35 Different Types of Garter Snakes

Garter snakes are common snakes found in gardens and backyards throughout the United States.  When you find one of these snakes in your garden, how do you identify them?  In this post, we list all the types of Garter snakes.

Thirty-five species of Garter snakes are found in North America, Quebec, Southern Ontario, and the Gulf of Mexico. They are the Common, Sierra, Butler’s, Santa Cruz, Mexican, Western Terrestrial, Short-headed, Bogert’s, Goldman’s, Checkered, Plains, and Northwestern Garter snakes, to name a few.

Garter snakes are intriguing and a vital part of the ecosystem.  If you want to know how many species exist, look no further; they are all listed here.

The 35 Types of Garter Snakes

1. Bogert’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis bogerti
2. Santa Cruz Garter Snake – Thamnophis atratus 
3. Butler’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis butleri
4. Common Garter Snake – Thamnophis sirtalis 
5. Short-headed Garter Snake – Thamnophis brachystoma 
6. Conant’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis conanti
7. Golden-headed Garter Snake – Thamnophis chrysocephalus
8. Black-necked Garter Snake – Thamnophis cyrtopsis
9. Western Terrestrial Garter Snake – Thamnophis elegans
10. Sierra Garter Snake – Thamnophis couchii 
11. Mexican Garter Snake – Thamnophis eques
12. Exiled Garter Snake – Thamnophis exsul
13. Mexican Wandering Garter Snake – Thamnophis errans 
14. Giant Garter Snake – Thamnophis gigas
15. Mesoamerican Highlands Garter Snake – Thamnophis fulvus 
16. Godman’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis godmani
17. Sumichrast’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis sumichrasti  
18. Two-striped Garter Snake – Thamnophis hammondii
19. Checkered Garter Snake – Thamnophis marcianus
20. Liner’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis lineri
21. Plains Garter Snake – Thamnophis radix
22. Madrean Narrow-headed Garter Snake – Thamnophis unilabialis 
23. Tamaulipan Montane Garter Snake – Thamnophis mendax
24. Mexican Alpine Blotched Garter Snake – Thamnophis scalaris 
25. Southern Durango Spotted Garter Snake – Thamnophis nigronuchalis
26. Tepalcatepec Valley Garter Snake – Thamnophis postremus
27. Northwestern Garter Snake – Thamnophis ordinoides
28. Western Ribbon Snake – Thamnophis proximus
29. Rossman’s Garter Snake – Thamnophis rossmani
30. Eastern Ribbon Snake – Thamnophis sauritus
31. Mesa Central Blotched Garter Snake – Thamnophis scaliger
32. Narrow-headed Garter Snake – Thamnophis rufipunctatus 
33. Mexican Pacific Lowlands Garter Snake – Thamnophis validus
34. Mexican Black-bellied Garter Snake – Thamnophis melanogaster
35. Yellow-throated Garter Snake – Thamnophis pulchrilatus 

The Garter Snake, the Most Common Type

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