Got offered a new garter!

[RedSided]

I went to my local reptile store to get some fuzzies for my red sided garter only to be offered a garter that someone no longer wanted . I said no at first ,but decided to email the pet store later on.

Im waiting for a reply on information such as sub-species,gender temperment, age, health etc. If all goes well I am hoping to keep them together in the same vivarium. Is 25 gallon big enough for two?

Anyway I was looking for some advice on keeping them in pairs and how to introduce them to eachother when the time comes.

I am a new face here by the way.

Thanks in advance

[rwgsnakes]

well, red sided garters are, in general, crazy snakes when it comes to feeding. I had an albino garter and a red sided together for a few months but desided to seporate them becuase i got another tank.

As far as introducing them, best way would be to take the red sided out of the tank, change the tank around, and then put both in at the same time, they will both feel like they are going into a new home rather than feeling ownership over the exsisting tank setup.

MAKE SURE both are eating right! even more with redsided, one might tend to eat more than the other...if it gets out of hand you can remove one or both to feed them and then put them back.

are they adults or juviniles? i believe a 25 should be ok, i had mine in a ten gallon but that was because they are both babies.

o and of course welcome to the forum!!!!!

I have one question for you, why did you say no at first?

[RedSided]

It was just an initial reaction, but then I thought ive got the space and the time, so why not? If the previous owner can't treat it properly then I may as well give it a chance.

Im excited to find out what subspecies it is , im not expecting rare but its still exciting.

My Red sided garter is 6 or 7, female.I know what you mean about eating , talk about enthusiastic, im pretty sure she would eat anything.Then again it has been know for some species of garter to be found looking for food in bins.

[Cazador]

Hey Tim,

It's probably good that you said no at first. When (if) you bring home the new snake, you should probably quarantine it for at least a month. If the previous owners didn't want it, they may not have been taking the best of care of it. If it brings mites or internal parasites home to your red-sided, you would be very disappointed.

Your quarantine pen can be as simple as a plastic sweater box with air holes drilled into the sides, but you'll also need a heat source, water bowl (preferably white to reveal mites easier), simple substrate (such as white paper towels), and one or more hiding places. It should also be well away from your "resident" snake's enclosure to reduce the likelihood of spreading parasites from one enclosure to the other.

Justin's idea is interesting and makes a lot of sense. One could also introduce a bit of the "resident" snake's substrate into the other snake's cage to transfer the scent of the "resident" snake before making the introduction, but this seems like overkill... unless you just want to be very, very cautious. I've never had any problems adding one snake directly into another's pen, but these would be very conservative approaches. Mixing T.e. vagrans with another species might be a mistake due to their canabalistic tendencies, but that's about it.

Rick

[Snaky]

I want to stress the quarantine period that Cazador says. It's very important that you don't introduce a snake that's ill or has parasites or ...

For the rest it's probably all said

[RedSided]

Ok,well I will let you know how it goes and keep you posted , thanks.