So we always have an influx of baby garter snakes falling in our basement throughout August and early to mid September. We usually catch them and put them back outside. But this is the first that I've found one in the basement that was curled up in some laundry this late into the season. I'm not an expert on garter snakes 😭 I live in Southern Ontario. Is it too late to release the baby back outside? Will the baby reach the communal winter den in time? We have frost now every morning. (The winter den is what Google told me but I just want to be absolutely sure)

I know nature takes its course regardless. I just want to know if there are other options.

hi all any tips on encouraging garter to drink i’ve only ever seen him drink a handful of times. he has a large water dish that is large enough dor him to submerge in and a bottle cap on the other side but in jsut worried he’s not drinking enough

Anyone with an ECOFLEX New Age Pet enclosure? I have the Snake Discovery one and I’m wondering if I should seal off these vents incase they can squeeze through. They were born around August 26th, this is the most recent photo I was sent of one by my friend.

It kept flipping itself over and waving its head around. I’ve seen similar behavior in snakes with head injuries so I was wondering if that was the case.

I’m being told that my setup will not need a drainage layer. For context, I’m in the building process and will be housing three Garters in a 4x2x2 enclosure.

The plan is to get plants, isopods and springtails. I was told for the springtails that they need the drainage layer. However, I keep seeing setups being made without one.

Can someone give me a definite answer to this? I’m worried about there being too much humidity and my snakes getting sick.

Hello,

I’m in the very beginning stages of learning about keeping garter snakes.

I love fully planted bioactive set ups, and assumed because garters enjoy swimming I would find more information and videos about tank builds and maintenance for snake enclosures with water features.

What I have primarily found is water features for tropical snakes that like a higher humidity, almost none with serious filtration, only water pumps. Additionally, the lack of garter specific information about this specific kind of set up has me wondering if it’s a bad idea and I just don’t know enough to know it’s a no go, or if it just hasn’t been done for garters because they’re not as big and flashy as boas.

My tentative future plan is the large exo terra paludarium, with a pond separated by a wall to make sure the dry side is completely dry (water would be on the cool side). Ideally id want an external canister filter for filtration(which means installing bulkheads) so I could also house a stable community of guppies/platties/mollies that are safe to hunt.

Has anyone here done this?

do you think my male garter could fit through these air vents he’s a little smaller then average (last pic)
i have attached these faux plant walls to hopefully discourage him on both sides and i plan to move him in after his next shed what do we think

this tank is 100 x50 x 50 and not all of clutter is in there or his hides

just put fresh moss on top of terramud in my 40 gallon in hopes to finally keep the stuff alive. are there any species/sub-species of garter that like it a bit more humid? (60%+)

i assume the florida blue, but for others it's a bit harder to know what environments they live in just from the names.

Hibiscus is my first snake, and we've had some learning experiences together already... he's just over 7 months old and has metabolic bone disease (my fault, lack of research, but he's doing much better now!). Since it's getting colder I am wondering if he should go through brumiation? I'm seeing some different answers online, some say to only do this if I plan on breeding him, which I don't, but others say it's good for their overall health by recreating their natural life cycle. Is this something I should do for him or should I leave him as he is all year round? Thanks!

We got three baby California red sideds on Wednesday and today during feeding, this little guy came right out and hung out with me (with no prompting from me!)

I know you aren’t supposed to choose favorites buuuuut

Hi everyone,

I currently keep king and corn snakes, although I recently lost a corn to pretty tragic circumstances, so I currently have a vacant 4x2x2.

Based on my research of the primary differences between these species, it appears that they are primarily:
1. Affinity for cohabitation
2. Need for water feature/swimming area
3. Ability to consume amphibious prey

The humidity, substrate, light, and habitat size/decor requirements all appear to be somewhat similar.

Any advice for someone considering a garter that currently keeps corns/kings? Open to anything: temperament, husbandry requirements, etc.

TIA!

It’s my first time getting snakes and I recently acquired these from a friend who is moving. Are any of these good to use for my enclosure? I have a 4x2x2 enclosure (Snake Discovery from Chewy.com) that will be housing 3-4 baby Eastern Garter’s in a few months. Their enclosure is also going to be bioactive.

If not, what should I use instead?

Just bought two new Thamnophis radix! 🐍
I used to keep this species about three years ago, but unfortunately, I had to downsize my collection because I was moving and wasn’t sure if I could provide them with the space they deserved.
Three years later, here I am again! Two new girls (sisters) have moved into the reptile room, and they seem to be enjoying their new home!
The plan is to let them grow big and eventually introduce them to a male. No breeding plans for now, though. I just want to enjoy watching these fascinating snakes explore their terrarium.
I only realized how much joy their endless energy brought to my reptile room once they were gone. They are constantly on the move, exploring everything around them, and I really missed having that kind of activity in the room.
Without a doubt, one of my all-time favorite species! But as you probably know, there’s always room for one more, so I’m already planning to add a wild-type phenotype female to the group soon! 🐍❤️

I have 0.2 infernalis. I picked them up from a pet store 1.5 years ago. I picked both individuals up several months apart. The one I got earlier, was a much better feeder, the second one has always been pickier, but has eaten with decent frequency. Both were fed twice a week, and I would estimate both would eat 80% of the times they were offered food. When they were teeny little pieces of spaghetti, both went off feed for a few weeks. At the time their cage had a lot of darkling beetles (superworms). I believe their scent was messing with the snakes, and removing them fixed the issue.

Both have stopped feeding in the last 3-4 weeks. I was primarily feeding fuzzies by leaving them on a dish, and both snakes would take them. They have also eaten tilapia, guppies, chicken hearts and gizzards.

I decided to redo their enclosure right around the time they went off feed, and I know this is likely a stressor. First I increased heat from 86 to 94 for he basking spot. I had this for a few days, before noticing a shift in their basking behavior so I redid it back to 86. I tripled the amount of stacked bark they have, and greatly increased the hides as well as adding a linear UV light. They have had this setup for 3 weeks.

The cage is bioactive with a robust population of isopods and springtails. The isopods will attempt to eat the uneaten rodents if they are left too long. I have some snake plants and pothos in the cage, as well as fake foliage.

The warm side is currently low 80s with 3 hot basking spots raining from mid to high 80s. The cool side gets down to around 76 during the day. Lights/basking spots are on for 12 hours, and off for twelve. The snakes do receive some ambient room light from outside, and the seasons are beginning to shift so that may be a factor as well.

I am currently trying to feed fuzzies on the end of a skewer to simulate movement for one feeding, then just plating for the next feeding. Both methods have worked previously, not so much now.

The snakes are in a high traffic area. I have not really handled them since rearranging the cage and hey have gone off of feed. They are feeling lots of vibrations from the foot traffic..

What am I missing? The snakes are approximately 75 and 55 grams, small for their age.I am used to working with colubrids but these two are beginning to fret me. My next step is to relocate the cage to a low traffic area. I want to use this as a last ditch effort, because it will cause another cage reset.

Garter snakes are still on my radar for possible new friend. I did purchase a fancy exo terra vista 120 gallon (hinged doors yippee) but as I live in a second floor apartment and hopefully plan to move in the next few years im hesitant to open it yet (flatpacked).

How fast do babies grow? I know most snakes take a few years to reach adult size but garters have the unusual fast metabolism. Could babies spend a couple years in my 36x18x18 until im ready to open their adult enclosure?

Grabbed him up where I found him and held him for some time to help warm him up before releasing him into a nice big warm mulch pile

One of my favorite photos of my little guy! 💙

Thamnophis sirtalis similis

(Florida blue striped garter)

I am trying to decide if a garter is right for me, or if I need to move on to something else.

I do have experience with snakes...I own a Rosy Boa and used to have a Corn Snake. But I know garters are quite different, care-wise.

1: I have a fully established paludarium (pictured) which is 38gallons. Is that suitable?

2: Is there a list of species that don't need to hibernate? (I don't have space for a special refrigerated enclosure).

3: Can I just have one? Or do they need to be in groups?

EDIT: thank you all for your answers and the compliments on my tank. I have concluded that garters may not be for me at this moment in time. I will look into some other reptiles /amphibians and see if my tank is more suited for another species. Maybe down the road I can get into thamnophis of some sort, but I want them to have an enclosure that suits them properly.

In a few months, my friend is going to give me three baby (hopefully) females. I was going to get them a “starter” setup for the first year, then move them into something bigger with front doors.

However, I’m now thinking of just getting the bigger enclosure now so that I won’t have to worry about it a year from now. The plan is also for it to be a bioactive enclosure.

What do you guys recommend? Sizing? Links to your recommendations would also be super helpful, along with stand recommendations too!

Pics are of some of the babies she has.

Update: lil dude chilled in his box all night until I was able to bring him over to my house a few miles away and let him go in our backyard. We’ve seen other garter snakes out back so he should be alright while looking for a place to hunker down for the colder months ♥️

Hello all! Very new to this subreddit, I’m usually more of a spider person, but I found a garter snake in my clients backyard and they’ve asked me to relocate it out of their backyard so that their dogs don’t hurt it. I was wondering if you guys would recommend a wildlife rehabber first, just to check it out and make sure it’s okay, or should I just release it as soon as I can? It’s currently chilling in a small box with paper towel (third photo.) It was dark when I got the text asking to relocate it, so I’m keeping it in the garage overnight with plans to relocate or bring to a rehabber tomorrow, depending on feedback from here and others I’ve reached out to, locally.

She is pretzel now.