When planning to care for a garter snake that you've caught, it is very important to know what you're doing. It requires the appropriate food, shelter, and care. If you can't provide the right environment, leave it in its own environment and admire it from afar. Remember, always check your local laws, and only capture a garter snake if it is legal in your area, and you intent to let it go within a couple weeks, unless you have a permit, license, or other government consent to possess the snake permanently.
EditSteps
EditHousing the Snake
- Get an aquarium. A baby garter snake should do well with a tank, while a large adult would do a lot better in a tank. Don't make it too small since garter snakes are very active creatures, but they will also be extremely nervous in a large tank.
- Layer the bottom of the aquarium with substrate. You can safely use cypress mulch, bark nuggets, and wood shavings (Aspen is best, Pine is probably all right, but never use cedar). Paper towels and newspaper are not good substrate, because many snakes prefer to burrow, and if they try to get under paper towels, they can become trapped and die. Also, paper towels are very thin and if you use a heat pad, the snake can become overheated and severely injured.
- Add a hide away. A snake always needs a place to hide. It should be pretty small, the snake should be able to curl up tightly. It is even better if the snake can touch the the sides of the hide away when curled up. Make sure the hiding place can not fall onto your snake this can kill or injure your snake
- Have some things for the snake to climb upon. You will find that garter snakes like to climb. Try a twisty tree climbing addition, but make sure it doesn't touch the top of the cage. Garters are escape artists.
- For the benefit of the snake when you first bring it home, put a cover, or a large towel (not a thick one, or it will run out of oxygen) around or over the tank. This helps it to de-stress, and feel a bit more safe, since the cover helps it to feel that it's not being hunted.
EditRegulating the Temperature
- Buy a thermometer. A stick on thermometer is not terribly accurate, but gives you the general idea. It should be around 72 degrees at the cool end and 75 at the heated end. If your cage is higher than 80 on the cool side your cage is too hot.
- Get some heat. You can use heating pads/strips under one side of the enclosure as well as light bulb above it. Heating pads/strips should cover one third to one half of the enclosure. There should be a warm end of the enclosure and a cool end. When using a light bulb, never use more than 15 watts, they could be burned. Never use hot rocks. Garter snakes have been burned and killed by hot rocks. Also, never put them in direct sunlight, they can also be killed that way.
- Ensure that the humidity is accurate. The humidity should be 50 to 60 percent.
EditFeeding the snake
- Get a water bowl. It should be plastic, and big enough for the snake to bathe in. Don't make it too big, just large enough for the snake to fit inside, as they enjoy swimming, and hunt their prey this way. One of the most common mistakes with garter snakes is that they are semi aquatic. They are not aquatic, not even semi aquatic, it is their prey that is aquatic. If you keep it too moist, your snake could end up with a hard to treat blister disease.
- Change the water weekly, if not more often. Clean it out every three days to one week and clean and sterilize it every two-three months.
- Feed the snake. A garter snake is a carnivore and hunts prey, so you need to choose something for it to eat. It may surprise you that frozen pinkie mice are the best option by far. If you are uncomfortable with feeding your snake rodents you can feed them a mix of live or frozen fish, leeches, slugs, or worms. Buy them from a store, and they will provide all the nutrients garter snakes need, and will not have any parasites or bacteria that could hurt your snake (notice that frozen means dead mice).
- If your snake won't eat mice, It can eat a mixture of fish, worms, and maybe vitamin preservatives.
- Slugs can be a treat to be given sometimes, but they can be hard to get.
- Baby snakes can eat parts of a pinkie mouse twice a week, and adults can eat the appropriate sized mouse once a week. The mouse should be about as big as the largest part of the snake.
- A fish eater should eat every 5 to 6 days, and a worm eater twice a week. You need to avoid fish with thiaminase, like goldfish. Ask the person you buy the fish from about the fish.
- When feeding it, do not sling the snake's food at it. That will probably scare it. Leave its food in the middle. Remember, they don't like jerky movements. Be slow, but you can close the lid immediately after putting the food in.
- If you choose to feed the snake food that is alive, (food that it hunts and kills), create hiding spots. Spread leaves and other things for the snake to hide behind, so it can ambush its prey. Uneaten killed food should be removed within 24 hours, to prevent the growth of bacteria.
EditMaintaining Hygiene
- Clean the cage regularly. Cleaning the cage is not the most fun task in the world. But to clean the cage, catch your garter snake and put it in another container a bit larger than its cage, (with holes in the top) and take out all of the things that are in the cage. If you choose to use a type of wood shaving, just dump it out and replace it. Never use soil, as it can carry parasites.
- Spot clean fecal matter when it is seen.
- To clean the cage, hose it down with a few squeezes of mild soap and scrub it with a sponge or rag, then rinse twice. The cage should be cleaned once monthly for young snakes, and every two weeks for adults, or when ever it starts to smell.
- Don't give the garter too much room, as they will become nervous and stressed. Snakes are not very active in the way of slithering around, they prefer to bask in one spot, among lots of thick decoration. A bare cage makes for a scared snake.
EditHandling the Snake
- Handle with care. Handling can be hard, but is a blast when done correctly. To handle the snake, approach it slowly from the side. Let it slither on to your hand, or scoop it up with gloves. Then, just make slow movements with it. Be careful and always support the snake's head and body.
- Do not handle the snake for one hour after it has shed its skin. The delay in handling will give the snake's new skin time to get used to the air and temperature, and your body salts and oils will damage its skin if held within the first hour.
- Your garter snake should be protected from your cat, as the cat may kill it.
EditVideo
EditTips
- When a snake is shedding, move the water bowl to the warm side of the enclosure, to raise the humidity.
- Many garter snakes prefer moving or live food, so you could move the food with tweezers .
- Do not attempt to pet the snake after feeding it! After feeding time, the snake may be aggressive, and will be prone to strike and/or bite you.
- Baby snakes do better with a screen to cover their enclosure, but make sure it is secure!.
- You may want a humid hideaway, which is a regular hideaway with some wet sponges. This can help with shedding.
- Don't be afraid if you see something peeling off your snake, he's probably just shedding older skin. If it has trouble shedding, take it to the vet immediately after a warm soak.
- Always have a warm side of the tank and a cool side, with a basking spot in the middle as well as on both sides..
EditWarnings
- Do not put a "hot rock" in the aquarium; there are some rocks that have heating elements in them but a snake will coil around it and can get very badly burned.
- Snakes cannot digest plants.
- Snakes bite - be careful. The snake is a living creature; respect it and seek immediate medical attention if bitten, after washing your hands with bacterial soap, warm water, and bandaging it.
- No matter what the nice person at the pet shop says, snakes do not eat crickets, or mealworms for that matter.
- If you caught the snake, let it go if it won't eat. Don't starve it. You should never keep a wild snake for over a week, and check your local laws to see if you can possess them at all.
- Garter snakes do not eat insects with exoskeletons. They can't digest them. Slugs, snails, and worms are fine.
- Don't put anything in the aquarium that can hunt the snake. Food only. When you're feeding you garter snake a food that can fight back, like leeches or live mice, be sure to watch your snake so you can assure the food does not hurt your pet. Be extremely careful with live mice! They can kill your snake.
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