Checkered Garter Snake
Thamnophis marcianus
Summary 2
The checkered garter snake (Thamnophis marcianus) is a species of garter snake in the subfamily Natricinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America.
Description 3
The checkered garter snake is typically greenish in color, with a distinct, black checkerboard pattern down its back. It is capable of growing to a total length (including tail) of 42 inches (107 cm), but is usually 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm).
Defensive behavior 3
T. marcianus will strike and bite if provoked. It will also release a foul-smelling liquid from its cloaca onto attackers.
Diet 3
The diet of T. marcianus includes small frogs, toads, small fish, and earthworms. If kept as a pet, it can be trained on live or freeze-thawed mice, but even so, it is fussy eater and can suddenly start to refuse mice at any point.
Habitat 3
The preferred habitats of T. marcianus are desert and grassland, usually close to water.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Chris Harrison, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Chris Harrison
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thamnophis_marcianus
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkered_garter_snake
