Customer Reviews

Garter Snakes: Their Natural History and Care in Captivity

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It's hard to say whether this book merely reflects the state of knowledge about the care of garter snakes in captivity at that time it was published (1992) or whether the author simply didn't know his subject matter. Perhaps a little of both.

Like several other authors, Sweeney makes the mistake of associating vitamin B1 deficiencies with frozen fish -- in fact, only some fish contain the thiaminase enzyme that causes it, and they do so whether they're alive or frozen. But he also makes several other mistakes about certain species. For example, he says that Butler's garter snakes have a wide diet in the wild (no) and are picky feeders in captivity (not in my experience!), and that western ribbon snakes include earthworms in their diet (they don't). Nor is any mention made of the cannibalistic tendencies of the western terrestrial garter snake, an omission that could lead to a big surprise for keepers who house a pair together!

There is surprisingly little information here on garter snake care per se; too much space is given to talking about snakes as a whole, or to listing and describing the many different species and subspecies (taxonomy's out of date too). In general, this book is too imprecise to be of much value; don't bother tracking it down even if you are a die-hard garter snake enthusiast.