Outdoor Viserion pictures. (Garter)

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...

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.

Wow. Love your snake. What a beauty!

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?)

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.

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!!