New Member

[ambertastic]

Hello all -

I've recently crossed over to your side! I've kept various newts and salamanders for the past four years and always loved herptiles.
I've been seeing a lot of snakes while out and about over the last few weeks and finally decided to bring one home for a while. I never actually considered keeping snakes before because I figured they'd be boring and reclusive (I like the display aspect of aquariums).

The snake turned out to have a lot of personality. And it escaped after three nights... so much for my home-made lid. I now have a conventional screen lid with textbooks on top. Hopefully s/he'll turn up soon....
(On that... I think it went into my stove because the tank was on the kitchen counter and there's lots of little unreachable nooks back in there. However the kitchen window was also open. I assume it wouldn't choose to go back out in the cold but who knows. I've set up a "trap" composed of a space heater, a water dish and some sheets on the floor. Has anyone found a dead snake in their house, or does it tend to be all or nothing?)

I live in Washington and today got up to the mid 60's so I went on my first intentional snaking expedition. I caught three little babies and one adult which I have to sex/ID. I think it's a Northwestern.

I'd like to know how old the babies are. Do they grow pretty quickly when they're young?
I run a low budget student lifestyle and feed all my critters with composting worms/associated bugs, so I'm not planning on buying guppies or pinkies. maybe guppies once my betta kicks the bucket and I have a tank available. We do have TONS of slugs around here though. I found a clutch of eggs a few weeks ago and hatched them in my salamander terrarium. Anyone have experience breeding slugs? I look forward to another free and easy food source - I read the NW's specialize in slugs. Yum

I will try to get a picture of the adult up tomorrow.

And if there's anyone in the area who knows of good spots or would like to get out in these last few weeks, let me know. I live in Bellingham and travel through Pierce county frequently. I'm intrigued by the Puget variety of course.


Thanks!
Amber

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard.

[Selkielass]

Welcome to the forum!
My captive bred baby (summer 2010) is approaching 10 inches long, but she has had the advantage of indulgent feeding. Different subspecies also start out at different lengths- I have read about four inch newborns and 8 inch newborns in the course of my browsing- I don't know where northwesterns fall on that spectrum.

I have a 33 gallon tank, and my (Admittedly very old) betta gets along fine with my fancy guppies. The guppies are just sooo much faster than he is that I think he has given up even trying. (He still picks on the little catfish if it comes out of hiding for too long.) Provide plenty of cover for both adults and babies and with good water quality and multiple small feedings a day you should get about 20 babies a month from each adult female. I start culling as soon as they start to show color, and 1/2 inch isn't much of a bite, but it is a nice supplement and really seems to excite my snakes.

[kibakiba]

Technically, you're not allowed to keep native garter snakes in Washington, however, I don't think many people on the forum care so much as long as you take care of them good. My little Tiny is about a month old and sprouted from 3 inches to almost 6 inches in that time frame. Northwesterns are pretty small, I own 4 of them and I have pictures on my thread if you'd like to see. I've never really had my snakes escape from me, but I've read from other forum members that they're commonly found around the sides of the wall. Northwesterns also eat forms if you can get any. Nightcrawlers are relatively easy to keep and don't require too much care, I leave some left over veggies and coffee grounds, bone meal and crushed eggshells in there and my snakes all love them! Northwestern garters make wonderful "owners" I've read that northwesterns actually don't take to pinkies that well, however, mine took them easily. I know where you're coming from, though, with not wanting to buy them. It is very expensive. Another thing you could feed them is filleted fish. Mine take coho salmon and tilapia, they all love it! You can get a months worth of food for around 5 dollars. I have 6 garter snakes, though and the salmon goes faster than anything.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you on the forum, Amber.
A good place to start on your garter snake journey would be the care sheet. Here's a link:
Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets
Any questions not answered on the care sheet feel free to post to the forum.
You've picked the best snake in the world to keep. They are a lot of fun and very interactive as a rule. Lots of begging for food and curiosity about everything you are doing.
Any wayward snakes I have had seem to get active after lights out.
You'll know the snake is still in the area when you find a shed skin or a small pile of poop. Keeping a small dish of water out for it is a good thing.
If the water dish is placed in a hard surface you can sprinkle flour around the dish to check for snake tracks.

[Stefan-A]

Technically, you're not allowed to keep native garter snakes in Washington, however, I don't think many people on the forum care so much as long as you take care of them good.

If I knew all local laws well enough to identify everybody who are keeping snakes illegally, or are using protected species as food items, and if I could do it consistently, I'd permban every last one of them.

[mustang]

Welcome!

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Amber

[gregmonsta]

Greetings

[mustang]

If I knew all local laws well enough to identify everybody who are keeping snakes illegally, or are using protected species as food items, and if I could do it consistently, I'd permban every last one of them.

yup! talk to ConcinnusMan
he lives in washington and has a bunch of garters!