Love PNW garter snakes!

The humidity is always around 80% here and temperature around 30C during the day.

I won’t be adding a heat lamp and will be using aspen bedding to try to lower the humidity, but are there any other things I should do to optimise this?

I’m also planning to add a big water bowl and some cooler rocks to help lower the temperature and encourage natural behaviours. Gave up on an bioactive enclosure since that will keep humidity high.

Hey y’all, I’ve got a wandering garter snake named Coatl that I saved from my cat, my fiancé wants to get a captive bred valley garter snake. At the moment I have him in a 10 gallon tank since he’s small, I have great temperature control and he loves exploring. I’m wondering what are good options for tanks. I looked at petsmart tanks, but people online say they’re pretty cheaply made and the doors fall off. I’m looking for at least a 20 gallon long that has front open doors. Thank you!

I am planning to purchase a garter snake for my first snake and I've researched a good bit in terms of care and whatnot, but i overlooked the habitat and went out and bought a 20 gallon tank. I am planning to buy an adult to keep long term but am being told i need a 40 gallon tank at minimum. Should i buy a baby and upgrade the tank later down the line, or can i make it work?

😁

My pregnant albino 6 yo female, her (maybe) pregnant normal 3-4 yo roommate, some of the 6yo's last clutter I sold a couple weeks ago, 2 gay lovers (this is a joke but they do cuddle often), and my 8 month old het albino duo.

I adore these lil dummies. The females are currently in a 45 gallon birthing tank because they should only have like 4-5 weeks left before popping. But usually the 4 adults all hang out in a massive 250 gallon bioactive tank (males still hanging in there) with a water feature and tons of flat rocks and a massive hollowed out oak log. The 2 babies are in a 20 gallon with a water feature but are getting upgraded soon because the female is starting to outgrow the 20.

I'm a firm believer in cohousing this species. Literally the only thing you gotta make sure is that you keep an eye on them during feeding time because the males are little gluttons and I watched my 3 year old male scarf down 12 minnows one day before the female got a chance to wake up 😂. Otherwise they spend most of the day hanging out and I've even seen the males stroke the females when they get super uncomfortable late in pregnancy. One male even would stand guard at the entrance of one of the hides while the normal female hid deeper inside and when I tickled him he twitched, she bolted, he waited and then hid in the hide as well. Not sure if it's what I think that was but it was definitely a cool experience. If ya got the space there is absolutely no reason to keep them alone. I won't even sell one of my babies to someone if they don't have at least plans of buying another garter to keep them company.

Saw this guy in the parking lot sunbathing on break.Said hey, put em back in the flowers afterwards, pretty cool. Second time this one has come out to say Hi.

Happy snake day. Only a day late.

Is this a Gardner snake shed?

i've had my garter for over a year now, he is wild and yes i am aware that's frowned upon but he was very injured when i found him as a baby and is extremely healthy and docile. but im wondering what i should add into his tank, i have a pool and hides already but it seems so empty to me still atleast vertically but i dont want to spend a million dollars on a tank background. this is my enclosure now for reference, everything's fine i just want some ideas for decoration or maybe something im missing enclosure wise since he is a wild snake.

Hey, I found this gorgeous lil baby this evening and was wondering if it's a Butlers or Eastern garter? What are the best ways to be able to identify between them?

Definitely one of the prettiest garters I've found. The orange and yellow were so bright and the belly had a stunning iridescent shine!

Was pretty chill, no striking or biting but did shit all over me 😅 garter's be garterin'

Also, anyone in Southern Ontario who enjoys herping, please feel welcomed to connect wirh me because I would love more reptile and nature loving friends! 🐍💚

Have you seen these before? Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi!💙💙💙 they are absolutely striking! Might be my favorite garter.

Hey all,

I have been doing a lot of research on garters. I love their inquisitive personality and activeness. My question for you all is what would be a good place to start in terms of enclosure size, how many, diet and how to safety handle these little guys.

Anything help so if your not sure just comment! Thank you all in advance for the replies.

So I’ll hopefully finally be upgrading my year old Plains Garter Snake (Male) to a bigger enclosure, one that is front opening as well (So long as everything goes well, I’m getting it off of Facebook marketplace).

It’s going to be a 40 gallon enclosure. I will upgrade him to something larger eventually, especially since I plan to get another garter at some point, but since it might be a while until then, I want to go all out with things. He’s already in a bioactive, but for a while I’ve been a little unhappy with the fact that a generally midwestern snake has been living with more tropical plants (Pothos, Prayer Plants, and others). Just a weird nitpick that I want to change with this new enclosure. I think you should be having fun owning reptiles, and I think it would be plenty fun to have an enclosure consisting of plants native to where Plains Garter Snakes are from. I don’t really care if it’s effectively the same as tropical plants, I just think it would be neat.

I know I have to take into consideration the size of the enclosure, and what plants can handle certain conditions. I would like any suggestions for what plants could possibly go in here! I’ll be looking into multiple methods for growing them, such as direct sowing, growing from seed and transplanting when larger, store bought plants, etc., though I will be letting them, and the isopods/springtails, establish themselves for a while before the snake is added.

Right now, I’m considering Slender Yellow Woodsorrels, which I’d take care to trim excessive growth/seed pods to make sure things stay in order. I’m also looking into coneflowers, maybe some kind of fern, and perhaps if I’m feeling very experimental, alpine strawberries (I already have seedlings). I still have to do more research.

I don’t totally care about practicality or the fact that tropical plants work just as well. There’s no fun in sticking to the norm all the time.

I’m so jealous lol My parents new house has a whole rock/desert vibe out front, the prior owners were from AZ. Because of this it’s become a whole ecosystem with some cool new friends 😆 They are seriously under appreciated by her but I’ve been able to encourage her to send me pics at least.
One is a garter snake that is definitely earning its keep because it’s freakin huge now. The back yard pushes up against a small forested area which brings a bunch of mice and I think it’s been a buffet for this snake 😄 Here’s some of the pictures she’s sent, newest to oldest, plus bonus pics of a cool lizard that came by a few times.

Will such a terrarium be suitable for three Thamnopis siritalis infernalis babies?

My Husband woke up this morning to use the bathroom, switched on our light, and felt something strange.
I was in the bedroom not far off, and heard the poor guy yelping for me.
This lil guy/gal was just chillin out on our bathroom nightlight!
Barely moved a muscle when it had me and him checking it out.
It is so chill.
I am not unfamiliar with snakes, I grew up catching them as a kid.
I know for sure this is a juvenile Garter, I just don't know what it's exact species is.
We are up in Northeastern Ohio.

I tried counting his/her upper labial scales and it is just a hard tell for me.
I am inbetween the species of Northeastern, Western, or common.
Also struggling to know for sure if it is a male or female.
The tail seems like a male?

Any help would be awesome!

Hungry culprit on slide two. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten a snake bite it was far less painful then I thought it would be. scared him when I poked him to see if he was alive cause he was lying in his tank all weird and lifeless and it freaked me out (he is an old boy so there’s always the possibility)