[GarterGuy]

Would definitely like to see a better pic, but I'd bet it's an Eastern (T.s.sirtalis). I've seen Easterns with no stripes, two stripes and one stripe....all black, some spots or totally checkered. They're a incredibely variable subspecies, even within a certain area. As far as it's colour being genetic.....yeh, it is. All patterns are, but will it breed true? Well you'd have to get another of the EXACT same snake, different sex of course, and even then it still may not carry over into the offspring...there's quite a bit to snake genetics...check out Scott Feltzer's garter snake site, he goes into it a bit. Also it seems that garter snakes all tend to be born kind of looking a lot alike, and it's not until they mature that their colours really start to show. Anyways, good luck with it and we'll be waiting for the pics.
---Roy