This Chequered Garter Snake care sheet should be used for guidance only. If you have decided to keep a pet snake please gather as much information as possible from other reliable sources about the species you intend to keep.
Chequered Garter Snake
Thamnophis marcianus
DESCRIPTION
The Chequered Garter Snake from America is a small and manageable snake with lots of personality. It originates from semi-arid parts of Texas, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona, California & Mexico.
The Chequered Garter Snake is more heavy bodied than most Garter Snakes, can grow up to a meter in length and makes a hardy, responsive, curious, intelligent and interesting pet snake.
The Chequered Garter Snake gives birth to live young and produces up to 20 offspring.
HOUSING
An enclosure measuring 30”x12”x12” is suitable for housing a single adult Chequered Garter Snake. Your enclosure or vivarium can be a wooden vivarium with sliding glass doors or a glass aquarium with a well ventilated and secure lid. Whichever type of enclosure you choose for housing your Chequered Garter Snake, you must ensure it is secure and escape proof. Garter Snakes are excellent escape artists.
Young snakes can be kept in an enclosure measuring 18”x12”x12” until they exceed about 2 feet in length. This will help them feel more secure while they mature.
Humidity should be kept at 45 to 65%. Normal household humidity is usually fine. This can be raised slightly when your snake is due to shed its skin.
A 1 inch layer of Aspen bedding makes a suitable substrate for the Chequered Garter Snake. A layer of newspaper is also suitable as substrate and is cheap and easily replaced.
1 or 2 hiding spots should be provided in your Chequered Garter Snakes Snakes enclosure. These hides can be bought or home-made (from margarine tubs, upturned flowerpots, cereal boxes etc.) and should be just large enough for your snake to squeeze in to.
A sturdy water bowl should be available in the coolest part of the enclosure, and should be just large enough for your Garter to bathe in.
The vivarium can be decorated with a few plastic plants and securely anchored rocks if desired. Young Chequered Garter Snakes will also make use of climbing branches and will often rest above ground.
HEATING, LIGHTING AND TEMPERATURE
Chequered Garter Snakes should be kept at daytime temperatures varying from 28 to 32 degrees centigrade at one end of the enclosure and 22 to 26 degrees centigrade at the other. Temperature can be allowed to drop a few degrees at night.
A thermal gradient for your snake can be achieved by placing a heat mat under only half of the enclosure, leaving the other half cool. Heating must be controlled by a thermostat to maintain the correct temperatures for your snake. Always follow any instructions that come with your heating equipment as these can vary between different manufacturers.
Lighting is not essential so long as the room your Chequered Garter Snake is in has a window.
If you find that extra heat is necessary for your Chequered Garter Snake, a low wattage bulb fitted to the ceiling of the enclosure can be used to increase the ambient temperature. Bulbs over 15 watts must be covered with a bulb guard to protect your Garter from getting burned.
Lighting should be turned off at night. An inexpensive timer can be used to do the job for you. These can be purchased from most hardware stores.
FEEDING
Unlike many other species of Garter Snake, the Chequered Garter Snake will reliably eat mice; pinkies for babies up to adult mice for adult Chequered Garters. The Chequered Garter Snake will also take fish such as Lance fish or Coley pieces. If feeding fish it is best not to use it as the only food. If you insist on only feeding your Chequered Garter Snake fish it should be heated to 85-90 degrees centigrade for a couple of minutes and a suitable vitamin/calcium supplement should be added. Heating the fish will destroy a harmful enzyme found in many types of fish that the snake would not normally be feeding on in the wild. In the wild, Chequered Garter Snakes have a varied diet and will also regularly prey on amphibians.
Feed your Garter Snake every 4-5 days if feeding fish only. Feed every week if feeding mice. Feed just enough to leave a small lump visible on your snake. Avoid overfeeding your Chequered Garter Snake. Female Garter Snakes are especially prone to obesity. It is usually best to leave the food in the warm end of the vivarium. A hungry Garter Snake will soon find it.
HANDLING
Chequered Garter Snakes if handled from young become reasonably placid as adults. In my experience they can be a little territorial when your hand enters their enclosure and if not picked up straight away, your hand waving about in front of them can sometimes ellicit a bite response. Most strikes will actually miss the hand by millimeters and are just a warning. A bite from a large female Chequered Garter Snake will draw blood but is quick and almost painless. The shock of the strike is worse for many people than the bite itself and should not put you off handling your Garter Snake. Once in your hands a nervous Chequered Garter Snake will calm down almost immediately if treated gently.
Juvenile Chequered Garter Snakes, when handled for the first few times are often nervous and flighty and are quite likely to spray, but this habit disappears quickly with regular handling.
SEX
To be sure of the sex of your Chequered Garter Snake it will need to be 'popped' at a young age or 'probed' when it is older. If you are not familiar with these methods of sexing you should take your snake to a vet to be sexed rather than attempting it yourself. It may be worth asking your vet if you could do it yourself under his/her guidance so that you are familiar with the technique and can do it yourself in the future.
There are minor visible differences between male and female Chequered Garter Snakes. Males tend to have longer, thicker tails than females: this is because the tail houses the male sex organs (hemipenes). Females tend to have stockier bodies and wider heads than males and are generally larger.
GENERAL MAINTENANCE
Your Chequered Garter Snakes enclosure should be spot checked for faeces on a daily basis and cleaned out completely with a reptile-safe disinfectant at least monthly. All cage furniture should also be disinfected and the substrate should be changed.
Your snake should be given fresh water at least twice weekly.
Regularly cleaning of your Chequered Garter Snakes enclosure is essential for keeping your pet healthy.
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