Garter snakes
Garter Snake are very common in the US. It’s the reptile in North America that is most widely distributed and it can be found at several spots in Florida.
Habitat
The Florida Garter Snake lives in all sorts of habitats, from marshes to woods and in wet areas. Also a lot of people have Garter Snakes as pets
Appearance
The Garter Snake has longitudinal red, yellow and white stripes on its back. In some species the stripes are not easy to see in other species the stripes are easy to see.
Size varies from anywhere between 25 inches and 60 inches. The larger specimens are not very common; the average size is about 30-40 inches.
Diet
Garter snakes eat almost anything – other snakes, rodents and all sorts of invertebrates, some other reptiles, frogs and toads – you name it. That's one of the reasons why they are popular as pets.
Hibernation and mating
As soon as Garter Snakes emerge from hibernation they begin to reproduce. It's only in the Northern part of FL that there's a chance they hibernate. When they hibernate they do it in large groups. Males will try to mate with several females during a season and the sexes attract each other with a hormone called pheromone. They give live birth to a lot of hatchlings; sometimes more than 50.
Garter Snakes as pets
Garter snakes are popular pets. One of the reasons for this is that unlike other snakes Garter mates in captivity without ant problems. They do however need a varied diet to survive for many years. Only giving them mice is not a good option as they would never eat mice in the wild. Another advantage of the Garter Snake is that it will mate quite easily in captivity.