Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I'm still toying with the idea of getting a single garter for a pet.
One question that comes to mind is how messy/smelly a garter would be who is mostly fed worms and fish, with only the occasional pink (one of the reasons I'm not considering corn snakes is that rodent feeding bothers me). I would probably keep a small male because I'm assuming they would be easier to keep on that diet that the larger females. How many times a week/day do they poop?
How would they compare to a crested gecko? My husband dislikes snakes but likes lizards/geckos. I prefer snakes (I like the pretty colors, how they feel in hand and their cute faces). We only want one reptile pet so are kicking ideas around right now. I did hear that crested geckos are very messy and poop constantly.
Also, I want to be able to hold the pet occasionally. How would a garter compare to a gecko in this department?
Any help is much appreciated.

If you spend enought time with either crested or garter they will be as tame and calm as you want them to be. both are super easy. With Carefresh substrate (other substrates can work well too)it is very easy to spot clean although garters do have a high metabolism and will poop several times a week, sometimes daily in the spring and fall, but next to no pooping in the winter time. Get a garter, they are waaaaaaay cooler' lol
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

For a better "handling" snake, I would recommend a Thamnophis Radix, or Plains garter... They have a smooth and mellow personality (for the most part) compared to some of the other varieties of garter snakes.

They are simple to care for, and they do go potty a fair bit.

You can keep them on fish and worms without a problem, they seldom ever eat mice in the wild.

The available color variations are exciting too, ranging from blue to red, white, yellow, black and green.

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Dances With Reptiles

2.1.0 Thamnophis Infernalis- California Red Sided Garter Snakes
1.1.0 Flame X Erythristic Eastern Garter Snakes
2.0.0 Melanistic Thamnophis Sirtalis Sirtalis
1.0.0 Kansas Albino Red Sided Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
0.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis Golden / Albino cross
0.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis Anerythristic morph
0.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - axanthic morph
2.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - Iowa Snow
1.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - Snow Het
0.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - Snow/Nebraska Albino double Het
0.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - Christmas Albino
0.1.0 Thamnophis cyrtopsis Easter Black Neck Garter "MoJo"
0.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis Eastern Snow "Snowflake"
0.1.0 Thamnophis similis "true blue" This gal bites!
1.1.0. Thamnophis elegans vagrans Wandering Garter
2.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters
0.0.1 Thamnophis HybridAlbino Checkered Normal eastern"Mutt"
2.0.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters (xtreme orange phase)
0.0.0 Thamnophis butleriButler's Garter Snake (died)
0.0.1 Thamnophis proximus orariusCoastal Ribbon Snake
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - Eastern Garter baby
1.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis HET Anerythristic
1.0.0 Thamnophis pickeringi - Puget Sound Garter "Sky" (adult, Sky blue)
1.0.0 Florida Black racer - fiesty yet way cool.
1.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snakes Pink eaters!
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" adult CB (pet store sale)
1.0.1. Pueblan Milk snakes "Oreo" adult & a '09 baby CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major"Limon"
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" Getting Huge!
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal"
0.1.0 Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) - "Peach" (A Monitor with fins)
1.0.0 Ball Python - Python regius "Cain" Rescued from a crack house
0.1.9 Eastern MilkSnake WC "Carmella" adult super sweet temperment
1.5.0 Storeria dekayi - Brown Snakes Casper, Xena, Athena, Copper, Sharon & others
1.1.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo, Diamond b/w cockapoo

I've got like 70 garters.... and 2 crested geckos. THe crested geckos drive me NUTS with the way they get their poop EVERYWHERE!!! I thought my garters pooped a lot... but its not as bad as the cresteds! Snakes are waaaay cooler anyways

Happy Birthday Snakelovinbabe, and thank you for your input on geckos. Sounds like a snake is for me. I already knew that, but was trying to be open-minded about lizards for my husband's sake. After posting on the gecko thread, I realized the temperature thing wouldn't work for us anyway in regards to crested geckos. We have hot CA summers with no central AC, and those geckos can die if it gets over 80. I'm sure a snake could tough out an 85 degree living room better. We run our window unit sometimes, but don't want to run it constantly (when at work, or at night either).
I had a little wild-caught garter 30 years ago when I was a kid and have fond memories of him. I managed to kill him by only feeding goldfish and feel guilty about that, so wanted to redeem myself by trying again. I'll make sure to supplement this time.
Wayne, I'd already decided on a Plains anyway (assuming you read this). I'll probably try to get one from Jeff because I want something with blue in it, and I've noticed he has some blue Plains. My other idea was getting a Puget Sound from Scott.
Thank you everyone for all your input.

Scott is the man. Purchased many great garters from him years back. Mike Bod

Link

Hey Mike,

Thanks for the kudos. There are a lot of great breeders in garters now, many more than back when you were into them. The piebald black pine looks way cool !

Scott
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Albino Garter Snake