Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello fellow snake lovers,
I have experience with king snakes and milk snakes, but no experience keeping garter snakes, so I though I'd ask the experts. I would like a very blue garter snake that is easy to keep, handle, and feed with f/t rodents. Is a Florida Blue garter or a Puget Sound garter better for a novice? Which is typically more blue? Which is easier to handle? Is there a difference in size and color between the sexes?
Thank you for the benefit of your experience.

IMO, Pugets make for a better starter garter than Florida Blues do. They tend to be much more calm, and are (in my experience) easier to switch over to mice. All of the FL.Blues that I've ever kept were very flighty. They're just like Similis. Just coming into the room would make them go ballistic. As for the blue coloration - blue phase Pickeringi are definitely a stronger shade of blue. Their blue is a very vibrant blue whereas Florida's usually just have a light pastel bluish tint over their entire body. Also, a lot of Florida's are actually more greenish than anything.

Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

Not only is my female blue stripe (similis) very blue, she's for the most part, pretty calm. My male bluestripe is more typical similis behavior. Very jumpy and nervous. But I love the look & color of the blue stripes. They can be as blue as any garter out there.
Steve