So sorry about your loss. Thanks for all your efforts. It's really difficult to bring these little guys back to health after such horrendous injuries and illnesses. It's always a good idea to start with healthy individuals from breeders. We have several breeders right here on the forum to sell you high quality, healthy garters. I know the easy thing is to go herping and collect wild reptiles but that is often frought with problems and may or may not be very disappointing. Captive born and bred are a healthier animal, and have the ability to be long time pets over the wild caught. Just something to consider for the future.