A TON of new Garter & other Pictures (HUGE DUW)

I am LOVING the weather, and I could not resist spending my day off photographing a bunch of my snakes- namely my three King Rats elaphe carinata and a BUNCH of my young garters. Also included are my albino dekay's, my gravid erythristic water snake, and a mud snake!

First up are my three carinata. I love this species of snake, in fact so much that they are my favorite species of snake out there aside from garter snakes. They are nothing like typical rat snakes, they are powerful, bold, incredibly active, intimidating, commanding, smart, distinct snakes with VERY good eyesight and inquisitive personalities. They are like having a giant garter snake. Which, is probably why I like them.

First up is Ra, (named for the egyptian sun god) the big 6 foot male. Keep in mind these snakes LOOK really mean but all of mine are very friendly.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...566041copy.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/4566049.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/4566058.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/4566063.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/4566068.jpg

He's smelling the spring flowers!!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/4566072.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/4566071.jpg


Next is my female possible het albino, Isis (named for the egyptian goddess of nature) She is starting to grow into her adult coloration. Her entire time outdoors was spent trying to climb back onto ME!!!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742044.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742043.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742042.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742037.jpg

And now here is Osiris, (named for the egyptian god of the dead) my newest carinata, an albino male.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742027.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742024.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742021.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ts/5742010.jpg

And now for a bunch of garter snakes, most of which are yearlings now and some of which will possibly produce offspring next season:

The wild-caught flame eastern, she's blossoming into a REALLY nice snake. A beautiful new bloodline of flame this will surely make.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742227.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742225.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742223.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742221.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742235.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742233.jpg

My male carteret country erythristic het schuett albino, he is starting to really color up and so is the female (not pictured). When I recieved them in january they were both just brown.They both still have a long way to go colorwise, They are both going to be knockouts and I fully expect to see high quality albino reds from their pairing!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742201.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742194.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742193.jpg

My male Similis, getting a nice blue to him!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742191.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742188.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742186.jpg

Female wild caught red plains - bad pic
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742248.jpg

Male Eastern Blackneck - this pair should produce smokin' babies!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742150.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742152.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742160.jpg

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http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742165.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742171.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742176.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742185.jpg

Female High Black oregon Red-Spotted, not a morph, but a selective breeding project of mine. that's right, I am seeking to breed the red out of Oregon Red-spots. I am aiming to produce an all black snake with a red head and green stripe. in my opinion, this look is SHARP.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742145.jpg

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http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742135.jpg

Female Nebraska Amelanistic Plains- she's beginning to get a lot of orangish red on her sides... making for a very attractive snake!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742130.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742127.jpg

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http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742122.jpg

This is a wild caught eastern I collected and decided to keep last year. She's really a striking shade of brick red, she looks like a maritime, but she is indeed, from a sirtalis-only range and is a true eastern.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742092.jpg

My male California Red-sided, Mesa. This is the closest one can come to owning a san francisco garter without actually doing it! (which is illegal)
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742089.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742087.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742084.jpg

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http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742082.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...rs/5742073.jpg

Next is my gravid Erythristic Banded Water snake - bred to a hypo male. She looks like she is getting rather close to delivering. I am watching for her to go into shed. She enjoyed the sunbathing.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742289.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742291.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742295.jpg

Now here's a mudsnake, I had a lot of requests to get closer to the eyes of this snake, I did my best, it's VERY hard to photograph a snake that is this shiny, small and wiggly!!! This little sheister sucked down all three of the salamanders in his feeding deli cup on friday. He was supposed to eat one and save the other two for later. They were big, so he's one happy little bugger!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742285.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742277.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742276.jpg

Next is my wild caught albino Florida Dekay's Brown snake storeria dekayi victa That I know of, is the only one in existence. Sure has grown, but is STILL a tiny snake. A note about this snake. People keep telling me to breed this to the northern dekays in my area. But no one seems to realize that there are separate subspecies of these snakes, JUST like garters. I need to keep this subspecies pure. Breeding this snake to a northern brown would be just as bad as breeding an eastern garter thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis to a california red-sided, thamnophis sirtalis infernalis. I just thought I would clear that up while I had the chance!! I plan to acquire a group of florida brown's soon.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742260.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742257.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742255.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742254.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...er/5742253.jpg

That's the end! Please let me know how you liked this batch. :D

Nice pics, thanx

Whoa I love your snakes :)

Loved all the shots!!! Mudsnake has amazing eyes and color!!:)

thank you :D

Awesome snakes! You're working with really cool stuff.

Your photos are great- can I ask what lens you're shooting with?

Thanks for sharing!

Awesome pics and snakes. Thanks for the post!:gj:

Okay where should I start? The pics ROCK!!! I love Ra and the mudsnake and I never knew garters came in such variety

Beautiful!!!!


Question though, you have a couple wild caughts, what do you do/how can you tell if they have any internal parisites etc?

Wow Snake Lovin Babe....

Awesome photography and beautiful snakes:)

I love that mud snake, one of my favs to encounter in the wild.

Awesome pics, Shannon! That mudsnake is HOTT!

Those are some great photos. It's good to see you are standing firm about not producing intergrades with your albino Florida Dekays or your awesome garters.

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Originally Posted by rainglow

Beautiful!!!!


Question though, you have a couple wild caughts, what do you do/how can you tell if they have any internal parisites etc?

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Externally, you really can't tell what they are carrying. Unless you examine the feces of the snake and/or have it scanned by a vet. That is why a good quarantine period is essential. You keep the snake separate for months and you are able to monitor it's health closely and treat any problems you may see. 6 months is a good strong quarantine for a WC. If I am getting a snake from a very reliable breeder, like Scott Felzer, quarantine still goes into effect, but not nearly as long and/or vigorously as I would do with a WC. I will only keep a WC animal if it has been injured and needs care, or if it exhibits a strikingly beautiful different color/pattern, or obviously is a color morph. My favorite type of garter snakes are selectively bred ones, because in essence, they are still normals, but they are top notch, head-turning, gorgeous ones. Like my future black oregon red-spotteds will be!!!

Anubis began in the position that Osiris would later command. In the earliest period of Egyptian religion Anubis was clearly the lord of the dead and Osiris the embalmed god while Anubis performed the act of embalming. Titles that were invested unto Osiris -- such as Khenty-Imentiu or "Foremost of Westerners" -- were originally Anubis's. As the drama of Osiris's death and vindication unfolded over the centuries, Anubis assumed the role of the guide who holds steady the scales on which their hearts are measured against the feather of ma'at as "He Who Counts the Hearts". Should the heart be light as the feather, the soul would then be lead by Anubis (or, in some cases, Harseisis) to be presented to Osiris. Should the heart be heavy, it is fed to Ammit and the soul destroyed.

Anubis was the god of the dead first!!!! :P

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Originally Posted by sum182

Anubis began in the position that Osiris would later command. In the earliest period of Egyptian religion Anubis was clearly the lord of the dead and Osiris the embalmed god while Anubis performed the act of embalming. Titles that were invested unto Osiris -- such as Khenty-Imentiu or "Foremost of Westerners" -- were originally Anubis's. As the drama of Osiris's death and vindication unfolded over the centuries, Anubis assumed the role of the guide who holds steady the scales on which their hearts are measured against the feather of ma'at as "He Who Counts the Hearts". Should the heart be light as the feather, the soul would then be lead by Anubis (or, in some cases, Harseisis) to be presented to Osiris. Should the heart be heavy, it is fed to Ammit and the soul destroyed.

Anubis was the god of the dead first!!!! :P

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yes, you are right!! but i am waiting for another normal king rat male to name anubis!!! Anubis has the head of a jackall so I only see it fitting that the snake with that name be black :D:D

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing.

For a second I thought this one had little feet :O

Great Pics!

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