Wild Caught Western Terrestrial

[Brian Hubbs]

I feed 2 or 3 worms in succession. My substrate is pine shavings, but the same problem will occur. Try putting her in a small hide box (cereal box) and putting the worm inside, away from the shavings. That's what I do.

[Lori P]

They really do love to burrow... and I didn't want to take that away from mine, either. I switched to a bedding called Care Fresh, which is a paper pulp type... it safely passes through them if they ingest it. You might be able to try feeding her in another enclosure... see how she reacts... and decide about the bedding from there. In my mind, snakes in the wild are naturally going to swallow a bit of debris... and can usually handle it. But of course, they aren't stuck on wood shavings in the wild, either, I do realize. :-)

[Elliot]

I feed 2 or 3 worms in succession. My substrate is pine shavings, but the same problem will occur. Try putting her in a small hide box (cereal box) and putting the worm inside, away from the shavings. That's what I do.

Pine shavings can be toxic to your snake. I would change your bedding.

[Brian Hubbs]

I wasn't aware of that. I know Cedar shavings are toxic, but in over 25 years of keeping snakes I've never had a problem with pine shavings affecting health. anyone know more about this? Is it just a garter problem? Is it really a problem at all?

[Elliot]

It may be a rumor, but I've heard quite a few people say bad things about it. I don't have any first hand experience though so I could definately be wrong.

[ssssnakeluvr]

definitely a radix.... colorado has t e vagrans (wandering garters), not western terrestrials. thats definitely a nice looking one!!!

[ssssnakeluvr]

Definitely a Western Plains. Here's a pic of mine:



I know, you're probably wondering what a kingsnake guy is doing on a garter snake forum. Well, I just wanted to show off my Western Plains. heh heh

It's nice to be here.

that's friggin sweeet!!!!!!!!!! where can I get a pair like that?!?!?!?!?!

[Brian Hubbs]

I'm not allowed to reveal the locality or even the state , but I can say this...they don't all look that good from that area. This one was exceptional. Hence the reason I finally decided to add a garter to my collection. I have 44 snakes, and only 3 are non-kingsnakes.

[Lori P]

I wasn't aware of that. I know Cedar shavings are toxic, but in over 25 years of keeping snakes I've never had a problem with pine shavings affecting health. anyone know more about this? Is it just a garter problem? Is it really a problem at all?

Good catch, Elliot! I've also always been told not to use pine for snakes. Pine oils are apparently also a problem. But again, I have no "proof"; just what I've read and been told. Aspen seems to be the wood bedding of choice. But Brian, if you've never had a problem, it's your choice. :-)

[Garter_Gertie]

I'm not allowed to reveal the locality or even the state , but I can say this...they don't all look that good from that area. This one was exceptional. Hence the reason I finally decided to add a garter to my collection. I have 44 snakes, and only 3 are non-kingsnakes.

Gosh that's spooky. How did you come to have the snake?