San Francisco Garter Snake in captivity?

Hi all!

This is my first post in the colubrids area (I am a BP owner, so I usually hang out in that area).

I just had a question about the San Francisco Garter snake. When I was a kid, I lived by a creek in Minnesota, and would catch common garter snakes. I would keep them over the summer, and release them in early fall, since I wasn't bright enough to find food for them in the winter. Plus, my husbandry was so poor that they probably wouldn't have made it through a winter! :)

Anyway, I was always into books, and I was always researching things. So, I was very envious when I looked in the books and saw pictures of the San Francisco garter snake. What a beatiful animal!

So, I know they are endangered (or at least threatened). Are they illegal to keep? Are they difficult to keep in captivity? I would almost think that the DNR would try to catch a few and breed them and try to bring up the numbers.

Don't worry, I'm not planning a trip to San Franciso to try to catch one and keep as a pet. I'm just really interested in this subspecies and curious about whether or not they have been successfully kept in captivity or not.

Thanks,

George

They are successfully kept in captivity and have been for awhile - especially in Europe and Canada.

They are strictly protected in the U.S. and are listed as critically endangered under the Endangered Species Act. You need to go through miles of red tape to get a permit to own one.

I see them occasionally on the San Mateo County coast - around Ano Nuevo Park.

Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis are kept in the hobby and the locality variants - especially those from coastal Marin County - look very much like a tetrataenia.

Wow, they are pretty! I had to look it up, since I've never seen one before... I live in San Francisco, but they don't really frequent the city. ;)

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

They are successfully kept in captivity and have been for awhile - especially in Europe and Canada.

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Thanks for the info. But how is it that they can keep them in Europe and Canada?

-- George

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

Thanks for the info. But how is it that they can keep them in Europe and Canada?

-- George

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The Jersey Zoo got rid of it's old group and sold them to several European zoos. They were distributed over time to the private sector from there. There are captive breeding groups in England, Germany, the Netherlands and some other countries.

The Jersey Zoo originally got their SF garters from snakes that the FWS confiscated from smugglers in the 1980s - The FWS donated them to the zoo.

..........It's also possible some were smuggled out...........

There are no laws in Europe or Canada that prevent the ownership of these animals.

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

Thanks for the info. But how is it that they can keep them in Europe and Canada?

-- George

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Same reason that no one in the US can keep Asian aros but European and Canadian people can...................Government stupidity.

I found this online article http://www.gartersnake.info/articles...an_francis.php

Very informative. I guess it makes sense why we can't own these snakes in the states -- you could easily poach one of these beauties, and then say that you bought it legally from a breeder. And then before you know it they would be extinct.

Later,

George

I never knew what this snake looked like, but that is one cool looking snake!

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

I found this online article http://www.gartersnake.info/articles...an_francis.php

Very informative. I guess it makes sense why we can't own these snakes in the states -- you could easily poach one of these beauties, and then say that you bought it legally from a breeder. And then before you know it they would be extinct.

Later,

George

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Whether or not there numbers continue to dwindle has been debated for awhile and you can bone up on it on-line. Like I said, I can take you to places here where you can find them quite easily in the wild. Their numbers are being limited by the remaining areas in which they live - not by poaching - and many people will tell you that the wild population is stable.

The case that they could easily be poached with devastating effects to the wild population is purely speculative - has that happened to the Eastern and Texas Indigos? Is the threat to their existence in the wild being determined by poachers?

I believe that if you establish a captive breeding population, they will become as common in the pet trade as other garter snakes. Why go through the ordeal and risks of poaching a $50.00 animal in a protected reserve when they are readily available?

The SF Garter got into trouble because of the development of it's preferred habitat - not poaching.

Canadian and European breeders regularly get in excess of $1,500.00 and animal for these garters. The cynic in me says that they would be hurt indeed if the restrictions on owning these animals in the States were lifted - hurt in the wallet, that is.

I'm pretty sure I saw an article recently that the San Francisco Zoo was obtaining some of these from breeders in Europe and planned to breed them, and if things went well, they might start reintroducing them into the wild to try to get the numbers up.

It really is a shame it is illegal to keep them. If a few American breeders were allowed to import some from Europe and start introducing them into the pet trade, they would soon become readily available, and there would be no point for people to poach them out of the wild.