to have slowed significantly. Those pictures are probably about 6 months old, but she's only grown fractions of an inch since they were taken.

I agree - I think she's awesome. I'd never seen a snake with this coloration before, but since I've seen the pictures of Cocinnius man's snakes, he appears to have one with similar coloration - so maybe it's not as unusual as I thought.

She's pretty mellow and always curious about what's going on. She'll check things out if I put my hand in her tank and most of the time I can pick her up without her freaking out... it's just once in a while, if I'm too clumsy at catching her or there's too much activity in the room, she gets upset and musks... or maybe it's just the wrong time of year and she's freaky cause she's close to moulting or something... I dunno - but I changed her paper towels this morning, and she let me pick her up twice and she didn't even freak out at all - was very mellow the whole time. But she never seems to actually enjoy being picked up and always seems to be looking for her cage and not terribly content until I put her back in it.

I feel lucky that she's never ever been bitey... well, except when I used to hand feed her some, she would go for my fingers - but it was clearly because she couldn't tell where food began and ended.

I looked again at the charts describing males/female tails... and I'm still pretty certain she's a girl. she has a long skinny very tapered tail.

[ConcinusMan]

She's still pretty small - dunno if that's from me not feeding her enough, not feeding her pinkies, or just normal for her age.

Isn't she soooooooo cute? And pretty? I don't handle her much though so she does kinda freak a bit and will sometimes musk when I pick her up.

Northwesterns don't get very big. Adults average around 18 inches but old females can get up to around 30 inches at the most. In contrast, 18 inches is just a baby for a T.s. concinnus and many other garters. Northwesterns are one of the smallest garters out there. If he's at least 12 inches, he's an adult and ready to breed. I've seen them breeding in the wild even smaller than that but small females usually don't produce many offspring. Perhaps 2-5 babies. Every northwestern I've ever bred had small litters, around 10 babies at the most. But make no mistake, your guy is an adult of breeding age.

[Flicker]

Yes, he's at least 12 inches. I can tell that by his shed skins, which I have kept. ^_^

By the shed, he's about 15 inches. But how big is your girl????

[ConcinusMan]

Oh shoot, i haven't measured her lately. BTW, skins are no accurate way to measure a snake. They can shrink, and they can get stretched during the shedding process. However, I use a computer program to track growth progress and I use it every time my snake sheds, keeping records of shed dates and growth progress.

Try this instead. It's as accurate as can be, and doesn't require cooperation from your snake. Be sure to follow instructions carefully. Download the snake measuring app. It's great.

Apps

[Jlkelly88]

Welcome! I used to live in Tigard. =)

[Flicker]

I've never actually lived in Tigard, I just used to work there. I live practically in the middle of downtown Ptown now. But I like it. Makes biking easier and close to things to do - and awesome neighborhood.

[ConcinusMan]

If anyone travels to NW Oregon, just take an hour or two to visit the city center of Portland. You'll be impressed for sure. I've seen many cities in Washington, Oregon, and California, smaller and larger than Portland. None have been so clean, vibrant and pleasant as Portland, that's for sure. It's really something special. I have some videos I'd like to share of Portland. Give me a day to get them on youtube.

[ConcinusMan]

OK, it happened faster than I thought it would. Here's a short stroll through downtown Portland, Oregon: