Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering in the event wich you place together male and female garters not of the same subspecies after a brumation , will they breed together ? Ex : a common garter and a eastern , a eastern with a western , etc...etc...

First of all, the eastern garter snake (thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis), is a subspecies of the common garter snake (thamnophis sirtalis) along with Florida blue-striped garters and may others. Second of all, yes, different subspecies of common garters will interbreed indiscriminately if given the chance. It is likely that completely different species will also interbreed. Third of all, dont try it. The offspring will be "mutts," unfit for sale or breeding. For one thing, it's not practical. Nobody will want them. For another, if you want to create a novelty snake, I would suggest getting into breeding color morphs of the same subspecies of snake. If you like easterns, I would suggest a nice flame or melanistic morph. If you like the western taxons of garters, try an albino plains. All these and many, many more can be purchased from reputable dealers. Believe me when I say, it would be a terrible idea to create hybrids that would be unsellable, leaving you responsible to care for them for the more than ten years they would live.

-Cooper

okay , well i shall stop then my considerations , i have 2 easterns , a male and a female , and a pet shop nearby sells a snake but with no identification to it...it may be a garter...or an eastern ribbon...so..it kind of puzzled me as " do I acquire it or not ?" etc... it being low priced and unfortunetly sold as a bastard unninteresting snake , wich i find pretty sad...but then again , i'm a garter guy , not a Ribbon man , so...i'm just sad for the poor thing.It seems condemmned to stay there in a little box forever.