Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I'm thinking about getting an albino checkered garter snake as a pet, a male adult if I can find one. I find them very pretty. I'm in my 40s and have had cats, dogs and birds all my life. As a child I had a little garter snake named Serpie. After thinking about a corn snake, I've decided to try a garter again. I'm not a night person and like the idea of a diurnal snake, one that won't be hiding all the time.
My question is about personality. I like the looks of the albino checkereds the most, but what are they like to handle? I'm hoping for a snake that will tame down OK. I realize they'll always be more wiggly than a corn snake. The Puget Sound garters are pretty also. Are they calmer than the checkereds?
Can one small male be kept in a 20 gallon?
Thanks for your time.

A twenty gal is plenty big for a single male. My experience with temper of garters is that every single snake is an individual with it's own personality regardless of species or subspecies, some are wriggly some are unbelievably calm, some like to strike when startled and some wouldn't strike if you slapped them. Pugets have a reputation for being calm, but I would let that be the deciding factor from getting an albino checkered or any other garter for that matter. If you do go with the puget or whichever type you decide I would highly recommend that you buy a CBB baby as opposed to a wild caught adult, for many different reasons, but you can build a rapport as well as an understanding of the snakes personality as it grows and developes.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

I've bred Checkereds for almost 20 years now, and they are by far my favorites. It's true that individuals will vary in temperament, but adult checkereds tend to be among the calmest and most handleable of the garters-particularly if bred in captivity and handled regularly from birth.

I would, however, consider obtaining a female over a male. I've noticed over the years that the males tend not to be so calm as the females (there are of course exceptions).

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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Yah the females are generally much less nervous and flighty than the males, but I do have certain males that I much rather handle than certain individual females, and as a single pet the females do get bigger and require a bit more care because they eat and poop more, but overall I think if I were getting a single garter snake to have as a pet I would still take my chances with a captive born female hatchling, and definately wouldn't waste time with a wild caught, thats a headache waiting to happen and hard to justify when captive born babies are so readily available. Just my two cents
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

Brad,

How long do your female checkereds get? Are they pretty big?
I did locate an adult male for sale at the new Serpentarium in Lodi, CA. But it was too wiggly. I realize now that any adult raised in a large store won't be handled much so won't be tame enough. I guess I should be looking for a baby and hope it will tame down easily. If I were to get a corn snake, there are a lot of adults on Craigslist that have been pets and handled a lot. But the prettier garter morphs I don't see much exept from breeders.

Female checkereds are not the longest, but can be among the heaviest garters-they average roughly twice the size of male. They can easily reach three feet in length....
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Hi there,

I find that both pugets and checkereds are very easy going, laid back snakes. They also LOVE their food!!! a 20 gallon is plenty large, you could even house a female in one that big, especially if it's a 20 long!

Thanks for all the advice guys.
I wasn't thinking of getting a wild-caught, by the way. I was assuming most adults for sale with the albinos would be captive-bred. That color isn't common in the wild, is it? I've always had good luck with my dogs, getting adults instead of puppies so that I would know their exact temperament. I figured I could do the same with my new snake. Though maybe with albino checkereds it might be harder to find an adult. If I were getting a corn snake, there are tons of adult snakes on Craigslist. Maybe I will need to get a baby garter. I realize that most of Petco's common garters are wild-caughts. I wouldn't buy there anyway.
Jeff, I noticed no checkereds on your website. Do you not breed that type? Scott's website doesn't have them either. Though his Christmas strain of albinos are just as pretty.
If you're sure a female wouldn't be squeezed in a 20 gallon, I might consider one. I don't have much space (another reason I'm not getting a corn snake).
I would prefer to pick my snake up myself instead of shipping. I live in CA and don't know if any garter breeders are here or not. The ones for sale on this website seem to be on the other side of the country. I'm willing to drive to San Fran, Sacramento or LA. There's a big expo coming up in Sac in Sept., but I looked at the vender line-up and didn't see any garter breeders listed.
Lisa

I have kept albino checkereds in the past and they are a very nice snake indeed, but I do not breed them, nor do I really have any intentions, I don't need another project right now, lol, there are plenty of others like Brad breeding them, in fact I think he has some really nice ones available right now, just ask him via emial by clicking on his name at the top of his response to this post, so you should have no trouble finding one thats captive born, really I was more worried about you purchasing a wild puget. best of luck.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

if going to the show, look for dealers with lots of different snakes....there are not alot of garter specific breeders...this is probably why Scott Felzer has the best garter selection out there....if someone finds an interesting garter, they know Scott is the man to call....i have seen adult albinos at shows, but they were priced at $125 to $150...babies are $35 to $45 and readily take guppies to start and are easy to switch to pinks as they grow...an adult also may not live as long as you hope, as you will not likely be able to tell it's true age...hope this helps...