Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last night we caught what I think was a baby red spotted garter in the garden, where he had probably come up from the river. We let him go, but I was curious as to what he would eat. He was very young, I'd say no more than a couple of months, and no thicker than a pencil at his widest point. Someone suggested insects, but most snakes aren't insectivores, are they? Just in case I've identified him incorrectly, he was about 5-6 inches long, brownish with a lighter brown stripe down his back, and the start of a row of tiny spots just under the stripe. I'm pretty sure he was a garter because they are the predominant species in this area, and he musked when handled. Thanks..
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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko - Fang
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Floyd, R.I.P. Rascal
0.0.1 Rat who was too friendly to be eaten - Scabbers

Location would help a lot, especially since you did not supply a photo.
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Randy Hallman

Sorry, I'm in southern Ontario, Canada, near lake Erie. Didn't get a pic because my camera wasn't there at the time and I didn't want to stress the little guy out for too long.
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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko - Fang
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Floyd, R.I.P. Rascal
0.0.1 Rat who was too friendly to be eaten - Scabbers

Snakes often eat different types of prey when this small and change to their more obvious prey when larger. I would imagine that snails, slugs and worms are a large part of that snake's diet.

Sounds like an Eastern Garter Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis. The Red-Sided Garter T s parietalis is not found in your area. If your are towards the western end of Lake Erie towards Michigan you may have Butler's Garter T butleri. You can do a web search to see pictures and distribution maps if you wish. Keep in mind Easterns may be quite variable in their appearance depending on location. Easterns feed on amphibians, fish, small mammals and invertebrates. Young snakes are likely to feed on worms. Butler's Garters are believed to feed primarily on earth worms. At 5 or 6 inches your snake was a neonate.
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Randy Hallman

Thanks for the info. I checked some sites, and this snake didn't look anything like an Eastern or a Butlers. He had no green on him at all, his body was entirely different shades of brown/cream. He actually looked a lot more like some of the color morphs of cornsnakes I've seen, but I'm not even sure you'd find normal corns wild around this area, and he did musk when picked up. I wish I had a picture, he was really quite a beautiful little snake. If he's hanging around in the backyard, maybe I'll see him again, although I kind of hope he makes himself scarce as there are a LOT of cats in the neighborhood.

BTW, you seem to know quite a bit about this area, if you happen to know, what snake species could I expect to find wild around here? I've always thought just Garters, but that was before I got interested in reptiles and it may just be a false bit of info that I've held onto. I think you could theoretically find a Massasauga rattler, but they're very rare in this area, more common away from the cities... Thanks
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0.1.0 Ball Python - Shaman
1.0.0 Green Iguana - Ike
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko - Fang
2.2.0 Cats - Pumpkin, Furball, Pixie, Stitch
1.0.0 Cockatiel - Ozzy
0.1.0 Budgie - Tweetie
1.0.0 Dwarf Rabbit - Floyd, R.I.P. Rascal
0.0.1 Rat who was too friendly to be eaten - Scabbers

I got married recently in Sudbury and my wife lives in that area so I had researched what kind of reptiles and amphibians were in Ontario. The genus Thamnophis is also a favorite interest of mine. I double checked the information I gave before I posted it. Are you sure yours is a Garter? Keep in mind Eastern Garters can vary quite a bit so the pictures you found may not be comprehensive or representative of the snakes in your area. Young snakes may also be more vivid than the adults. Here are a couple of web sites. The second one has maps. I believe the Milk Snake is protected throughout the province but I have no knowledge of other laws in Ontario as I had only planned on taking pictures. All I found were Bullfrogs, Leopard frogs, an American Toad, a dead Ringneck Snake, and an unidentified snake shed.

http://www.glfc.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/landscape/snake_e.html

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/mnr/nhic/herps/snakes.html
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Randy Hallman

If it looks like a corn snake it very well could have been a milk snake if they indeed are native to that area. Neonate black rat snakes also look like this, and this is a rather large snake that is native to your area.
Ian

Unfortunately my vacation was to the other side of the great lakes in Wisconsin and all my research is only so-so related to your area.

Ian

if people would go to my link! you would see his description perfectly describes a BROWN SNAKE not a milk, corn, or rat.

will someone tell me if they even see my posts, cuz for some reason i think my computer might not actually be posting the posts (im paranoid)
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my addiction:
2 ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy

np
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Randy Hallman

that would be a brown snake, the link will tell you a little about it
Link

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my addiction:
2 ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy

thats a brown snake
i posted last night with a link but its gone now
Link

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my addiction:
2 ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy

i guess its not deleted just ignored
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my addiction:
2 ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy