|
I'm not sure if this is an issue in garter snake circles (I'd bet it is) but in other taxa (rosy boas come to mind here) making IDs visually is a dangerous practice as not all hybrids/intergrades/crosses can be distinguished reliably.
Given that keepers (some of them, anyway) reasonably place a lot of value on reliable IDs, the most responsible course in cases where the breeder can't absolutely confirm the ID is to call it Thamnophis sp.
|