A Million Bajillion Garters (HUGE DUW!)

I whittled 500 pictures of my garters down to 81. This took me three days to photograph, delete, crop and such... I like the plain white background because now, you get to view my snakes as true to life as I can possibly get. The real difference is the bulbs I used for lighting, those reveal ones from GE give you very good color results and do not give any kind of cast to the photos, so very little altering is needed and it's a real time saver.

I hope you enjoy! My favorite group of shots is my similis, cause hes so darned mean, which makes for great shots with attitude!


The first group I will show off are very special and dear to my heart, my "morph" easterns that I have collected from the wild myself. These are without a doubt my favorite garters ever... as they each have a story behind them, and without my awesome boyfriend I would have none of them. There is nothing like being so lucky as to find such amazing specimens! Sometimes I ask myself... why me? How was I so lucky?! The hypo was enough, but then last year, finding the flame after making my boyfriend move ALL those tires with no results until the last one, made me feel humbled!

Here is my "hypo" (sometimes i dont know what to call it) female, Most of you have heard lots about her, and this year my male eastern is trying with all of his little heart to breed her. he never stops so I am REALLY hoping she will produce this year. She produced a small clutch of the summer I found her, 3 babies just did not thrive and the remaining 1.1 freakishly died together... how upsetting that was...

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894174.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894176.jpg

And now is my juvenile female flame. I also have two CB flames from Scott Felzer, unrelated as well. I am going to look for a male on the same farm this year to breed her, I would like to keep her bloodline pure, just think, a whole 'nother line of flame! (it would be nice to find one of her siblings up there, if there is on flame there has got to be more!) What I love about it is how the red contrasts against the greenish blue of the top of her! Her belly is very red also!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894115.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894119.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894120.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894121.jpg

Next is Marigold, my orange-blushed girlie. also caught on the same day as my flame on the farm. The first time, she got away when I went to grab a pile of 6 huge females, me and my boyfriend looked at each other like WAIT WHERES THE ORANGE ONE! Went back to the tire an hour later to put the other females back after photographing, and she was there!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894109.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894113.jpg

here is my Rusty red female, Also collected on the farm. She produced half normal babies, half that had red labial markings and odd coloration. Sadly, NONE of her babies that i held onto thrived.. they pretty much refused to eat and digest their food.. not sure why that was but hopefully it is not genetic.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894103.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894104.jpg

Now, for the rest of my T.s. Sirtalis!
Male Carteret County Erythristic Het Schuett Albino

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894043.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894044.jpg

The Female
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894048.jpg

Here is an updated picture two months later - the male is getting really red and the female is now on her way!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5773020.jpg

Female Florida Blue
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894098.jpg

Male Florida Blue
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894091.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894087.jpg

Male Eastern.... nicknamed Humper fo his ongoing attempts at my hypo female LOL!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894178.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894179.jpg

Normal female, sibling to the previous male, these were supposed to be checkereds but the guy was misinformed!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894202.jpg

Olivia, my youngest brother drake found he dehydrated and almost dead in a field, and he brought her to me. I spoon-fed her water in order to save her life, and my brother insisted that she stays with us and she is "his" snake. Will probably use her to breed to the male flame.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894209.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894211.jpg

Brighteyes, my second lawnmower survivor (Stubby my other has passed away), found her with deep wounds to her back that were only covered by a thin layer of "Skin"... she's very dark, after I healed her wounds I set her free only to have my brothers find her and bring her back to me a month or two later. Boy was I suprised to see her again! Now... she is here to stay... she enjoys being handed pinkies way too much
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894227.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894223.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894232.jpg

a portion of her scars
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894221.jpg

My female flame Orangeness, from Scott
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894132.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894134.jpg

My male flame Orangetime (yes I realize hes not orange but its an inside joke) from Scott (sadly he has recently passed away)

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894143.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894144.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894148.jpg

Next up is all of my Radix's!

Male anery het both amel strains, I have two of these but the other was in shed!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894013.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894015.jpg


Female Nebraska amel

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894018.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894020.jpg

Radish, normal female
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894151.jpg

Red female I grabby handed at a show for $20
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894157.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894158.jpg

HUGE normal female
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894165.jpg

the male
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894172.jpg

Okay, now for the Checkered's!

Marcy, Normal Female, ugly in shed and cranky! She is normally so much lighter than this...!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894022.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894029.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894033.jpg

Female Double het granite/amel
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894049.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894052.jpg

the male
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894053.jpg

Now for the Odd's n End's
Eastern Blacknecks, the best looking normal garters there are

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894057.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894068.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894070.jpg

Male Similis
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894072.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894076.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894077.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894080.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894086.jpg

adult male high black concinnus

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894182.jpg

juvi female high blacks
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894193.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894196.jpg

These looked a lot like fitchii as babies but I beleive them to be concinnus now.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894197.jpg

Bluebie, female puget
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894243.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894246.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894253.jpg

2.1 butleri
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894254.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894255.jpg

2.1 hypermelanistic vagrans
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894258.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894259.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894261.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894266.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894267.jpg

male parietalis het anery
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894271.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l.../247894274.jpg

male infernalis
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...s/35674058.jpg

Holy garter snakes! Those are awesome! Much nicer than the ones I used to catch growing up!

Holy crap! Those are some sweet pics of amazing animals. You have a really nice photo setup too.

Very nice :), those blues are hot

Those blues really are sweet, Shannon! Great pics as always. Was it you that had the pic of the 3 garters eating with their heads popping up next to each other? That was one of the coolest pics....if it wasn't you then please disregard the ramblings of an ever aging old man;)

Wow!

I LOVE your collection! Some of those are very difficult to get too, how did you come across them?

Those blues are amazing! Never seen something like that before!

those are some awsome snakes !!!

i love the pictures of the Male Similis

There are no words... W:OW!!!

amazing snakes and the pictures to prove it.

Awsome snake collection how many garters to you have???:snake::gj:

what a beautiful collection. those are amazing snakes and the pictures are excellent too. I really liked all the blue ones in your collection... I need a blue snake!! LOL

Awesome pictures and garter collection.

Stunning pics, :D

You have a great collection and I had no idea most of those even existed. :bow:


dr del

Love those garters! Thanks for sharing :)

Awesome photos and nice looking snakes.

gotta love garters! thanks for sharing!

Amazing! I had no idea that garters could be so many different colors!

So freaking sweet!!!

no albinos?

you must have missed the nebraska amel then!!! other than that, no not really. I'm not a big fan of albino animals. They are really overrated. Some are cool to have, but i like my snakes with melanin! Amelanism takes SO much out of an animal's coloration.My favorite type of snake to have is not any morph, but instead, carefully selected and beautifully colored normals of a species!

I think you are gonna win over alot of new garter fans with that collection. The reds, blues, blacks, greens etc are amazing, thanks for sharing

Quote:

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I think you are gonna win over alot of new garter fans with that collection.

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I'm sold! Thanks for the pics.

Okay wow!!!! Where do you get the blue pugets from? I really want one....

Wow, I had no idea they came in so many flavors... They look great! Nice pics too.

What a brilliant collection! I love the similis! I was wondering, what is the difference between a blue phase eastern and a florida blue?

Gorgeous pics! I had no ideas garters were so colorful. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andrew82

What a brilliant collection! I love the similis! I was wondering, what is the difference between a blue phase eastern and a florida blue?

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That depends on what you mean. A blue phase Eastern is known as thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis "Florida Blue". These are simply eastern garter snakes that have taken on a blue coloration. Eastern garter snakes are not known to be blue anywhere else other than florida.

A Blue Striped garter snake, while also from florida, is an entirely separate subspecies called thamnophis sirtalis similis. Some people call these Florida blue stripes.

There is a lot of confusion regarding all of this, I know!!!

Since when did garters get so nice looking?

Seriously.... Holy AWESOME collection of garters!!!!!

Do you have a website/are you breeding these in the future? I will be keeping you in mind!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aSnakeLovinBabe

That depends on what you mean. A blue phase Eastern is known as thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis "Florida Blue". These are simply eastern garter snakes that have taken on a blue coloration. Eastern garter snakes are not known to be blue anywhere else other than florida.

A Blue Striped garter snake, while also from florida, is an entirely separate subspecies called thamnophis sirtalis similis. Some people call these Florida blue stripes.

There is a lot of confusion regarding all of this, I know!!!

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Ive been looking FOREVER for a Blue Striped! Not just the Blues... they dont catch my fancy as much as those stripes do!!

But seriously... you just got me all caught up with the pic of your "Bluebie, female puget" Can you tell me more about these guys? Holy Gorgeous! Now i want one of THESE more than the blue striped!

I've always been kinda against garters because of bad "smelly" experiences as a kid. But you collection is so very very beautiful!!! :O :D Your changing my mind.

Out of curiosity do you ever have issues with this defense mechanism in garters?

Beautiful Pics!!!

I love the garters variable looks. Especially, the rare and going extinct San Francisco. =(
My first snake.. memories..:rolleyes:

I will have garters again someday..

Thank you, i have seen a couple of florida blues for sale and wasnt sure if they where similis or sirtalis. Sounds quite complicated, any tips on identifying one from the other? These guys are like gold dust in the uk,its a shame not many people bother with thamnophis over here.

Most of my future breeders are still growing up as we speak. next year, and the year following, will be big for me. I love my garter snakes to death. If by "smelly" expieriences you were referring to being musked, yes, it does happen, PARTICULARLY with the more high strung subspecies. I have to hand it to The Blue Striped Garter (similis) for being the most high strung, wiry, jumpy, bite you for any reason garter out there. If you get one of these as your first garter you probably won't like it too much. People looking to acquire a first time garter should opt for one of 4: Plains, Easterns, Checkereds, Red-Sideds or Wanderings. ( respecifully radix, sirtalis sirtalis, marcianus, parietalis and vagrans) All 5 of these get relatively large, are VERY easy to convert to eating rodents and home made-garter food, and have very relaxed personalities. Many wild caught snakes of these groups will take unscented frozen thawed rodents on the first try! I have seen it first hand!

Some of the more high strung species out there are Blue Stripes, Eastern and Western Blacknecks, Puget Sound, Oregon Red-Spotteds and any of the ribbon snakes which actually are garter snakes too. ( respectfully Similis, cyrtopsis, pickeringii, concinnus, proximus & sauritus) Many of these guys will also give you a harder time about switching over to rodent prey.

Bluebie is a blue phase puget sound garter. This subspecies of Common Garter Snake thamnophis sirtalis pickeringii has some individuals that are exceedingly blue. However, due to their really tiny range of only one place in Washington state, they are hard to come by. They have small clutches of usually between 6 and 12 young...Watch out for the guy named Bob on kingsnake, he lives in washington and gathers these snakes to sell for profit. the only babies he ever offers are from mom snakes that he captures and keeps until they birth. They are tempting but best to buy from a reputable breeder!

Now please note, that I cannot speak for all members of a species, just that generally, some species tend to be more docile and personable than others. There are exceptions to every rule!

I actually live in that area of washington! As I said before I used to catch garters as a kid and the blue ones were always my favorite. The next time I'm out in the woods I'm gonna keep a closer eye out, I didn't realize how special they are. My grandmother lives in Pierce county and I will be out there for opening fishing season weekend... I may come home with a new baby... :rolleyes:

What about red ones? They seemed to be as rare as the blues to me.

Fantastic photo's, the male infernalis looks awesome :gj:

:bow::bow:

wow amazing collection:O those blues are crazy

Woa, I think you just got me into garter snakes! :oops: Those blues & blacknecks are absoloutly beautiful, I never knew that those snakes had so many different morphs before I saw this thread.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rainglow

Woa, I think you just got me into garter snakes! :oops: Those blues & blacknecks are absoloutly beautiful, I never knew that those snakes had so many different morphs before I saw this thread.

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I second that.
When I was little they were fun but everywhere... later they were common and smelly. I've actually not given much thought to garters since I began keeping snakes except to think that most people don't keep what's common in their area. But now..... I want a baby garter of my own.