Gretchen: Black-Necked Garter (Freshly Shed)

She's 30g now, and violently attacks small fuzzies whenever they're offered. This girl is unreal. I think these are at the top of my list for best-looking snakes. There may be a few others that tie for the spot, but I love these guys. The male looks as good, if not a little better, but he's smaller, muskier, and not as easy to handle. So I don't post as many pics of him.

The only negative thing I have to say about them is that their ventrals are kind of boring. But with a dorsal surface and face like these guys have, it can be overlooked.

I've made the tough decision that I'm not going to branch out into any other garter types anytime soon. But since these are my favorite garters, and I've had so much fun raising the pair I have, I'm buying another pair from Joanna Duby (jodu) later in the year.

wow!!! awesome i love the pattern and colors! how long is she aprroximately?

Beautiful snake!

Wow! She is looking great! Sounds like her brother takes after Dad!
At the rate she is growing you might be able to breed her next year. Don't worry about the male's size. They are used to being dwarfed by the females!

tstephe3 said:

wow!!! awesome i love the pattern and colors! how long is she aprroximately?

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Thanks. I really have no clue how long she is-- 16 inches maybe? She's stocky.

dpreston66 said:

Beautiful snake!

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Thank you.

jodu said:

Wow! She is looking great! Sounds like her brother takes after Dad!
At the rate she is growing you might be able to breed her next year. Don't worry about the male's size. They are used to being dwarfed by the females!

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Thanks Joanna. Yeah, she's not so fond of being handled, but her brother likes it much, much less even. But he should be shedding any day now, so I will post an update on him after he does.

It would be cool to breed them next year. I'd love to peek into a tub and see a mess o' baby black-neckeds cruising around.

WOW...bi-colored tongue of joy!

She is so beautiful!

(Great tongue shots )

They are definately fascinating little creatures. Growing up in Ohio we just had plain ol' garters so it wasn't until the last year or so that I realized how many fascinating morphs/locale specifics were available. I have been seriously considering branching into some variety of garter at some point. Who knows - maybe I will finally break down and get some at Daytona this year.

She is a beautiful snake Dean - I can easily see why you would be enamoured of her.
Looking forward to updates of her future mate!

She is just lovely Dean!
I wish I had room to branch out..........

Those are the little "spine protector" guys! Something about the head shape (fairly triangular) and the little bit of overhang above the eyes gives them a very sinister look.

Beautiful!

Thanks folks.

Got my first bite from one of these tonight. I usually feed them every 6 or 7 days, but their last meals were on the large size and I've been busy, so tonight was night 8 from their last feeding. So they were a little frenzied anyway. The male gave me his usual musking. But when I opened the female's tub, she flew out and I just caught her. After I knew I had a grip on her, I turned my attention to changing out her tub accessories, and I felt a scratching sensation on my knuckle. I looked, and there she was chewing on my finger. I don't know if it was aggression or feeding response. Hard to say. But I had to laugh... :laugh:

They really don't like being handled. My love for them is not reciprocated. I'd recommend them as a pet for a hundred reasons, but not if you're looking for a "chill", hang-out snake. But boy do they love to eat. Only my older Hondo milk and my FL king can match them for feeding response.

very nice snake!

I love it when you don't actually realize you're being bitten until you see it. It's kinda like watching a little kid play hide and seek. You KNOW they take this very seriously, but dang it's funny.

Jrgh17 said:

I love it when you don't actually realize you're being bitten until you see it. It's kinda like watching a little kid play hide and seek. You KNOW they take this very seriously, but dang it's funny.

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Yeah, that's what was funny about it. I was guilty of a little anthropomorphizing, but it seemed that the look on her face conveyed a bit of "how do you like that?" :grin01: