Personally, I've never found a wild garter snake with mites. Plenty of pet store ones though. Found ticks on gopher snakes though, and on lizards in the Southwest.

Quote Originally Posted by Eight View Post
I've been wondering about this myself a lot. I think it all comes down to if your taking specimens that won't affect the local population. To take specimens and endanger the local population should be a crime. Saying that I have been toying with the idea of locating a decent population of local grass snakes, taking a couple to breed and then releasing them at the same time the following year, but only if it won't effect the local population.
we can never really know if there is an effect or not but i suspect that the population will do just fine in spite of me having taken a few. rounding up every snake i can find just to sell them however, is another matter. unfortunately, in some states this is legal.

But virtually all wild garters carry nematodes and/or tapeworms so i do deworm them regardless. They do much better in the long term if i do.