Well, she is not exactly new any more.
This is me (Lydia) holding Sestra.
This is Sestra. She is a 21″ Checker Garter Snake.
I have had her since August 20th.
Many people at my church don’t like snakes. Surprisingly, many of the younger children like her. There is a 3yo, 5yo,and a 2yo(PC4).
I have fed her many geckos and a tree frog. Soon all of the geckos will be gone (winter is coming) so I will feed her baby gerbils.
Sestra might grow up to 4′ long. I think that it would be even more fun to have a big snake.
Are you are wondering where I got my love for snakes? I’ll tell you.
My mom’s mom had a Ball Python that was almost 5′ long.
My Aunt Michelle had gotten Spike (the snake) as a present when he was about 10″ for her birthday when she was 12 or 13.
This was 11 or 12 years ago. I remember how much fun it was to hold him even though we didn’t hold him much. When we did we all (every one who wanted to) held him and were always begging for longer turns. Spike would now be 11 or 12…
only he managed to escape in 2006.
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Awwww, your snake is adorable! Snakes are my favorite animals, with cats being my second favorite.
I’ve used to have a ribbon snake (it was mean) and I used to have a Checkered Western Terrestrial Garter snake – loved him, and I had a few baby Bull snakes, and my fave snake was my 5 foot female Bull snake. She was a sweety.
Right now we are snake and pet free, except for our one praying mantis. However, as some of the kiddos are getting older and desiring pets, we are looking into maybe getting a speckled desert king snake.
I love snakes! I have the prettiest corn snake you ever saw. Her name is Holly, because my husband and kids bought her for me for Christmas 10 years ago. She was only the size of a pencil then, but now she is 5’1″, the same height as me. I love to take her to church when I tell the story about Moses and the Israelites and the snake being lifted up on the pole. (It is in Numbers 21.) Jesus told us in John 3, that he would be lifted up like that, to die for our sins. That is why I like snakes. They are a reminder of what Jesus did for us. Snakes make me think of Redemption and Eternal Life!
We have a pet snake too, named Orma (Orm is Swedish for snake). She’s a ball python, and just the friendliest thing you could imagine (unless you are a mouse, then I’m sure not so much!)
She’s very affectionate, begs to be held, and even has favorites (I’m her fav of course, as I always have the mice lol!)
I didn’t realize there were different kind of garter snakes. We live in Canada and there are garter snakes all over our yard, but they look different than this. Here’s what the ones around here look like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcisse_Snake_Pits
sestra as in the Russian word for sister? Or how did you come up with the name?
Oh.
Wow.
Well, bless your heart.
(And I’m glad you’re enjoying them – I’m not afraid of them, but I sure don’t enjoy them.)
You know, you’re messing with the whole Sin-curse thing here by playing around with snakes. You know what happened the last time that a lady trusted a snake…
lol
I am not a big fan of snakes. On the other hand, my 5yo. and 4yo. really like them. On a recent camping trip we found a tiny snake while on a walk along the riverbed. I have to say, it was pretty cute. The kids tried to get me to hold it, but I wimped out. My daughter saw your pictures and asked if we might have a pet snake soon
Ha! I love the “he managed to escape” bit… wonder where he went? I LOVE snakes, they are my favorite animal! How fun
So sorry but I’m thinking that I would much prefer the snake’s food to the snake. I don’t think I could handle feeding tree frogs or baby gerbils as food when I would prefer them as pets. I do like her name.
I keep debating getting a checkered garter as an addition to my collection. Any issues with it musking you?