Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, i have a smaller male thamnophis sirtalis annectans (texas garter snake), and well i put this gigantuan sized female common garter that i recently caught, and well he tried to mate with her for a couple of hours, and so i was wondering, being that they are both originally sirtalis, wouldn't this work, and i wonder what it will be like because annectans has a reddish dorsal stripe and white spots with an almost completely snow white venter that differs from normal commons/easterns, so well i don't think she will have his babies because i don't think that they successfully mated but i was just wondering what it would be like....scott any thoughts perhaps?

It is hard to say whether they would or would not breed. If they did, they would be hybrids and would be considered mutts. Personally I do not hybridize any species, I have no problem breeding the same species from different localities/states (examples: the Carteret Cty, NC erythristic to the Ohio strain Schuett albino, New York albino to Florida erythristic). Just my 2 cents worth...

Scott

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Agreed Scott,
please let me add,
Fauna don't take it personally, but the vast majority of snake people, actually most animal and fish breeders for that matter frown upon hybrids, partly because eventually you would loose the distiction of whats what, but also and perhaps more importantly, you can run into short term and even more consequential long term; infertility problems.
So even though the thought of the endless possible outcomes from hybridizing have a certain deceptive appeal, you would be hard pressed to find a legitimate recommendation to do so.
Granted snakes have been hybridized and there are people who support it but I think either they don't realize it or they are intentionally being irresponsible.
I wouldn't do it, I wouldn't purchase or support it, in 20yrs of fish breeding I never owned or produced one and if I had they would have been flushed down the toilet, and if it were to some how happen accidentally in my snake collection I would destroy the results. Harsh, I know, but that's my oppinion and oppinions vary.
Sorry to pipe in on your thread Scott, sometimes I get diarrhea of the mouth when it comes to hotly debated topics.
Jeff B
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You'll get your regius's to the wall, man!
1.0 pastel Python regius
0.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
0.2 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.1 Ambystoma tigrinum
0.2 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.1 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
1.1 heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus

LOL im sorry you got me wrong, i wasn't planning on breeding any of them together, it just occured to me that when i did put her in with him, he started to try and mate with her, and well i know my garter snakes and well that is what he was trying to do, so i seperated them both, i guess i should have stated that, but yeah actually that makes sense. I think that's also why dog and cat breeders frown upon mutts as well. I dunno i was just wondering that's all, i wasn't actually going to do it though but thanks for your concerns and thoughts, i appreciate it.

Sorry I though you were stating that you had witnessed them breeding and that she could already potentially be on the road to being gravid. But seriously, snakes generally should be housed separately, other than brumation dens and breeding time they prefer a low stress solitary lifestyle, community housing just isn't very naturally realistic.
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You'll get your regius's to the wall, man!
1.0 pastel Python regius
0.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
0.2 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.1 Ambystoma tigrinum
0.2 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.1 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
1.1 heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus

yea i know but those are the only ones i have and well it is a huge cage and i really don't have any room for my other cages and well he only tried to breed that one time but she was way to big and i seperated them anyway but i find garters and redbellies resting under stuff all the time and sometimes i find redbellies actually resting inside the coils of the larger garters and so im sure it is fine and well i know all about housing them in groups and personally im not a fan of it either but they are doing just fine and don't seem to be bothered by each other's company anyway, because she usually stays way over in the corner where i have this huge tree/bush thing that covers up mu heat rock and she loves to sit kind of behind it like under the small branches where she hides and they are doing just fine, and well if you think/thought that im the kind of person that houses a whole mass group at the same time well im not the most i have ever had in at the same time is two but usually i dont but thanks for your comments though i appreciate it