Cohabbing garter snakes

I got a male albino checkered garter snake hatchling back in March and have since fallen in love with the genus. When I first got my lil Draco, he was 3g eating pinky thirds, and now just four months later is 12g eating whole pinkies like a champ. I got him pretty early on in the season and since garters do better in groups, fully intended to purchase 1-2 more males to cohab with him. Now that there are finally garter snake hatchlings available on morph market, however, I am concerned because of the size difference. I had no idea Draco would grow so fast. Would it be safe to house a small hatchling with him? If not, at what age/size would it be acceptable to do so? I understand there is always a small risk but seeing as garters are social, it’s a risk I’m willing to take (within reason, of course). If anyone has experience cohabbing garters I’d greatly appreciate some info. Thanks!

I've never kept garter snakes but I'd be afraid to house them together if there's much of a size difference. Even snakes that don't normally prey on other snakes
may sometimes just "be predators" & even kill a mate* (instead of breeding) in a captive situation. (*seen it with a pair of c.b. amel "black" rat snakes) I've seen
garters feeding, & like most other snakes, they get really wound up going after motion.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I've never kept garter snakes but I'd be afraid to house them together if there's much of a size difference.

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That’s what I was worried about. They’re very sexually dimorphic in terms of size so I wasn’t too concerned but seeing as mine is presumably 4x the size of a hatchling, I think I’m better off initially housing them separately. At what size (or size difference ratio) do you think it would be safe to introduce them?

I really don't know...you should wait for the input of others that have experience keeping them. This being a holiday, might be a while, lol.

Check out snake discovery on YouTube. She did a video on it and I want to say it’s addressed in it.

If there’s a large size difference, it’s best to house them separately. It shouldn’t take too long for them to be similar in size. If they’re close, just make sure you watch them while they’re eating. They’re like children and always want to eat what’s in the other guy’s mouth even if there’s a bowl full of food.


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Here’s a few I keep together https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d3273769e5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4191380927.jpg


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They look really cute snuggled together...but I know looks can be deceiving, when it comes to snakes...'safety first'!

I've never gotten around to keeping garter snakes, but not because they didn't appeal to me, just not enough hours in the days.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

They look really cute snuggled together...but I know looks can be deceiving, when it comes to snakes...'safety first'!

I've never gotten around to keeping garter snakes, but not because they didn't appeal to me, just not enough hours in the days.

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Garters are underrated. They’re one of the few types of snake where cohabbing is acceptable; in fact, many people say they do better when cohabbed rather than alone. They’re also diurnal and love to come out in the day and bask under a lamp. They also take a lot of different foods like nightcrawlers, fish and mice.


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Originally Posted by BPGator

Garters are underrated. They’re one of the few types of snake where cohabbing is acceptable; in fact, many people say they do better when cohabbed rather than alone. They’re also diurnal and love to come out in the day and bask under a lamp. They also take a lot of different foods like nightcrawlers, fish and mice.


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I love the more lively snakes anyway...BPs are not my thing (shh!), I've always been more into colubrids etc. (I've had BPs too though, in the past.)

Their diet was why I didn't get into them years ago...working full time with a house full of snakes + raising my own rodents, I didn't want to add any snakes that needed
a different diet that I had to go get from the store...my time was just too stretched as it was. But I think garters are adorable & I love finding them in my back yard now
& then. I love the toads too...

Probably not much different than keeping a male/female adult pair together, minus breeding activity, and that size discrepancy will diminish over time. My female infernalis is massive compared to my male and they are housed together. They will try to steal food from each other so I always make sure to get them eating simultaneously with a backup morsel in case one finishes far ahead of the other to keep them occupied. You'll learn which is your faster/greedier feeder pretty quick so you can always give that one a slightly larger meal or offer it sideways to slow them down a bit. As they're very visual critters, I can even use my finger to lure the first one done away from the other without much trouble. I'm always a little surprised when my male doesn't get gobbled up during pregnancy as the female's greed for food increases tenfold. Just supervise feeding closely and I doubt you'll have any issues. I also raise newborns(Thamnophis give live birth - viviparous) in groups as I find them easier to get feeding consistently on prepared diet this way. There's definitely a competitive streak with these snakes when it comes to food. Once one hits the feeding station, everyone in the vicinity is usually close to follow.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cbb646e738.jpg


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cbb646e738.jpg


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What species is the dark one?


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They’re gorgeous! Love the melanistic. I would give my left arm to have a leucistic garter too but I don’t think anyone works with them anymore.

In other news, I think I’m going to wait to see if they have any garters at the reptile super show next week (doubtful but fingers crossed) and if not, I’ll just order a couple hatchlings to raise together and introduce to Draco once they’re past their fragile stage.

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Originally Posted by BPGator

What species is the dark one?


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I just called it a Black Garter snake but as someone just said it’s a Melanistic garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis).

Sadly I had to part with them as I drastically reduced my collection size from 24 to 7 :(

The Black male had a great time with the three sisters , though . They seemed to enjoy playing ‘tigg’ or ‘kiss catch’ ( uk games lol)


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Just found this old shot :)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9771b6ccb4.jpg


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