Common garter snakes are small, fast, diurnal snakes that are active and engaging to watch, unlike many shy nocturnal species.
They are widespread across North America and come in many regional colour forms.
They have a weak rear-fang saliva that is harmless to humans, and they are semi-aquatic, enjoying water.
Their daytime activity makes them appealing, though their varied diet and faster metabolism set them apart from rodent-only snakes.
Housing
A single adult does well in a 90x45x45cm vivarium with plenty of cover, climbing branches, and a large water area, as they enjoy soaking and swimming.
Use an absorbent substrate kept clean, since frequent meals mean frequent waste.
Provide a basking spot of 28-30C and a cooler side around 21-24C, with low-level UVB beneficial for these diurnal baskers.
Keep humidity moderate and ensure good ventilation to prevent respiratory problems.
Diet
Garter snakes have a varied carnivorous diet of fish, earthworms, and rodents.
Avoid feeding goldfish and other thiaminase-rich fish exclusively, as this causes vitamin B1 deficiency; use thiaminase-free fish or supplement, and offer earthworms and whole prey for balance.
Their fast metabolism means feeding juveniles two to three times weekly and adults roughly twice weekly.
A varied diet is essential to long-term health and prevents nutritional deficiencies.
Health
Garter snakes are prone to vitamin and thiamine deficiencies from poor diets, and to respiratory infections in damp, poorly ventilated setups.
Frequent feeding makes a clean enclosure especially important to prevent bacterial problems.
Feed a varied, balanced diet and supplement where needed.
Maintain good hygiene and ventilation.
Their shorter lifespan and faster metabolism call for attentive feeding and prompt veterinary care for any lethargy or breathing changes.
Temperament
Garter snakes are alert, quick, and curious, often more nervous than rodent-eating colubrids.
Many musk readily when first handled but settle with regular gentle contact.
Their daytime activity makes them rewarding to observe.
They rarely bite, and their mild rear-fang saliva is harmless to most people.
Handle gently and briefly at first, letting the snake move through your hands rather than restraining it tightly.
Most snake worry is about feeding, and most feeding worry is misplaced. Check the guide for this species' normal fast before treating a refusal as illness.
Go now
Open-mouth breathing, bubbles at the nostrils, or an audible whistleGo now. Respiratory infection. Snakes have one functional lung and little reserve.
Now
Cannot right itself, or holds the head and neck in an unnatural twistGo now. Neurological signs are always urgent in a snake.
Now
Today
A regurgitated mealDo not offer food again for at least a fortnight. Check the warm-end temperature today, then call if it happens twice. Usually too cold, handled too soon, or a meal too large. Repeated regurgitation is a different and more serious problem.
Today
Retained eyecaps after a shed, or a ring of stuck shed on the tail tipRaise humidity and provide a damp hide. Call if it is not resolved within a day. Almost always humidity that was too low during the blue phase. A constricting ring costs the tail tip.
Today
Soon
Refusing food for longer than is normal for this speciesLog the refusal and check the species guide. For an adult ball python, a fast of about a month is not in itself a cause for concern, and much longer voluntary fasts are documented. Weigh weekly through it. The weight trend, not the calendar, is what tells you whether a fast matters.
Log it first
This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.
Can a common garter snake eat that?
Reptile diets split hard by species. An insectivore and a grazing tortoise share almost nothing, so check the species guide as well as this list.
Never (15)
AlcoholNo safe amount at any body weight on this site.
never
AvocadoPersin. Fatal to many reptiles.
never
CaffeineCoffee, tea and energy drinks. Cardiac and neurological toxicity at tiny doses for an animal this size.
never
ChocolateTheobromine and caffeine. Small mammals and reptiles cannot clear either.
never
CitrusToo acidic, and it interferes with calcium absorption.
never
Dog or cat foodProtein and vitamin D levels formulated for a mammal. In tortoises it causes irreversible kidney and shell damage.
never
FirefliesLucibufagins. A single firefly has killed adult lizards. This is the most dangerous item on any reptile list and it is the one keepers do not know about.
never
Fish caught from the wildThiaminase and parasite risk for turtles and aquatic species.
never
GarlicSame allium toxicity as onion, and more concentrated by weight.
never
Iceberg lettuceWater with no nutrition. It fills a reptile up in place of food that would have done something.
never
LeekAllium family. Same mechanism as onion and garlic.
never
OnionOrganosulphur compounds damage red blood cells. The whole allium family is out.
never
RhubarbOxalate load high enough to cause acute kidney injury.
never
Salty or seasoned human foodSalt, oil and seasoning. Crisps, chips, seasoned leftovers and processed meat are all out.
never
Wild-caught insectsPesticide residue and parasites, and the identification risk. Captive-bred feeders only.
never
Rare treats (1)
WaxwormsVery fatty. Useful for a underweight animal or for medicating, addictive otherwise. One or two, rarely.
rare treat
Occasional (5)
Bell pepperSafe, low oxalate, and the colour gets a refuser eating. A few small pieces a few times a week.
occasional
Butternut squashWell tolerated and a useful source of vitamin A precursors. Small cubes a few times a week.
occasional
KaleGood calcium, mild goitrogen. Rotate it. Twice a week.
occasional
MealwormsHard chitin shell and a poor calcium ratio. Fine as part of a varied feed, poor as the whole diet. A few, alongside better feeders.
occasional
SpinachOxalates bind dietary calcium, which is the last thing a reptile at risk of metabolic bone disease needs. A very small amount, rarely.
occasional
Everyday foods (6)
Black soldier fly larvaeUnusually high in calcium; one of the few feeders that does not need dusting. Several per feed.
everyday food
Collard greensOne of the best staple greens for herbivorous and omnivorous reptiles. Daily.
everyday food
CricketsA standard feeder. Gut-load them for 24 hours before offering, or you are feeding an empty shell. Sized no wider than the space between the animal's eyes.
everyday food
Dandelion greensExcellent calcium-to-phosphorus ratio and readily taken. Pick away from sprayed ground. Daily, for herbivorous species.
everyday food
Dubia roachesBetter calcium ratio and more meat per insect than crickets, and they cannot climb glass. Sized to the animal.
everyday food
Mustard greensGood calcium ratio; rotate with other greens. Several times a week.
everyday food
That food is not on our list. Reptile diets are narrower than they look — check the species guide, and ask an exotics vet before offering anything unfamiliar.
Dust feeders with a calcium supplement to the schedule in the species guide. A reptile can be eating well and still be starving of calcium.
Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.
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