New from Ohio

[WickedDragonLady]

Hello, My name is Amber. I recently got 2 baby albino checkered garters(suppose to be male and female but I have never sexed a snake before). They are def my fav kind of snake! I have owned many reptiles(chameleons, leopard geckos, crested geckos, pictus geckos, beardies, different kinds of dart frogs, tree frogs, etc..) Ive always been fond of kenyan sand boas as well as garters. I made the leap for garters mostly because they are fish/worm eaters vs rodents(It breaks my heart for the rodents lol). Anywho, just wanted to make a post on here to introduce myself . Glad to be here!

[Albert Clark]

Welcome to the forum Amber! Nice of you to be here. Were those albino checkereds purchased online or from pet shop?? Sexing baby snakes can be tricky. But it will be nice to see some pictures of them as soon as you can post them. Also just be aware to keep your snakes healthy and robust they will need to have rodent in their diet or at least a biweekly powdered vitamin supplement sprinkled onto their food. Fish and worms are not considered complete nutrition.

[Zdravko092368]

Welcome to the forum Amber! Nice of you to be here. Were those albino checkereds purchased online or from pet shop?? Sexing baby snakes can be tricky. But it will be nice to see some pictures of them as soon as you can post them. Also just be aware to keep your snakes healthy and robust they will need to have rodent in their diet or at least a biweekly powdered vitamin supplement sprinkled onto their food. Fish and worms are not considered complete nutrition.

Whole fish is complete nutrition, fish aren't a popular staple in the US but I believe they use them much more frequently in EU and don't have much problems.

The problem is people feeding unhealthy fish as a staple, like tilapia,goldfish or fillet fish which is not complete nutrition since it lacks the organs and bones.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you with us. Here's a link to the page care sheet. Ask all the question you might have.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet

[Albert Clark]

Whole fish is complete nutrition, fish aren't a popular staple in the US but I believe they use them much more frequently in EU and don't have much problems.

The problem is people feeding unhealthy fish as a staple, like tilapia,goldfish or fillet fish which is not complete nutrition since it lacks the organs and bones.

Yep! Whole fish, rats , and chickens and also whole rabbits are considered complete nutrition. Cut up fish is not. Worms or invertebrates are not. Thanks for the clarification.

[Tommytradix]

some "whole prey" is not complete nutrition. babies lack a lot of nutrition adults have.

[WickedDragonLady]

I got them from a local guy who said he got them from someone in NY. But im not sure. It dosnt matter to me either way what sex they are lol.. They both are right around 10 grams.
For those of you who keep your garters in snake racks, what size tubs do you keep babies, juvies, and then adults in?

Im trying to post pictures but its not letting me. It says new users have a limited number of URLs they can post

[Albert Clark]

I got them from a local guy who said he got them from someone in NY. But im not sure. It dosnt matter to me either way what sex they are lol.. They both are right around 10 grams.
For those of you who keep your garters in snake racks, what size tubs do you keep babies, juvies, and then adults in?

Im trying to post pictures but its not letting me. It says new users have a limited number of URLs they can post

Your choices are many but as long as you pay attention to the possibility of escapes with hatchlings and neonatal snakes you should be ok. I , personally use racks but all my hatchlings start out in flat plastic tubs that have double latches on the ends and air holes all around made with a soldering iron. Dimensions are 12 X 9.5 x 3.5. However sometimes I will use circular plastic bowls with snap on lids and air holes for certain individuals. The tubs are available at Home Depot or Lowes. Some of my tubs are stacking tubs that are 3 tubs high all with snap on lids and air holes. The tubs can then be placed into your rack tub and the animals will be secure. Some people use tanks which aren't as secure but will work.

[Tommytradix]

i keep my babies in 5 and 10 gallon tanks and keep them on carpet with a few plants and a hide. when they get bigger they go in 15qt tubs in my boaphile rhynoraxx. my adults are in 28qt and 32qt. i use 58qt tubs in a rack system as breeder tubs so the females have room to drag the males haha

[WickedDragonLady]

Awesome thanks everyone I have a rack that holds either 6 15qt tubs or 4 28qt tubs so I was curious to the sizes you guys use. I have my 2 in a tub that has lockable latches(has the same floor space as a 6qt). They ate a nice chunk of earth worm yesterday pretty readily.