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A fact from Common Garter Snake appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 May 2004. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the saliva of a common garter snake may be toxic to amphibians and other small animals?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2004/May.

Wikipedia

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Untitled

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Some of the text of this article is based on the public domain Description from the California Department of Fish and Game. Lupo 12:17, 6 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2004-05-06T12:17:00.000Z","author":"Lupo","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Lupo-2004-05-06T12:17:00.000Z-Untitled","replies":["c-Dante_Alighieri-2007-03-31T00:03:00.000Z-Lupo-2004-05-06T12:17:00.000Z"]}}-->

That link is now dead. I'm removing it from the article body, but it will stay here as a record. --Dante Alighieri | Talk 00:03, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2007-03-31T00:03:00.000Z","author":"Dante Alighieri","type":"comment","level":2,"id":"c-Dante_Alighieri-2007-03-31T00:03:00.000Z-Lupo-2004-05-06T12:17:00.000Z","replies":[]}}-->

..."their average length is about 1-1.5 metres (2-3.5 ft)."

The metric units here don't match the English; whichever set of measurements is true needs to be converted correctly into the other system. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.160.250.253 (talk) 13:29, 4 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2008-10-04T13:29:00.000Z","author":"136.160.250.253","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-136.160.250.253-2008-10-04T13:29:00.000Z-Untitled","replies":[]}}-->

Under 'Life history' it states "The species is oviparous; females give birth to a litter of 12-40 live young...." and later under 'Reproduction' "Unlike most snakes, Garter snakes do not lay eggs—they give live birth" If they give live birth they are not oviparous, but either viviparous or ovoviviparous. Which is correct? Adcoon (talk) 12:54, 17 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2008-12-17T12:54:00.000Z","author":"Adcoon","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Adcoon-2008-12-17T12:54:00.000Z-Untitled","replies":["c-Adcoon-2009-03-30T12:02:00.000Z-Adcoon-2008-12-17T12:54:00.000Z"]}}-->

Found a source claiming the common garter snake to be ovoviviparous. Fixed the article accordingly. The source is: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Thamnophis_sirtalis.html don't know if I should include it as a source in the article itself?--Adcoon (talk) 12:02, 30 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2009-03-30T12:02:00.000Z","author":"Adcoon","type":"comment","level":2,"id":"c-Adcoon-2009-03-30T12:02:00.000Z-Adcoon-2008-12-17T12:54:00.000Z","replies":[]}}-->

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Care as Pets

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Not only is it inaccurate (Do NOT keep a snake in a 10 gallon aquarium, that is FAR too small, even for a baby, no matter how slow and sluggish they may seem), but as the Wikipedia suggestion said, it is not a 'fact' but a 'how-to', which has no place here. So I removed most of it, but left a little blurb saying that yes, they can do well in captivity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.108.93.159 (talk) 14:06, 18 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2009-04-18T14:06:00.000Z","author":"24.108.93.159","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-24.108.93.159-2009-04-18T14:06:00.000Z-Care_as_Pets","replies":[]}}-->

I tend to agree with the previous user. This really isn't the best place for a care sheet, and some of the instructions provided may not be helpful. I suggest that, instead of publishing a care sheet here on the wiki, why not link to an outside resource where good quality care instructions can be provided? Like Thamnophis.com. It's a forum where professional breeders and hobbyists have been sharing information on their snakes for ages. It has a diversity of opinions and a wealth of experience, and lots of good information.

I went ahead and replaced the article with a link to Thamnophis.com. Their care sheet is much more comprehensive, and much better organized anyway.

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Alternative Image

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I uploaded the above image, with the white background it might look better in the infobox, but due to the pretty decent image already in the infobox I posted here instead of replacing. The one in the infobox shows it on a natural background. I'll leave it up to someone else to decide if addition of this image is warranted. — raeky t 03:50, 3 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2011-09-03T03:50:00.000Z","author":"Raeky","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Raeky-2011-09-03T03:50:00.000Z-Alternative_Image","replies":[]}}-->

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Merger needed?

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There are currently two separate articles, this one titled "Common Garter Snake" and another one called simply Garter snake. They are very similar and clearly about exactly the same subject. In my opinion the "Garter snake" article is a little better. Is there any objection to eliminating this page, and changing the "Common Garter Snake" page to a re-direct to the "Garter Snake" page? Dunncon13 (talk) 13:14, 26 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2014-03-26T13:14:00.000Z","author":"Dunncon13","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Dunncon13-2014-03-26T13:14:00.000Z-Merger_needed?","replies":[]}}-->

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Additional information

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One thing that could be added is a discussion on the relationship between the garter snake and newts. The article does not mention anything about the co-evolution between the two organisms. More information could be added on how the newt and garter snake evolved together.

Another thing that could be added to the article is a discussion on the evolution of resistance in the garter snake. Garter snakes have developed such a high resistance to TTX, which is the toxin that newts produce, that they are now the only predator that can feed on the newt. ^[1]

Finally a discussion on the relationship between location of the garter snake and its level of resistance could be brought up. A study has shown that the location of garter snakes can be correlated to levels of resistance. ^[2] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patterson.662 (talk • contribs) 20:23, 30 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]__DTELLIPSISBUTTON__{"threadItem":{"timestamp":"2014-09-30T20:23:00.000Z","author":"Patterson.662","type":"comment","level":1,"id":"c-Patterson.662-2014-09-30T20:23:00.000Z-Additional_information","replies":[]}}-->

^ 1. Geffeney S, Brodie ED Jr, Ruben PC,Brodie ED 3rd,. 2002. Mechanisms of adaptation in a predator-prey arms race: TTX-resistant sodium channels. Science (New York, N.Y.) 297(5585):1336-9.
^ Brodie ED, Ridenhour B, Brodie E. 2002. The evolutionary response of predators to dangerous prey: Hotspots and coldspots in the geographic mosaic of coevolution between garter snakes and newts. Evolution 56(10):2067-82