General Care
Most garter snakes will do fine at room temperature, but adding a heat source either an overhead heat lamp or belly heat via heat tape, cable or pad; will aid digestion. A temperature gradient from one end of the enclosure to the other of between 70-75F on the cool end to 80-85F on the warm end, with a basking area of 85-90 is ideal for optimal growth and activity. If brumating in the winter; this should be done at 45-60 degrees. These temperatures do not have to be exact as garters can survive in a wide range of temperatures; in fact many keepers house their garters at room temperature without any extra heat. If using an overhead heat lamp it is important to provide adequate humidity, as the lamp will quickly dry out the enclosure.
It is important to maintain normal humidity of at least 30%, to promote healthy skin shedding, while still maintaining good air circulation. The substrate however should remain dry; if the enclosure is kept damp it will encourage fungal and bacterial growth which can cause disease. They like to burrow, so usually a light, thick, absorbent substrate of some type is used. Aspen, potting soil, bark, paper pellets, wood pulp pellets, and paper "crumbles" like Carefresh are some of the popular substrates that are used. Regardless of which substrate is used it will need to be completely changed frequently as garters defecate often due to their high metabolism rate.
Garters can be housed in glass terrariums, wooden cages with glass fronts, or plastic tubs in a rack system. Garters can be kept separately or in small groups and this is a highly debated subject. It is a personal choice that the keeper must make. Even so, there are reasons to keep them in separate housing; preventing accidental eating of one another, preventing hybrids if different species were to be housed together, maintaining integrity of sexual and genotype identity for breeding purposes, keeping good data records, and for maintaining better individual hygiene and sanitation.
Garters will eat worms, frogs, guppies, trout, salmon and other fish readily. However goldfish and rosies should be avoided as they contain high amounts of the enzyme thiaminase which can cause a deficiency of vitamin B1 (Thiamine), and can be fatal. Garter snakes can also be conditioned to eat F/T (frozen and then thawed) mice thru the use of scenting, the advantage to feeding whole mice is that they are nutritionally complete. If fed a diet of strictly fish pieces, the pieces will need occasional dusting with a vitamin and mineral supplement. They like to swim in a pan or pond of water and the water should be changed frequently as they sometimes defecate in it. It is also a good idea to provide some type of hide (a place for the snake to hide and feel secure). This can be something natural like a hollow log, or something as simple as a plant pot tray turned over with an entrance hole cut in the side or top.
If these basic needs are met, garters will thrive and can be kept quite easily in captivity. They are inexpensive to feed and house and stay relatively small. They will usually become very tame with regular handling. Due to their diurnal nature (active during the day) it is convenient and fun to observe their behaviors. Garter snakes appear to be very alert and intelligent making them a favorite pet snake.
My Care Practices and Recommendations
The Yearly Cycle of Life
When babies are born in my care the entire litter is placed together in a large plastic tub lined on the bottom with damp paper towels. Garter snakes are said to be born "live" as opposed to most snakes that lay eggs which then incubate outside the female. Garters actually have eggs that are fertilized and then incubated inside the female; the scientific term for this is ovoviviparous. Some people prefer to use the term "pregnant" over "gravid" to describe the female since garters do not actually LAY eggs, either term is excepted, but I prefer to use gravid, as pregnant is generally used for mammals and gravid is more commonly used for reptiles.
At the time of birth the babies are not enclosed in a white eggshell, but rather a clear amniotic sac, which they break thru just before, right at, or quickly after birth. Usually right after birth or within the first day or so they will all shed. Next they are popped to determine sex. They will be popped several times over the next couple weeks to confirm the sex. This has proven to be a very safe and accurate method of sexing garter snakes.
After initial sexing they are placed in tubs of small groups based on same sex and species. After a couple days the newborns are offered their first meal of cut up baby nightcrawler and/or cut feeder fish. For the first couple weeks they are offered food every couple days, gradually cut up pieces of pinky mice are mixed in. The goal is to get them eating a mouse diet and completely independent from the fish as soon as possible. This greatly reduces their chances of acquiring parasites, and bacterial or fungal pathogens.
A feeder fish can be a very stressed out disease infected animal. A small fish tank can be kept going, just to quarantine the guppies that are brought home from the pet shop for a few weeks, to help "weed out" the sick ones and minimize the risks. I breed guppies during the off season to have a good stable supply going into the start of the garter birthing season.
After a couple months of feeding on cut pinkie parts they can gradually be switched to whole extra small day old pinkies. Once they are feeding on pinkies they can be fed less frequently, say every 4-5 days. Using frozen/thawed mice is very convenient, and used in combination with occasional worms or cut fish will provide a varied and complete diet. However, I will also occationally dust the rodents with a vitamin/mineral supplement just to be sure. Once they get to the point where they will eagerly eat 2 pinkies they are bumped up to the next size mouse, ect. ect.
During this peak growth time they are eating frequently and they are also drinking and pooping often, so the water is changed daily, and the tubs are frequently (sometimes twice a week) thoroughly cleaned. I like to get all of the babies up to a decent size and eating whole pinkies by fall, and once they are to this point they are pretty much "bullet proof" and are in good shape to survive the upcoming rigors of winter brumation; slower metabolism, fasting, and challenges to their digestive and immune system.
Adult males are kept in the 15 qt. tubs unless they get really big, and the adult females are kept in 28 qt. tubs, both in rack systems, equipped with Flexwatt heat tape. I run the tape at about 90-95 degrees and that creates a good heat gradient within the tub of 68-75 on cold end to 80-90 on hot end depending on the season.
During the spring when the females are gravid, yet the ambient room temp is still on the cool side I run the heat tape a bit hotter about 95-100 since they are basking most of the time and this added basking heat helps the developmental process, and has worked well for me. This may seem on the hot side but if you take a heat gun to a rock in the spring out in the strong spring sun you will find that it gets much hotter than that. The ambient temperature in my basement gets as low as 58-62 in the winter months (though it is much colder than that on the concrete area in the storage room) and then gets up to 80-84 in August, but is in the low to mid 70s for most of the year. I do unplug the heat tape during the month of August if the basement maintains a constant ambient temperature in the low 80's and then also unplug the heat for brumation in the winter months. The tempgun, (which can be purchased at Pro Exotics- see links page) is an invaluable tool to have and will allow you to know exactly what the temps are in your enclosures, and monitor the animal's temps as well; every snake keeper should own one.
In the late fall, usually in November/December the snakes will gradually stop feeding and will become completely inactive, the trigger of the shortening days from the open view of the outside window in my snake room combined by the steady ambient temperature drop, as well as unplugging the heat tape, cause the snakes to go into brumation. It is important that they have not fed in at least 2-3 weeks before the heat tape is unplugged, otherwise any undigested food will "rot" in their gut, which can lead to a serious internal bacterial infection, and can be fatal.
Then in sometime in January/February when the days start to get longer again, the heat tape is plugged back in and gets them quickly feeding again and interested in breeding, especially after the first shed. Then a few sheds later (approx. 90 days) we start the whole cycle of life over again when babies are born. Spring is without a doubt a snake breeder's most exciting time of the year. During the spring they are fed every 4-5 days, with the females eating bigger meals and more consistently with a voracious appetite, however the males may go off feed. After the breeding season the males will begin to feed well again. Then after the babies are born and the females are eating well again, the adults will go on a maintenance diet to keep from becoming obese and they will be fed every 7-10 days. The adult females are generally fed small mice and the adult males are fed fuzzie mice.
Environmental Health and Maintenance
All of the tubs are cleaned once a week, two weeks at the longest if I am really too busy and have to skip a week. The process of cleaning means removing and disposing of all the substrate, then scrubbing the tubs with water and plain old liquid hand soap and a paper towel or toothbrush to remove all traces of fecal material. Good old fashioned elbow grease with soap and water are very under-rated. Scrubbing of all surfaces and every "nook and cranny" with soap followed by thorough rinsing with water and drying will effectively physically remove most contaminants, bacterial and viral pathogens.
Think of it this way, if you physically remove most of the "dirt" and other contaminants, there isn't much need to disinfect. While no method of sanitizing is 100% perfect (we aren't sterilizing our enclosures in an autoclave) the goal is to reduce numbers to close to zero so to reduce or effectively eliminate the threat of infections. This method can be very effective at making the enclosure TRUELY CLEAN AND SAFE if done so on a consistent, routine basis.
Often times soaking in bleach becomes a lazy substitute for scrubbing and physically removing "poop", so a 10-15 minute soak in bleach may not work into the core of the "dirt" to really do its job effectively and you actually end up with a less than clean object with toxic bleach residue left behind. Caution should be exercised if using the sometimes recommended 10% bleach solution as it can be a very dangerous and harmful to a snake if not properly rinsed away, not to mention it can potentially be harmful to people and clothes, carpet, and other pets like cats and dogs that may run loose in the house, and 10% bleach use weekly is simply not necessary.
However as a periodic preventative maintenance routine I recommend and personally perform a disinfecting twice a year, once in the late spring after babies are born and again in late fall just before brumation. After cleaning the tubs with soap and rinsing with water, I then spray the tubs with a weak dilute bleach solution (appox. 1% bleach), let set for at least 15 minutes, followed by thorough rinsing. I will also wipe out the rack shelves with water soaked paper towel, using a new paper towel per shelf. If you have any non-plastic objects or objects that cannot be cleaned or sanitized they should be discarded and replaced periodically or as needed when they become "dirty". The important thing is to CONSISTENTLY keep your animals environment clean and healthy, and keep your animals as stress free as possible; this goes a long way to PREVENTING illness problems.
In addition to maintaining good health and hygiene, I also have a theory that frequent cleaning of the tubs may contribute to increased growth rates. This stems from my prior experience in fish breeding. With aquariums, performing frequent large percentage water changes promotes more rapid growth rates in addition to improved overall fish health. So in theory, more frequent and thorough cleaning of the snake enclosure may also stimulate increased activity, feeding and pooping, ULTIMATELY INCREASING METABOLISM AND GROWTH RATES. We have all noticed the first a snake does when you put them back in a cleaned cage is roam around a lot (exercise), and what else? poop...and if they poop they are ready to eat again. A little breeder theory/tip, take it for what it's worth.
Another good practice that is very important in maintaining the health and hygiene of a snake collection is to wash your hands before and after handling an animal as well as in between handling individuals, a practice that I follow religiously. For more important information and recommendations on health and safety caring for reptiles visit the CDC's webpage by clicking on the link http://cdc.gov/HEALTHYPETS/pdf/reptile_petscription.pdf
It's a good idea to limit the number of people that enter the snake room and the number of people that handle the snakes to prevent introducing any new "bugs" including the infamous snake mite. It is essential to have a quarantine area to keep and observe any newly acquired snakes for a period of time (usually 3-6 months minimum) before introducing to your main collection. All of these practiced are personally followed in my snake room for the sake of the health and safety of all of my animals and as well as for the health and safety of myself and anyone who visits my home.
Keeping the stress low is one of the most important factors in snakes healthy, or any animal for that matter including people. I have observed that my snakes know and trust me, and are relaxed when I handle them, but they are not with other people, so limiting the number of people around your snakes and limiting the amount of handling within reason, balancing their needs for seclusion and privacy with your needs to "enjoy" them. I have been experimenting with putting the adults outside on the weekends in the summer and fall in large outdoor screened in cages to allow them to get some fresh air and sunshine. The hope is that they will receive some health benefits, as well as mental wellness from being outside. They seem to get a lot of exercise when outside, which is definitely good for their health and well being.
The goal with all snake keeping methods is to keep your animals in a clean, healthy environment, as stress free as possible, and meeting all of their basic needs. A low stressed animal, living in a clean cage, with all of its needs met, is a healthy, problem free animal. There are many different ways to raise a garter snake with great success. Derived from my many years of personal experience and research, including interviewing many other seasoned snake breeders, the practices outlined above have proven to be effective for keeping and breeding garter snakes. I hope this page will help you the reader be successful as well, but the way I approach it is that there are no absolutes and every day is a new experiment, so my practices and recommendations next year may be different than this year....keep learning.
