Garter snakes are shy. They will generally avoid humans and animal contact and prefer to be left alone.[1]
How To Tell Garter Snake Species Washington
The scales are keeled. Differences in scale counts are important for distinguishing the three garter snakes in Washington. Common gartersnakes usually have 19 scales at mid-body, 7 upper labial scales and 10 lower labial scales. Occasionally, extra labial scales are present.[2]
How Do You Identify A Garter Snake?
Common garter snakes are highly variable in color pattern. They typically have three light stripes that run along the length of their body on a black, brown, gray, or olive background. The stripes can be white, yellow, blue, greenish, or brown.[3]
Are There Garter Snakes In Washington State?
The only subspecies of the western terrestrial garter snake found in Western Washington is the wandering garter snake T. e vagrans. The wandering garter snake has a narrow dull yellow dorsal stripe most often with black blotches that touch the dorsal stripe giving it a broken appearance.[4]
Are Puget Sound Garter Snakes Poisonous?
Garter snakes are among the most common snakes in North America, with a range spanning from Canada to Florida. Often kept as pets, they are relatively harmless, although some species do possess a mild neurotoxic venom. However, it is not dangerous to humans.[5]
How Big Do Garter Snakes Get In Western Washington?
It grows to 2 to 3 feet. The Western terrestrial garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) occurs in a wide variety of habitats and, despite its name, it spends a lot of time in water. This garter snake is usually gray-brown or black, with a dark, checkered pattern between yellow stripes.[6]
How To Garter Snake
How to Care for Your Garter Snake – Allan’s Pet Centerallanspetcenter.com › how-to-care-for-your-garter-snake[7]
How Do You Get Rid Of Garter Snakes?
How to Get Rid of Garter Snakes in My Garden?1Mow your lawn and remove leaves. This is one of the easiest home remedies to keep garter snakes away. … 2Remove food sources. Animals naturally like places with their favorite foods. … 3Build a fence. … 4Use garter snakes repellent. … 5Use garter snake trap.[8]
How Do You Lure A Garter Snake?
You may be surprised to learn that many gardeners go to great lengths to try to attract garter snakes! You can try to entice them by providing them with hiding places (stacked rocks, sheets of plywood, or stumps) and fresh water sources (such as shallow fountains or ground-level birdbaths).[9]
Are Garter Snakes For Beginners?
Garter Snakes make ideal pets, especially for beginners. They are generally docile, easy-to-care-for animals with easy housing and feeding requirements. If possible, it’s always better to purchase captive-bred specimens because they are easier to tame and handle.[10]
How Do You Pick Up A Garter Snake Without Getting Bit?
Try catching a garter snake by the tip of its tail. This may be harder, since they can slip out of your hands, but it’s possible to catch a garter snake by hand. Give garter snakes plenty of support. They may slide or crawl over your hands, but may also fall.[11]
How Often Should I Feed A Baby Garter Snake
Juvenile snakes can eat a combination of feeder guppies, minnows, earthworms and fish fillet pieces; feed the juvenile snakes every other day. Mature snakes should eat small rodents, such as mice or pinkies, but they only need food once a week. Avoid feeding your snake live mice to prevent any injuries to the snake.Oct 12, 2020[12]
How Often Should Garter Snakes Eat?
While captive garter snakes can be fed predominantly frozen thawed rodents, occasionally they can be offered other prey items such as earthworms, fresh whole feeder fish, frogs, or toads. Adult snakes can be fed once every 7-10 days. Immature, growing, or pregnant snakes should be fed every 4-5 days.[13]
Can You Keep A Baby Garter Snake As A Pet?
Garter Snakes make ideal pets, especially for beginners. They are generally docile, easy-to-care-for animals with easy housing and feeding requirements. If possible, it’s always better to purchase captive-bred specimens because they are easier to tame and handle.[14]
How Often Do You Feed A California Red-Sided Garter Snake
Diet & Water
Adult garter snakes can be fed once every two weeks as they can become overweight if fed weekly.[15]
How Often Should I Feed My Garter Snake?
While captive garter snakes can be fed predominantly frozen thawed rodents, occasionally they can be offered other prey items such as earthworms, fresh whole feeder fish, frogs, or toads. Adult snakes can be fed once every 7-10 days. Immature, growing, or pregnant snakes should be fed every 4-5 days.[16]
What Does A Red Sided Garter Snake Eat?
Red-sided garter snakes consume primarily amphibians, fish, and earthworms. The abundance of red-sided garter snakes is mostly unknown. In Colorado, they are listed as a Species of Concern and a Tier 2 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (CPW 2015).[17]
Can You Keep A California Red-Sided Garter Snake As A Pet?
Red Sided Garter Snakes are easy to care for and make great pets for those who want a smaller sized snake that doesn’t eat mice.May 27, 2014[18]
What Do California Garter Snakes Eat?
Their diet consists of almost any creature they are capable of overpowering: slugs, earthworms (nightcrawlers, as red wigglers are toxic to garter snakes), leeches, lizards, amphibians (including frog eggs), minnows, and rodents. When living near water they will eat other aquatic animals.[19]
How To Deter Garter Snake
7 Ways to Get Rid of Garter SnakesTrim your bushes and mow your lawn.Remove objects and debris from your yard.Remove any sources of food for the snakes.Get chickens.Use snake repellent.Trap and relocate the snakes.Build a snake fence.[20]
What Smell Deters Garter Snakes?
Ammonia: Snakes dislike the odor of ammonia so one option is to spray it around any affected areas. Another option is to soak a rug in ammonia and place it in an unsealed bag near any areas inhabited by snakes to deter them away.[21]
What Deters Snakes From Coming Around?
Natural repellents including sulfur, clove and cinnamon oil, and vinegar may help repel snakes. Pour these substances around the perimeter of your property, any place you have noticed snake activity.[22]
Why Do I Keep Seeing Garter Snakes In My Yard?
When not resting, these snakes prefer moist, grassy areas and are often found near water, such as streams and lakes. They also like areas that provide cover, so if your yard has piles of debris, such as rocks, logs, boards or dense vegetation, you are more likely to have a garter snake infestation.[23]
Why Is The Garter Snake The State Reptile Of Massasachusets
Massachusetts State Reptile | Garter Snakestatesymbolsusa.org › symbol-official-item › state-reptile › garter-snake[24]
What Is The Massachusetts State Reptile?
The Garter Snake became the official reptile of the Commonwealth on January 3, 2007.[25]
Why Is The Garter Snake Important?
Garter snakes are important animals to have around because they eat pests such as slugs and rodents. While they are not dangerous to humans, they do have a rear fang that excretes venom as they swallow their prey.[26]
Are Garter Snakes In Massachusetts?
Eastern Garter Snakes are common and easy to locate in Massachusetts! In fact, they are typically the snake species that people come across the most. They are well-adapted to living around people and can often be found in city parks, farmland, cemeteries, and suburban lawns and gardens.[27]
Is A Garter Snake A Reptile?
Garter snakes are reptiles. They are found in many places in the United States.[28]
Why Garter Snake Eat Toxic California Newt
Snakes slither past toxic newts in evolving race – Stanford Newsnews.stanford.edu › news › march12 › newts-031208[29]
Why Do Garter Snakes Eat Newts?
The snakes have evolved resistance to the blowfish poison, tetrodotoxin (TTX), by preying on rough-skinned newts, which also secrete the toxin. Some newts are so poisonous that they harbor enough TTX to kill a roomful of adult humans. Why would a small animal produce such an excessive amount of poison?Mar 12, 2008[30]
Resources
[1]https://www.bugtech.com/garter-snakes/
[2]https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/thamnophis-sirtalis
[3]http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Thamnophis_sirtalis/
[4]https://www.wildernesscollege.com/garter-snakes.html
[5]https://www.livescience.com/44072-garter-snake.html
[6]https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/living/snakes
[7]https://allanspetcenter.com/how-to-care-for-your-garter-snake/
[8]https://www.floridayards.org/get-rid-of-garter-snakes-without-killing-them/
[9]https://www.wikihow.com/Catch-a-Garter-Snake
[10]https://petkeen.com/are-garter-snakes-good-pets/
[11]https://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Garter-Snake
[12]https://allanspetcenter.com/how-to-care-for-your-garter-snake/
[13]https://www.petmd.com/reptile/species/garter-snake
[14]https://petkeen.com/are-garter-snakes-good-pets/
[15]https://www.reptilecentre.com/info-garter-snake-care-sheet
[16]https://www.petmd.com/reptile/species/garter-snake
[17]https://cnhp.colostate.edu/download/documents/cwic_docs/CPWSpeciesProfiles/CPWProfiles_RedSidedGarterSnake.pdf
[18]https://www.timsreptiles.co.za/colubrids/garter-snakes/red-sided-garter-snake-care-sheet
[19]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_snake
[20]https://dengarden.com/gardening/How-to-Get-Rid-of-Garter-Snakes-Without-Killing-Them-7-Tried-and-True-Ways
[21]https://www.callnorthwest.com/2019/04/home-remedies-to-keep-snakes-away/
[22]https://smithspestmanagement.com/blog/post/how-to-get-rid-of-snakes/
[23]https://www.havahart.com/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-garter-snakes
[24]https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/massachusetts/state-reptile/garter-snake
[25]https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm
[26]https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/family/2021/03/01/wnc-nature-center-notes-garter-snakes-important-part-ecosystem/6764799002/
[27]https://birdwatchinghq.com/garter-snakes-in-massachusetts/
[28]https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/garter-snake-fast-facts.htm
[29]https://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/march12/newts-031208.html
[30]https://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/march12/newts-031208.html