Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As you may know my garter snake is in the process of giving birth. It was sold to me and I was not told it was gravid and I only have yearling corns and never saw a gravid snake. But anyways I digress, what do i do with the babies? I've been collecting them and putting them in a little critter keeper thats at an angle so one corner has water in it so they have no risk of drowning. Is aspen or sani-chips ok for them? I don't want these little guys to croak what should i do?

What do i do with the ones that are attached to their placenta still? I'm an EMT but have no clue about reptiles.

Hi, my w/c female also gave birth a few weeks ago. Unlike corns, garters can be kept together. So you can put all the babies in the same container. I used a sterilite plastic container with paper towel at the bottom and really thin layer of aspen. They're really good at burrowing, and i don't want hidden baby corns in the aspen when i go clean it out.

There are 2 things you can do with the babies. Release them or keep them. If that particular species of garter is native to your area, you can find a marshy area or a brooke and release them there.

For the ones attached to their umbilical cords, leave a damp paper towel and a shallow bowl of water in their container. They should be able to work it out on their own.

Probably a bit late, but you can tie off the umbilicus with a piece of dental floss and cut it below the knot. After doing so, it would be best to place the baby on a substrate of slightly moist paper towels, I add a spray of diluted Chlorhexidine to the towels of such specimens, and keep an eye on them for a couple of days. The umbilicus normally comes off on its own, but some cases will require you to remove the dental floss, as the umbilicus is occasionally absorbed and the floss can cause impaction if it is not removed in such cases..

Best of luck,

Jeff
-----
Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947