Care Sheet for Garter Snakes and Ribbon SnakesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 0 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 04/22/2007 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | Garter Snakes and Ribbon Snakes |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Inferno14 |
Years Experience: | 10 to 15 Years |
Species: | Canadian garter snakes |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | any other garter snake species and ribbon snakes |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males often have longer tail lengths while females are short and stubby. you may get your snake probed or popped by a PROFESSIONAL! if you try to do it yourself you may cause injury to your pet snake!!!!! |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Never use a pine or cedar substrate for these are EXTREMELY toxic to snakes!! a suitable and cheap substrate could be aspen snake bedding, cypress mulch, moss, paper (including newspaper) or towels. i use an aspen and moss mixture to hold humidity. try to stay away from sand substrates. i had to use sand for a day and it seamed to irritate the snake causing him to stay in his water bowl for a while until i got back from the store with more aspen.
changing the water daily or whenever it is soiled is a MUST!!! garters tend to soak in their water and also use it as a personal toilet! algae and salmonella producing bacteria, if given the chance, will grow in the bowl, so changing the water daily would benefit both you and your snake. make sure no water spills, because this may produce mold in some substrates if not wiped up or scooped away. water often contains a harmful chemical called chlorine in it that can harm your snakes. i would recommend using some sort of reptile water cleaning product, like repti-safe.
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Lighting and UVB: | Lighting is not exactly essential, but it is certainly beneficial. it brings out more vivid colorations and hugely effects activeness. it seems to bring out natural behavior in the snakes and also simulates night/day. timers are especially useful if you have lights that need to be shut off. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | Temperatures should be anywhere from 70F to 85F. you should have one end of the tank, being the hottest, at 85F-100F and the other side of the tank, being the coolest, at 75F-70F. you can allow temperatures during the night fall to at least 70F-65F.
you should lightly mist the tank daily (once a day) to keep up a steady environment. BEWARE: too much humidity and moisture in the tank could result in tragic blisters or fluidy nostrils for your snake!!!!! try too mist lightly once a day or maybe even every other day. |
Heating and Equipment: | These reptiles do not need much equipment. the basics are a heat pad, a 20 gallon tank (for one to two snakes), maybe a lamp, a bulb (can be heat bulb-do not use both heat lamp and heat pad if you have a small 10 gallon tank. may cause overheating and overall making your herp very stressed. |
Caging Provided: | I provide my two garter snakes with a 20 gallon terrarium. i also provide aspen bedding as a substrate mixed with sphagnum moss. you should have some sort of water bowl large enough for the snake to completely submerge itself in. plants and plenty of places to hide is also something to stress. garters are very active, and if there is not enough room and places to explore they could become obese (yes, that is possible). |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Garters commonly eat pinkie mice, worms, feeder fish, amphibians, and maybe some insects. use of feeder fish is ok, but the only kind you should buy are either guppies or rosey reds, for goldfish could carry diseases and are more of a junk food for your snake. the best thing for your snakes would be to use pinkie mice, for they are rich in all the essentials for snakes. they are rich in calcium, fat, and others... |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Supplements are not needed when feeding pinkies. if you are using something else, you should lightly dust the food. try using the shake-and-bake method. you put the food item(s) in a bag/container, add the calcium powder and shake it all up! |
Maintenance: | These snakes are generally easy to care for, but just because of this you should not think that all you need to do is feed them and change their water. because garters and ribbon snakes have fast metabolisms they digest food faster and therefor go to the bathroom more often. you should always clean up after them. this includes scooping out the infected area (and the poo). you should change the water every day or when ever it gets soiled. you should completely change the substrate and replace it at the end of the week or month, either one. i would also recommend giving furniture a complete wash down. i find that using and old toothbrush, warm/hot water, and a good reptile disinfectant or maybe just some ordinary anti-bacterial soap does the job well. you could also use a sponge or face cloth. |
Some Words on this Species: | If you are a beginner or just someone out there that wants a snake, garter snakes are a must! they are easily handleable (if handled properly) and are generally docile. they can be quick, so don’t let go of one if you want to handle it! most have a very good feeding response, and adapt to new places and handling very quickly. a VERY good choice in pet! most people don’t like them because they consider them to be BEGINNER SNAKES, but i don’t care, i have been catching them outside since the age of three and i’m not about to stop now! |
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