Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I thought I'd post some pictures of my new family.

here's the link:

http://www.geocities.com/ravenstarr.geo/snake/snake.html

Does anyone agree with me that the mother is a "true blue"? She just doesn't look like any of the Florida blues I've seen.

~Laura~

Where exactly did the mom come from? She doesn't look like a Florida blue at all, but rather an anerythristic red-spotted garter.

A took her from a kid who was about to release her into the wild. His friend said he got it from a pet store, but decided he didn't want it anymore, but the other kid took it in. His dad wouldn't let him keep it. If it was a captive animal, there's no certainty that it could survive here, especially if not from this area. Winters can get pretty cold here.

As far as how she got gravid in the first place, I have no idea. Perhaps she was kept with other garters in the pet store, or she was wild caught and sold in the pet store later. It would be nice to know what she mated with though.

~Laura~

Hmm, the babies do look similar, though nowhere near to having that much red. I'll have to see if I can get a better picture of one later that shows the color more accurately.

Does anyone have any links or images of an anerythristic red-spotted garter? I tried looking for some last night, but I can't even find reference to such a thing.

It does make an odd bit of sense, since I am in Oregon. Perhaps the kid had lied about where he got the snake fearing I'd make him let it go (he was keeping it in a dark, locking crate in about an inch of dirty water. It had been kept that way at least three days). But, this girl didn't act like any wild caught I'd ever encountered. She took to food right away, and will eat dead fish. She seems to solicit my attention, coming up to the glass whenever she can see me. If I walk to the other side of the tank, she follows. She doesn't do that with anyone else in the house. She really does act tame and well handled. So, I'm just awful confused now. Lol.

Many hours were spent trying to ID her, and an eastern true blue was the best anyone could come up with.

Now I'm left pondering whether or not I should let them all go. But, if the female is that rare of a sight that no one else has or knows of such a thing, maybe it would be better to keep them. It could potentially help a breeder in the future to produce such a line of blue beauties with success. This snake is really winning the hearts of the people living around here, even my neighbor who hates snakes got all doe-eyed and wants to buy a baby.

Ahh, I babble and have grown attached.

~L~

It does look like a red spotted.Its not all that uncommon to find them without red.There is a pic of one with no red in an old reptiles magazine that featured garters on the cover.Check it out.
Tom