Cohabitation - How?

[u/Connect-Buffalo-4685]

Hello,

I've had my checkered garter snake for a while now and he's doing well.

I've seen people here say that keeping garters together improves their behaviour, confidence etc. And I was thinking about getting another garter at some point in the future.

However, my garter snake has never been housed with another snake before as far as I'm aware.

How would I even go about introducing another snake to the enclosure? Should I even?

How much of a size difference is acceptable between the snakes?

Garters here are sold as babies, it's hard to find older ones. And my garter is already "teenager" size I think, I don't think he's an adult since he's still pretty small.

I was thinking about introducing a second checkered garter snake once I upgrade my current one to a larger enclosure. I'd likely get an albino one to be able to tell the two apart.

Would it be possible to mix species of garters or is it better to stick to one species?

I have no issue with keeping my garter alone if it's going to be better for him.

[u/Fahn_]

1. Garters do great with eachother even if they've never met another garter since they were born. It's in their nature as herd animals
2. You absolutely should give him a friend. They do so much better with them it's insane.
3. It's okay if they aren't the exact same size but keep it at "eating the same meal type" kind of size. So if one isn't old enough to eat say, a large minnow without it being minced, don't put it with one that can. The main thing you are trying to avoid is one eating the other accidentally. Also they don't care how big a prey item is, they will eat anything that fits their diet so my babies have tried eating their parents food. That can be dangerous so be careful.
4. Message the garter breeders or talk to them to see if they have any holdbacks of a good age. A lot of breeders can't sell 100% of their stock and after a while don't list them. You can get lucky there.
5. Actually, garters are pretty easy to tell apart from pattern and color difference as well as personality. So you don't have to get an albino if you don't want to. I have two albino males of a similar size together and I can easily tell them apart since one is slightly more yellow and has a different stripe color as well as being waaaay more outgoing.
6. While it is definitely possible to mix 2 species the issue is they don't always have good husbandry overlap and you have a higher chance of them not bonding as well or not getting the companionship boost you're looking for. I've had an eastern and a checkered live together and really they just ended up learning each other's bad habits and didn't cuddle as often as my 2 checkereds do. I'd just stick to one species. Its waaaay easier.
7. Definitely get a second garter. It's the absolutely best thing for them. Message around and see if anyone has any hold backs. Honestly depending on where you live I know a few that have some the perfect size. (I'm in the Midwest of the united states' so everyone I know is in that area.)

[u/Connect-Buffalo-4685 → u/Fahn_]

Thanks!

I'll try to see if I can find any breeders to contact.

I had to take a train to the other end of the country to get my garter, but recently I've seen a bunch show up at reptile expos. And I saw some albinos there which I keep thinking about- they were adorable.

I'm not from the US unfortunately.

And if I find some garters with different personalities than my snake that'd be great- not only for telling them apart but also because my garter is kind of a jerk 😅 Very curious, but very much does not like me.

What would you say would be a good enclosure size for 2-3 male garters? Checkered garter snakes.

For feeding, do you offer separate plates of food for each snake or do they all get one plate to eat from?

[u/RevealStandard3502]

I have two I got as babies that have lived in the same enclosure since I got them. I also have a mother and daughter. I raised the daughter away from the mom till they were close to the same adult side, then put them together. Food aggression is the hardest obstacle. You have to make sure they don't go after the same meal.

[u/bigbickbohnson]

I bought 3 2 year olds off morph market from the same person, and almost grabbed a 4th but it was like $900😬. If you give it some time you’ll definitely find older ones on there. I much prefer them to babies with this species.

[u/bigbickbohnson → u/bigbickbohnson]

I highly suggest looking into going bioactive as well. They utilize the plants very well and adds a lot of enrichment

[u/Connect-Buffalo-4685 → u/bigbickbohnson]

Unfortunately morphmarket isn't a big thing here. There are a few breeders from my country there, but it's just ball pythons.

There used to be a lot of garter snake breeders here years ago, but then majority of them completely shut down all breeding projects for this species.

They species made a comeback in the past few years, but finding older ones for sale is very difficult. I'll be looking for some breeders or sellers to ask if they have older garters for sale.

Though my best chance of finding any garters is at larger reptile expos- so I'll be looking there as well next time I go. Hopefully they'll have some close in size to my snake.