Very UNUSUAL garter...

Hey everyone,

I was walking along a trail tonight when this little fellow/gal popped out from under the brush. My first thought was "Oh look, a garter" until I got a little closer to look. Needless to say I allowed myself to be musked into oblivion to get a closer look at him/her.

Does anyone know what to call this? I have seen it in corns but I can't remember the term. Piebald seems incorrect because the snake is distinctly blue in the disrupted areas. Perhaps this is due to a disease or sickness?

I believe it is a simple Terrestrial Garter (Thamnophis elegans), which is about the only snake found in my neck of the woods. Either way, I think it is a really exciting find.

ANY input would be great, tell me what you think!!

Hmmm... doesn't look like a disease. It would be really neat if it was a random color/pattern!! Any breeding plans?

Originally Posted by VickyChaiTea

Hmmm... doesn't look like a disease. It would be really neat if it was a random color/pattern!! Any breeding plans?

I don't think it is a disease either.. the scales seem perfectly normal in the "bald" areas. Perhaps a genetic disorder? It sure would be neat as a new morph if it was a gene.

As for breeding... not yet. I'm still waaaay to novice to start a project, especially with a species that I do not spend a lot of time with.

Maybe you could sell it to someone who could breed it?

VERY interesting, Allison! Wow... So KEWL looking! Might be worth holding and seeing if he'll eat for ya.

Please keep us appraised of his status.

Intriguing!

Definitely something to hold onto. Garters usually adapt to captivity pretty well. Feed them worms, guppies, frozen silver sides(which you can find at the pet store with the frozen fish food), maybe some tadpoles, and to make life easier once he/she gets settled you can pretty easily switch them over to mice. Also DO NOT feed garter snakes gold fish, rosy red minnows, fathead minnows, or cat fish. These fish contain a chemical that blocks the absorbtion of vitamin B and can kill a garter in long run. The rest of there care is pretty similar to a corn snakes although they have a higher metabolism so they poop more and need to be fed more often, about 2-3 times a week(unless your feeding mice, then you can feed once a week). Good luck with him/her, its an awesome looking snake!

I agree, you should look into breeding it or sell it to someone who will. You may have found a new gene and it should be looked into. I wish I would find something like that. I have a friend who buys snakes that are or may be new genes and he breeds them.. He has some cool stuff.. I don't know if he's into garters though.. lol... But that guy needs to be bred
Keep us updated

maybe these guys could help you?! ---> http://www.thamnophis.com/forum


I have to agree with the others, I'd breed it or sell it to someone who's into those garters

I agree with what everyone says about this gem with one caveat. You might want to wait for a shed to see if the color remains after the shed. It might be some dye that he got from somewhere!

Thamnophis.com is a good place to start. You might also want to show him to Scott Felzer http://www.albinogartersnake.com/ .

This is thinking out of the box, but could it be the calico gene in this wild snakes bloodline?

Another thing that popped into my mind was an old burn..????