Chequered (thamnophis marcianus) & red sided ( Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) Garter Snakes

FAMILY         Colubridae

Distribution         the Chequered Garter is found in central and western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and south eastern California. The Red Sided Garter is found in a range from north America into Canada.

SIZE      The Chequered Garter reaches lengths of between 2-4ft and the hatchlings are usually around 6-12ins in length, where as the adult size of the Red Sided Garter is usually no more than 3ft.

LIFESPAN       The average lifespan for both these species of Garter snake is approximately 12-15 years although some have been know to reach 20 years.

INTRODUCTION        The Chequered and Red Sided Garter Snake are members of a species of snake known as Thamnophis. They are generally thought of as a beginner snake due to their ease of keeping and their calmness at being handled.

Housing        First very important factor is that your garters enclosure must be escape-proof, as the Garter snake is known for being a bit of an escape artist. Hatchlings can be housed in a hatchling tub which are available from all good reptile stores, then once the snake grows it should go into a vivarium of suitable size for the snake. A pair of adults can quite happily be housed in a vivarium measuring at least 36in long by 15ins deep by 15ins high. There should be plenty of hiding areas for the snake with a large water bowl that they are able to bathe in and some plants logs etc for  decor.

SUBSTRATE         There are many substrates that could be used with garter snakes these range from just paper towel to aspen bedding, bark chippings, desert snow, and astro turf.

HEATING & LIGHTING        The Garter snake should have an ambient temperature of between 24-26°c (75-79°f) .The cool end of the vivarium should have a temperature of around 24°c (75°f) and the warmer end reaching temperatures of about 28-29°c (82-84°f). At night the temperature on the hot side can be allowed to drop to around 26°c (79°f). For heating you can use a heat mat which should be attached to a thermostat for better temperature control or a well guarded ceramic heater.

The Garter snake doesn't have any special lighting requirements and therefore background daylight is sufficient if however you wanted to place a light in your viviarium you can do so making sure that it is guarded well to prevent the snake from burning itself.

Feeding        Garter snakes should be fed slightly more often than other snakes species as they are very active snakes and as such have a higher metabolic rate than most other species this being the case they should be fed 4-5 days instead of every 7-10 days. It is very important to provide your garter snake with a varied diet as well to avoid the risk of nutritional disorders. The main diet for hatchlings is earthworms, small fish, and pinkie mice but once they grow so should the size of the prey item so prey items such as mice, larger fish, garter grub and even strips of raw beef.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS        The main issue with garter snakes occurs if they are fed a diet solely consisting of defrosted fish. If this is all they are fed it can lead to a lack in vitamin b1(Thiamine) and vitamin E so all defrosted fish should be dusted with a vitamin supplement before feeding such as nutrobal which is a high ratio vitamin/mineral supplement. If there is too high a level of humidity in the garter snakes vivarium it can lead to pustular dermatitis (blister disease) so the vivarium will have to be checked on a regular basis to remove any water logged substrate which left would cause the humidity levels to rise.