Eastern Garter Snake
(Thamnophis sirtalis)

Eastern garter snakes are mostly black with three stripes running to the end of their tail. The stripes on the eastern garter snake are usually yellow, but green or grey-blue have also been seen. Eastern garter snakes bellies are also yellow. Eastern garter snakes usually only grow between two to three and a half feet long and are only about three quarters of an inch in diameter. There are populations of entirely black eastern garter snakes with white throats called melanistic garter snakes found around Lake Erie and on its islands.

Difficulty

NOVICE: The ribbon, water, or garter snake is one of the best snakes to start with if you are new to keeping reptiles and amphibians.

Requirements

An enclosure, such as:

• Plastic shoe box container for younger Eastern garter snakes
• Plastic sweater box container for adult Eastern garter snakes
• Glass or acrylic aquarium (5 to 20 gallons, depending on the size of the Eastern garter snake) with a secure lid with clamps

Substrate, such as:

• Aspen wood shavings
• Indoor/outdoor carpeting
• Newspaper

A heating element, such as:

• Under the tank heater
• Incandescent heat bulb
• Ceramic infrared heat emitters

Enclosure

The size of the enclosure you will need for your Eastern garter snakes depends on the size of the snake. Young hatchling Eastern garter snakes will often be timid and scared in too large of an enclosure while adult Eastern garter snakes will need a larger enclosure to move around in and feel more comfortable. For younger, Eastern garter snakes, you can use a 5 gallon aquarium or a plastic shoe box container with a few small holes drilled at the top of the container to allow for ventilation. Adult Eastern garter snakes should be housed in a larger enclosure like a 20 gallon (or larger) aquarium or a plastic sweater box sized container with ventilation holes.

It is also important to provide your Eastern garter snake with an area to hide. There are many comercially available caves that can be purchased from your favorite pet supply store, or you can use things like flower pots, plastic containers, or just about anything that is big enough for your Eastern garter snake to completely crawl into and can provide a dark place to hide. Many hobbyists also like to decorate their enclosure with drift wood and other decoration. The choices are limitless and you can make your enclosure as sparse or as ornate as you wish, depending on your own desires.

Always remember that Eastern garter snakes, like all snakes are escape artists. They will always test your enclosure to see if they can get out. For this reason, you will always want to make sure that your enclosure has a secure lid that the snake can not push open. If using an aquarium, be sure to use a screen top with enough clamps to prevent the ribbon, water, or garter snake from pushing open the top. If using a plastic container, please be sure that the ventilation holes are small enough to prevent the snake from escaping. This is especially true for Eastern garter snakes.

Substrate

The substrate or bedding that you use is one of the most important parts of your Eastern garter snake's home, since your snake will be spending all of its time on it. Some of the best substrate is folded newspaper. While it is not the most visually appealing option, it is one of the easiest and cleanest. Indoor/Outdoor carpeting can also be used as an effective substrate for your Eastern garter snake. Be sure to have at least two identical pieces so that you can simply place the clean piece of carpeting in the enclosure while you rinse and disenfect the soiled piece. You can then allow the newly cleaned piece of carpeting to dry for the next days use. It's important to note that you must completely rinse the carpet after cleaning it to be sure there is no residual chemicals remaining on the carpet that could irritate your Eastern garter snake. Aspen wood shavings provide an excellent, absorbent choice for your Eastern garter snake as well. A sandy/soil mixture of 50% play sand and 50% potting soil can also be used. Be sure to stay away from cedar or pine shavings as these can cause health problems for your Eastern garter snake.

Heating and Light

Eastern garter snakes like an ambient daytime temperature of 70°F to 75°F with nighttime temperatures of 65°F to 70°F. A basking spot of 80°F to 85°F should be provided during the day. These temperatures can be achieved by using under the tank heaters, incadescent basking bulbs, or ceramic emitters. We recommend using a timer to automatically turn off your daytime heating and lighting elements at night. It's important to check these temperatures regularly with a thermometer. Many hobbyists will install thermometers or thermostats in the enclsosure to be able to accurately maintain these temperatures. We do not recommend the use of any kind of heat rocks as they can often lead to burns on your Eastern garter snake.

Diet

Eastern garter snakes have a varied diet. Items such as earthworms, red worms, and other insects can be offered. Fish such as guppies, sand eels and Lance fish can also be provided in the pool. Keep in mind that an exclusive diet of just fish is not nutritionally complete and should be fed with other prey items such as earthworms. Many Eastern garter snakes can also be converted to appropriate sized mice. It's important that you feed the appropriate sized repy to yourEastern garter snake. If the prey is too small, it may not be getting all the nutrtion that it needs, if it is too large it may spit the prey back up. A good rule to follow is to feed prey that is about 1½ times the size of the largest portion of your Eastern garter snake's body. Generally your snake will only need to eat about once a week, but younger Eastern garter snakes may need to be fed more often. Your Eastern garter snake's appetite may also decrease in the winter months. As long as your snake still has good muscle tone, this is usually not anything to worry about. Fresh water should be provided at all times.

When feeding your Eastern garter snake, it is important that you feed it seperately from other snakes and in an area of the enclosure that is free from smaller wood shavings or other small items that could be inadvertently ingested with the food. When possible, feed thawed frozed pre-killed prey. Live mice can injur your ribbon, water, or garter snake during feeding. The freezing process will also kill most parasites that the mouse may be carrying. Most Eastern garter snakes will easily take to the thawed prey with little effort.