Plains Garter Snake

Thamnophis radix (Baird and Girard, 1853)

French Name	Couleuvre des prairies
Canadian Range	Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
U.S. Range	Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming
Legal Status	Endangered in Ohio. Consult provincial or state pages for legal restrictions on keeping this species in captivity.
Diet	Diverse. Mostly frogs, especially in summer, as well as earthworms.
Max. Recorded Length	109.2 cm
Pet Trade Availability	3 – Frequently available.
Captivity Rating	No data available.

Eastern Plains Garter Snake Thamnophis radix haydenii (Kennicott, 1860): Subspecies no longer recognized; no significant, diagnosable differences between them. CNAH note.

The description for this species has not yet been written.

A Web site for garter snake enthusiasts, Gartersnake.info provides information on every species of garter snake, including articles, answers to your questions, and the most comprehensive guide to keeping them in captivity on the web.

Gartersnake.info is run by Jonathan Crowe; contact him with your questions or comments. Stay up to date by subscribing to the RSS feed, or go back in time and read earlier articles and blog entries in the archives.

Garter Snakes in Spring
Photographers capture images of garter snakes emerging from hibernation. (Apr 26)
Garter Snakes in Winter
In winter, garter snakes are supposed to be hibernating. This presents some challenges when one turns up in your basement, or when you’re keeping them as pets over the winter. (Jan 7)
You Can’t Tease-Feed a Garter Snake
Garter snakes are active hunters rather than ambush predators, and that has implications for how you feed them in captivity. (Updated) (Nov 22)