Care Sheet for Garter Snakes and Ribbon SnakesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.33 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 01/23/2006 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | Garter Snakes and Ribbon Snakes |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Joshsnakeman |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Eastern Garter Snake |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Most types of garter snakes, excluding more western species or aquatic species. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | There are 3 ways to sex garter snakes.
1)Appearance- males will have a thicker base of tail after the vent. With females, it tapers off after 1-3 scales.
2)Popping- this only works on young snakes. Popping consists of gently rubbing the tail base towards the cloaca. with males, the hemipenes will pop out. This should only be done by a herp vet, or someone very experienced with this method.
3) Probing-probing is taking a very small surgical probe and gently pushing it in the vent towards the tail. With females it will only go about 2-3 scale lengths, with males it will go farther.
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Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Good substrates for garters include aspen, newspaper, paper towel, reptile carpet, and reptibark
Bad substrates are sand and other small particulate substrates, and cedar and pine (and other aromatic substrates).
Water should be provided in a large bowl, as garters do enjoy swimming or just sitting in the water. It should be replaced every few days, or whenever the snake defecates in it.
Remember that the substrate should stay dry at all times. If the garter does not have access to dry substrates, it may acquire skin problems. |
Lighting and UVB: | Garter snakes are diurnal (active in the day) so I think that they need some sort of lighting. Lighting can also serve its purpose by creating a photo-period. Without lighting, many breeders will say that they don’t have as much success.
Garter snakes do not need UVB. If some of the diurnal species have access to it, however, then they might have brighter colors. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Temps for garter snakes vary throughout the seasons. For most of the year, temperatures by the warmest area should be around 85 degrees. The coolest end can be anywhere from 70 to 75 degrees, and the ambient temperature should stay around 80 degrees.
High humidity isn’t necessary with garter snakes. 30-50% will suffice. You can provide a "humid hide" though. This is usually a Tupperware container with a hole cut in the side, large enough for the snake to squeeze in. Inside, place damp sphagnum moss. The snake will go in their prior to shedding, to loosen their skin. |
Heating and Equipment: | UTHs (Under Tank Heaters) are my preferred method of heating. Most come with a paper backing you can peel off. You then stick the UTH under the tank. It should cover about 1/3 to 1/2 of the bottom of the cage.
Others use heat tape. I have never used it, but it is similar to a UTH.
Hot rocks are not recommended. First, they are impractical. Very rarely will you see a snake on a hot rock. They would rather be secure in a hide. Second, many can have hot spots, and reach very high temperatures.
Lighting is not the best way to heat the tank either. First, you cannot control the light to make it only provide heat to one side of the tank. Unless it is very large, the beam will spread out over the whole tank and may cook the snake. Second, garter snakes need to digest their food with heat from underneath.
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Caging Provided: | For baby garters, a 5 gallon long Tupperware may house several snakes. Juveniles need about 10 gallons of space each, and most adults do best with at least 20 gallons. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | The best diet for garters would be an all mice diet. Mice have the full nutrition and can be kept frozen for months at a time.
If your snake will not eat mice, you can try to scent it using a worm or fish and rubbing the mouse with it.
Some snakes will not eat mice no matter what you do and will only accept fish or worms. If feeding worms, it should be done more frequently (every 3-4 days). Worms don’t offer complete nutrition, and need to be dusted with calcium at every other feeding. Fish (fed every 5 days) have more nutrition, but still need to be supplemented at every other feeding with calcium and vitamin powder.
Stay away from feeding your garter snake oily fish because they are high in thiamine, which cause B1 deficiency. This can cause neurological problems, and could even lead to death. Some examples of bad feeder fish are goldfish and whitefish.
Don’t feed your snake every day, as there are some individuals who do overeat and usually have a shorter life. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | If feeding mice, no supplements are necessary.
If feeding worms and/or mice, supplement the food with calcium and vitamins every week or so. |
Maintenance: | Spot clean the cage every week. Refill the water dish every day or every 2 days. Replace the substrate and thoroughly rinse out the tank with a mild vinegar solution every month. |
Some Words on this Species: | Garter snakes are very common snakes and usually available in stores for under 20$. They are an exciting species to watch(especially at feeding time) and most captive bred ones will become quite handlable. |
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