Outdoor Viserion pictures. (Garter)

[Tavia]

Tried getting some good pictures of my husband's Albino Checkered garter, Viserion, today. Don't have many of him because he is just so wiggly that taking good pictures of him is hard! These didn't turn out as well as I'd wanted but there are a few good ones.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/4f558f328aa16fd4e48188863769baa0_zpsfa9874bb.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/d068f54861c8fda279210e6235249d88_zps53899cb4.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/af6b17b8f2d8fb16a79fe8aebcd4064a_zps9acad7ec.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/bbe292956687e503ded2501d8ab437ca_zps1ec04159.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/cd32987db2d3ea58c52cb0a6707b47f2_zps98bb4154.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/44429eee6db64757b62334b5b0e82606_zpsbc33e1e3.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/c99bf382d9c37fe4306a93e036568a4d_zps483ec1b7.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/c5844aa26f6abad370baa034d74eb2fd_zpsccdd85ee.jpg

Continued ...

[hypnoctopus]

Cute little guy! I like the picture with his head resting on the edge of the container. What are the black dots on his lip?

[Tavia]

I'm thinking it's just a little bit of dirt.

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/b4ba114ef9752b915a7cbabe4d9fe649_zps2ab1253d.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/b865291b6ae16613250c0b69bcee0b9b_zpsb2ee487e.jpg

http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/ac238/MaidofChainz/Albino%20Checkered%20Garter/7b6b32b2537314d9db326611fb9a8ed9_zps2620c744.jpg

[MysticExotics]

Pretty!! Is this one from Scott, or local pickup?

[Tavia]

He's a semi local pickup. He is one of my husband's first two snakes. He and Smaug (Honduran milk) were pickups from the first reptile show my husband and I went to while we were dating. That was the show I got my Western hoggie, Atticus, at. Was really funny, because we went and had lunch at Cheese Cake Factory after going to the show and my husband was so impressed that his girlfriend was perfectly happy to have 3 snakes in her purse!
I bring a huge purse to shows for that very reason, so I can take any purchases in places if needed afterward.

[lcapx0]

He's a semi local pickup. He is one of my husband's first two snakes. He and Smaug (Honduran milk) were pickups from the first reptile show my husband and I went to while we were dating. That was the show I got my Western hoggie, Atticus, at. Was really funny, because we went and had lunch at Cheese Cake Factory after going to the show and my husband was so impressed that his girlfriend was perfectly happy to have 3 snakes in her purse!
I bring a huge purse to shows for that very reason, so I can take any purchases in places if needed afterward.


Thats a funny story! My boyfriend is just warming to the fact that I have snakes. So im hoping one day when I take him to a reptile show he can fall in love with one of the snakes there :P


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[ravendance]

That garter is really really pretty!!! Are they that much harder to care for then corns? Were you able to switch yours over to mice or is he still eating worms, fish, etc? I'm drooling over the Thamnophis radix blue color...I'm having a hard time finding care advice though =/

[MysticExotics]

I've contemplated getting a pair of Red Sided California Garters off and on. A friend of mine breeds them locally, and he's got them switched to mice (which is one of the hesitations I have).
I've always loved the Puget Sound Garters, but keeping them here would be a pain, so I probably would never get those.

[Tavia]

I had a couple of Puget Sounds for awhile, the little female was probably my very favorite snake of all time.
But she got an eye infection within 2 days of arriving, not anything I could have prevented, that cost her the eye and I think eventually her life. They were just babies, the female was 3 grams at the time I got them and I was feeding them guppies, earth worms and stripes of tilapia, trout and salmon, which wasn't too hard. The problem with the very little babies is that they can't take even a very small whole pinky. I tried for awhile to switch them over to pinks by cutting up chunks of pinky parts and mixing it in with bits of the other stuff they were eating and that almost worked. But I was having a hard time getting the pinky parts small enough and they would have to struggle long enough to swallow them to figure out, "hey, this isn't fish!" and spit it back out. I only tried for a very brief time, as the gross factor of cutting up pinkies way outweighed any inconvenience of them eating different things than my other snakes.

Most can eventually be switched to mice though. It depends a bit on the species, some are more prone to eating some rodents in the wild and others eat primarily other things.

Viserion has always been a mouse eater, thankfully. He was pretty much full grown when we got him. He does like to go on fairly long feeding strikes at certain times of the year, like right now.

Here is a good general care sheet for garters and the forum it's hosted on is a good one too.
http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet

In my experience, which is a bit limited, female garters in general tend to make better pets than males, though there are exceptions to that. Garters can either be the most amazing pet snakes out there, smart, (for a snake) interactive and seem to actually like people or they can be the evilest, nasty, biting, musking little terrors you are likely to come across.

[MysticExotics]

I had a couple of Puget Sounds for awhile, the little female was probably my very favorite snake of all time.
But she got an eye infection within 2 days of arriving, not anything I could have prevented, that cost her the eye and I think eventually her life. They were just babies, the female was 3 grams at the time I got them and I was feeding them guppies, earth worms and stripes of tilapia, trout and salmon, which wasn't too hard. The problem with the very little babies is that they can't take even a very small whole pinky. I tried for awhile to switch them over to pinks by cutting up chunks of pinky parts and mixing it in with bits of the other stuff they were eating and that almost worked. But I was having a hard time getting the pinky parts small enough and they would have to struggle long enough to swallow them to figure out, "hey, this isn't fish!" and spit it back out. I only tried for a very brief time, as the gross factor of cutting up pinkies way outweighed any inconvenience of them eating different things than my other snakes.

Most can eventually be switched to mice though. It depends a bit on the species, some are more prone to eating some rodents in the wild and others eat primarily other things.

Viserion has always been a mouse eater, thankfully. He was pretty much full grown when we got him. He does like to go on fairly long feeding strikes at certain times of the year, like right now.

Here is a good general care sheet for garters and the forum it's hosted on is a good one too.
http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet

In my experience, which is a bit limited, female garters in general tend to make better pets than males, though there are exceptions to that. Garters can either be the most amazing pet snakes out there, smart, (for a snake) interactive and seem to actually like people or they can be the evilest, nasty, biting, musking little terrors you are likely to come across.

They're cool critters, for sure! I just haven't pulled the trigger on getting some. I was fairly close, when I visited Casey Lazik, and he had all those adorable babies. LOL

[ravendance]

Can I ask, from your experience with the fish eating ones...do they smell that much worse? Or just a light "fishie" smell? (ie: like my aquarium?) I wouldn't mind seeing a little bugger hunting for small fish...not sure I'd feel comfortable chopping a worm into bits though...hrmmm...I'll keep reading up on them - I do know I want to find CB ones - less of a risk of health issues...

[Tavia]

There is definitely a bit more smell to the fish eating ones, depends a good bit on the type of fish being fed but it didn't bother me. I could see how it might bother some people that are more sensitive than me though.

[Myca]

Wow. Love your snake. What a beauty!

[ravendance]

I need to find someone nearby ish that breeds garter snakes...I don't want to do wild caught b/c of concerns of feeding issues, parasites and never mind that it's illegal in NY to collect any reptile at all from the wild (out of curiosity, I looked) Apparently there are a few species that are blueish-green and black? Anyone know of any good breeders for garters? Just want to get one, no preference on gender...(not necessarily right now but maybe by the end of this year/next year?)

[Tavia]

Scott Felzer is a good breeder with a wide range of garters. There is a pretty good selection of ads on Fauna for them too, you might be able to find what you are looking for there. There are at least two black and blue garter species that I know of, Pugets, T. pickeringi or True Florida Blues, similis. I think the Pugets are a bit prettier than the similis but similis is much easier to find and I also have the suspicion that a lot of the captive bred Pugets are getting very inbred and are becoming more sickly. They are illegal to collect and own in Washington and always have been but are not illegal to own in the other states. There are a few dealers that are selling illegal fresh WC still but even all the CB ones out there are descended from illegally caught ancestors. So if that bothers you ...

They are a bit pricey, but I think the most beautiful garter of all is the Neon Blue Phase California Red Sided garter, they have a bright blue stripe down their backs with red and black checkered sides, with a lot of red on their heads.

[ravendance]

It's more of a chance of parasites with the WC ones, our corns were once "wild" so, no descendants of wild snakes doesn't bother me - that and trying to find vet care for a snake I'm "not supposed to have." NY State is rather specific of "no critters removed from the wild" - basically I will need to find one not native to the area and I should be good...thanks for the link to the other forum btw - I'm learning a lot!!