Prairie Garter Snake

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Prairie Garter Snake
The prairie garter snake

The prairie garter snake

Systematics
Subordination : Snakes (serpentes)
Superfamily : Adder-like and viper-like (Colubroidea)
Family : Adders (Colubridae)
Subfamily : Water snakes (Natricinae)
Genre : Garter Snakes ( Thamnophis )
Type : Prairie Garter Snake
Scientific name
Thamnophis radix
( Baird & Girard , 1853)

The prairie garter snake ( Thamnophis radix ), also known as the lowland garter snake , is one of around 30 currently recognized species of the genus garter snake . It is also known as the lowland garter snake.

features

The prairie garter snake is predominantly dark brown to almost black. Their yellowish to orange back stripes and cream-colored or gray side stripes are characteristic. The light belly can have a gray-greenish color.

It reaches a body length of 60 to a maximum of 100 cm (females become larger than males).

In the wild, their diet consists mainly of frogs, worms and nudibranchs , in the terrarium of nesting rodents and fish ( smelt ).

It is viviparous with five to 30, rarely 50 young animals.

In addition to the original form, different color forms (color variants) are known from Thamnophis radix and are popular among breeders.

The distinction between Thamnophis radix radix and a putative second subspecies Thamnophis radix haydeni (described by Kennicott 1860) is controversial .

distribution

The prairie garter snake has a large range in North America : in the north to Canada , east to Ohio , south to Missouri and New Mexico .

As the name suggests, the prairie garter is often found in grasslands, as well as on fallow land, arable land and wet meadows.

literature

  • Martin Hallmen, The prairie garter snake Thamnophis radix. Natur und Tier-Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-937285-35-0 .
  • Thomas Bourguignon: Garter Snakes. Origin, care, species. DATZ terrarium books, 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3591-4 .
  • Martin Hallmen, Jürgen Chlebowy: Garter Snakes . Natur und Tier-Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-931587-49-5 .
  • WP Mara: garter snakes in the terrarium. Paperback (63 pages), Bede Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-927997-79-X .
  • Frank Mutschmann : The garter snakes. Biology, dissemination, attitude. Paperback (172 pages), Westarp-Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-89432-427-9 .

Web links

Commons : Prairie Garter Snake ( Thamnophis radix )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files