Quote Originally Posted by d_virginiana View Post
Okay, yes garters VERY occasionally interbreed in the wild where ranges overlap. This rarely happens, however. There are reasons for differentiation between species; in this case the reasons are primarily geographical and temporal (meaning that slight differences in timing of mating season and brumation could come into play keeping them separate in the wild as well).

It is a concern within the hobby, but also because basically anywhere in the continental US as well as parts of Canada, garters are native. Any escaped or released animals can interbreed with the wild ones in that area (even if they aren't native to it) contaminated the wild gene pool. I'm an ecologist, and that's really serious business that can cause negative effects in wild populations.
Then you should understand that keeping any garter snake that is not specific to your location is just as big a risk to native populations than a hybrid. I am not only talking about the right species but the locality as well. Unless you are breeding a specific locality to only other snakes of that locality with the intention of rereleasing them, then it comes down to entirely about personal preference. Even then if you are not collecting the animals yourself with enough experience to know the different species, then who knows what is in your bloodline.

If you are someone that prefers only "pure" blood snakes than you should probably be very careful who you purchase from. On the other hand I see no problem with someone being curious about hybrids and even breeding them as long as they are honest about it and are willing to deal with the offspring. Very few hybrids in my opinion are attractive so they may be difficult to sell.