You can achieve this most easily by using a humidifier. Your garter may musk on you when you pick it up. Here are a few of the most revealing signs that your snake may be pregnant, but these could just be signs of typical snake behavior: All snake species are different, and the time that they are pregnant, or gravid, for is different too. They rely on the external environment to help regulate their body temperature. After they lay their eggs, some female snakes are known to abandon them and discontinue all care. As always, be careful when you are breeding your snakes because some snakes can become aggressive before and even after mating. The sooner its cleaned, the better. The main strategy of the garter snake is to eat their prey live and whole. Since garter snakes, like all snakes, are cold-blooded, they need to go through this sort of hibernation called brumation. The list of acceptable food includes slugs, earthworms, leeches, lizards, frogs, tadpoles, ants, frog eggs, toads, crickets, mice, and other rodents. (+Recognizing A Problem). These snakes are relatively small as they only grow to an average of 23 to 30 inches. This is why you see garter snakes basking themselves on rocks in the morning sun. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. You may even have witnessed mating and know what to expect. Your female may stop eating, become more aggressive, change color, and prefer the cooler area of her tank suddenly, all of which could be potential signs of pregnancy. So while not likely these snakes can get above 4 feet in length. This information will help you to understand your snakes needs. If it isnt cleaned quickly, the snake could get sick. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. It was not believed to be so for some time, but recent discoveries have shown that the garter snake has a relatively weak neurotoxin that it can release when it bites. It can cope with a wide range of temperatures so it can be spotted in most parts of America. For this, youll first need a terrarium which is just a ten gallon or more tank that will house the snake. How Many Eggs Do Pythons Lay & How Many Survive. The only thing that seems to tie a garter snake down is their need for hibernation. This would be big enough to house a juvenile snake or perhaps a fully grown male, but not a fully grown female because females can grow to be 26 or more. Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://www.snakesforpets.com/garter-snake-pet-care/. So, if youre short on space, youd be better off opting for a male garter snake for this reason. Garter snakes are ovoviviparous which means they lay their eggs inside their body and then produce their young live. Because they use their environment to regulate their body temperature, they need to be able to warm up and cool down according to their needs. Garter snakes should never be housed in aquatic or semi-aquatic tanks because theyll quickly develop blisters on their scales. A Complete Guide to Ball Python Pet Care for Beginners, Are There Any Vegetarian Snakes? We use cookies to make wikiHow great. So, you need to choose the right type of substrate. So for the garter snake as a species,understanding the origin of its name gives it more identity. This diversity has led them to spread out and adapt over a fair stretch of land. This is the same for species of snakes, such as garter snakes, that give birth to live young. If the lighting in your room is very dim, a garter snake will benefit from extra lighting during the daytime. Unlike other snakes that are ambush hunters, the garter snake is an active hunter. While your snake is learning to trust you, consider wearing gloves to protect your hands from bites. She has owned and cared for many breeds of dogs including her German Shepherd named Jet. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/3\/3a\/Identify-Garden-Snakes-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Identify-Garden-Snakes-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/3\/3a\/Identify-Garden-Snakes-Step-1.jpg\/aid5538102-v4-728px-Identify-Garden-Snakes-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"