A garter snake is also known as a garden snake or garter. This is a representative of the family already distinguished, characterized by many color options. It is considered an American variety of harmless snakes familiar to us.
Accommodation
You can meet such a reptile in North and Central America: Canada, Mexico, USA. They prefer to live on the plains, but are also found in the mountains, deciduous and coniferous forests. Mostly settled in a humid climate, near water bodies, they also often live near a person’s home. Often the habitat depends on the subspecies. Butler's garter snake is found in the United States, while Contanta prefers the hot climate of Mexico. If among these reptiles and inhabitants of the tropics, for example, the Guatemalan variety.
Lifestyle
The garter snake is a daytime resident, hiding in holes at night or between stones. In winter, it hibernates, after exiting from which it is inactive for 14 days. Life expectancy is up to 10 years.
Power Features
Sadovy already uses tadpoles and frogs, shrews, snails, small birds, newts as food. They can also feast on mice, salamanders, lizards and fish. Often worms and insects also become food.
Description
You can learn garden snakes by the following signs:
- Small sizes: up to 50-120 cm.
- Slender wriggling body.
- The slightly expanded head is practically not separated from the body.
- Round pupils.
They have a protective mechanism that is used in case of danger - the choice of fetid liquid from the cloaca. But the answer to the question whether the garter snake is poisonous is negative: they are absolutely harmless, as are the snakes.
The color is very interesting: there are several longitudinal stripes, between which black spots are scattered. The back of the animal is most often light gray, cream or olive, the longitudinal stripes can be bright turquoise, white or black. Some subspecies have black transverse stripes on the sides, bright red spots. The long-nosed garter snake has a dark brown color, black stripes on it are weakly visible. The Oregon variety is famous for its beautiful combination of rough and cream shades. The large black-necked snake is olive-beige, with black markings under the head. The Texas variety is very beautiful - the body is beige with oval black spots and an orange longitudinal strip along the ridge.
Subspecies
Garden already has several subspecies, among which the following are most common:
- Spotted. You can recognize it by bright red or saturated orange color. On the sides there are dark stripes that are decorated with red spots of regular shape.
- The garter snake is ordinary. The main color is cream or olive, black longitudinal stripes are noticeable on the sides of the ridge, there are no red stripes, but there are small red spots.
- Californian. Very beautiful olive-colored snake with red or turquoise stripes.
- Garter snake motley. The average body length is up to 50 cm. The olive-green color predominates, along the ridge there are two light stripes, dark spots in the shape of a rectangle can be seen on the entire surface. The belly is white.
In nature, other representatives of the species are often found, characterized by a diverse color.
Home Content
The maintenance of the garter snake at home is an interesting and uncomplicated matter. Due to the fact that this one is already medium in size and not toxic, it will feel quite comfortable in an ordinary city apartment. And thanks to the bright multi-colored and diverse color, such an animal will become a true decoration of any living corner. At home, motley garter snakes are most often bred.
It is necessary to prepare the following for the pet:
- Small terrarium. The best option for a pair of reptiles - the length, width and height of the "home" should be a little more than half a meter.
- It is necessary to lay newspapers or paper towels at the bottom of the terrarium, sprinkle wood chips and bark on top. It is recommended to stop the choice on aspen or pine shavings, but the cedar is unsuitable for keeping garden snakes. Also, sand or moss should not be used as a substrate - they stick to frogs and are swallowed by snakes when feeding.
- In order for the animal to hide, a shelter of stones should be created in the terrarium.
- The housing for the garter snake must have ventilation holes. It is extremely important to determine their size - small newborn snakes should not crawl into them.
The temperature mode also matters. The terrarium should be divided into two zones, in one day it should be + 25-26 ° C, in another, warmer zone, a lamp should be installed under which it will be approximately + 35 ° C. At night, additional lighting and heating are turned off. An heating pad or heating tape will help to ensure the required temperature; in order to avoid burns, the use of heated stones should be abandoned. The daylight hours are 12 hours. At the same time, it is very important to ensure that the animal does not appear under the direct rays of the sun, harmful to it.
The average price of a garter snake in pet stores is from 3 to 5 thousand rubles. You should immediately purchase a heterosexual couple - the animals will not be bored, and the owner will be able to breed.
Food at home
In captivity, the snake should be fed every 6-7 days, giving earthworms, newts, frogs and toads, small mice. In extreme cases, you can offer meat. They will not refuse from small crustaceans, leeches. The garter snake is an unpretentious animal; it will not be difficult to feed it at home. However, experienced owners note that regular feeding of a domestic snake with frogs and fish negatively affects the condition of their liver and shortens their lifespan.
She should always have access to clean, fresh water. A drinking bowl should be purchased plastic, it is better to choose a medium size, so that I could swim in it. However, you should not buy an excessively large capacity, otherwise the climate in the terrarium will be very humid, which will negatively affect the condition of the pet.
Breeding at home
The garden propagates in captivity, while it belongs to live-bearing ones, therefore it does not lay eggs. The average number of cubs is from 10 to 50. Mating occurs after wintering, so the owner can stimulate the breeding of pets by creating suitable conditions for them: reduce the temperature in the terrarium to + 4-10 ° С.
Preparation is done gradually:
- 21 days before the “wintering”, feeding ceases completely, the heating of the terrarium is turned off.
- Snakes are kept at room temperature for a week.
- Over the next 10 days, the temperature is gradually lowered.
To do this, you can temporarily transfer the snakes into a small box made of Plexiglas and take out the house with the inhabitants on the balcony. It is recommended to do this in spring or autumn. Such artificial stimulation will allow mating at a time convenient for the owner and get more viable offspring. After wintering, males secrete pheromones that attract the female. Another secret of breeding at home is the acquisition of a second male. This will create competition and at times increase the likelihood of mating.
The total duration of the “wintering” is one and a half months, after which the male is transferred to the terrarium, give him a couple of days to get used to the heat, then the female is planted. Mating will occur very quickly, and in about 70-75 days offspring will appear. During pregnancy, the female must provide good nutrition.
Those who gave birth to small snakes are recommended to feed with small fish, earthworms, which are preliminarily kept out of the ground for half a day. The average weight of a newborn snake is about 2-3 grams, the body length is no more than 12-15 cm. They grow surprisingly quickly and become sexually mature by 7-8 months.
Complexity of content
Everyone who decides to have such an exotic pet should also know about some of the difficulties that they will face:
- Food for snakes is not easy to get in pet stores, so frogs, leeches and worms will have to be caught on their own in the summer. For the winter, caught amphibians can be frozen. Some owners go to the trick, rubbing rodents with frogs.
- Snakes are plentiful and often defecate, so in order to avoid an unpleasant smell, the terrarium will have to be constantly cleaned. That is why experienced serpent growers advise against purchasing an expensive substrate, focusing on more economical options, for example, on paper.
- Snakes can suffer from a lack of vitamin B1, which is noticeable by the reptile's desire to roll over on its back or side. In this case, give the pet this vitamin in the form of an additive or include more frogs in the menu.
Despite some difficulties in care, these snakes are acquired for home terrariums because of their small size, amazing mobility and activity.
