Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had the good fortune of buying one yesterday. A 2 foot female... she is sweet as can be. Tolerates handling very well and never musks.

She is in fact the reason why I am visiting the forums today. I need to know the best substrate for garters to be kept on in a natural looking environment... any tips?

She is my first garter... so any other general tips would be nice as well.

I am setting up a 20 gallon for her that has about ten inches sectioned off for a three gallon pond. My hope is that she will feed out of it and go for swims or whatever... I have also built into the pond a water pump so that there is circulation. I have a good hide and some good climbing branches. 50 watt heating bulb for the day... anything else I need?

Will they eat invertebrates like roaches? Or should I stick to fish?

Really any tips would be awesome.

Thanks a ton

they will not eat inverts....they eat fish, small rodents if scented, worms, slugs, and amphibians. As for the pond in the tank, make sure you have LOTS of ventilation...garters are very susceptible to humidity and can die from the blisters. If they have a natural substrate..sand or dirt or whatever you want to use, they could ingest it when they feed. They will drag the fish out of the water and the substrate can stick to the fish and be ingested..not a good thing.

>>She is in fact the reason why I am visiting the forums today. I need to know the best substrate for garters to be kept on in a natural looking environment... any tips?

Here comes my personal opinion. You don't have to like it or apply it.

A natural looking environment for a garter is doable, but the drawback is difficulty of maintenance. Like the first reply said, a natural-looking terrarium can present problems with substrate ingestion* and potential blistering problems.

Personally, I keep my garter in a 20 long with a large water dish (big ceramic dog dish) and CareFresh substrate. The CareFresh dries quickly and allows burrowing. Plus, I don't think it looks half bad (compared to newspaper!).

If you're set on a natural environment, coconut fiber like Bed-a-Beast will look decent and provides burrowing capability.

*I feed my garter in a paper sack instead of in his cage, so I don't have that problem.
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Chris McMartin
www.mcmartinville.com
I'm Not a Herpetologist, but I Play One on the Internet

Thanks for the responses chris and sssnakelover.

Is repti bark ok?

It doesnt need to be completely natural in appearance... I am just trying to avoid newspaper or paper towels.

As far as ventilation goes I am leaving the entire screen open... should that be enough? Unfortunantley I constructed my dam before I did more research. I was under the impression that all garters liked ALOT of water. But it seems that the one I have does well in semi arid conditions. So I may have to give up on the pond idea and just leave it in there as some sort of ridge in the tank... I dont know...

I keep all my 30 Garters including my three Texas Garters on Aspen Shavings. It is cheap and easy to clean/replace, absorbs moisture well, and allows burrowing if the snake wishes. Do not use Pine or cedar and you still want to provide some type of hide box for your snake. One "problem" with shavings is the occasional appearance of small bugs called Springtails. They feed on decaying organic material. If you get Springtails just replace the substrate and wash everything with hot water, no big deal.

Provide clean water at all times in a bowl large enough for him to curl up in but not much larger. He will not need a large swimming area. Garter snakes often defecate in their water so the water container should be easy to remove and clean on a frequent bases.

As for feeding you should have little or no trouble getting it to eat frozen/thawed mice. It sounds like your snake should be large enough to at least take a fuzzy. Mice are easier to use as a food source and they are more nutritious for a captive snake. My Texas Garters are voracious feeders on mice. I doubt you will even have to scent them.

I have both the Texas Garters Thamnophis sirtalis annectens and the Eastern Black Necked Garters from Texas Thamnophis cyrtopsis ocellatus in my collection. I really enjoy keeping both species and they are very hardy captives.

Randy
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Firehouse Herps