Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

Over the years I've kept a number of snakes, but I've never entered into the realm of breeding. SO, when it comes to neonates I have no idea what to do.

I took in an eastern garter snake recently that a child was about to release into the wild. She is a beautiful, blue-striped that was said to have been purchased from a petstore recently.

Well, it seems she was gravid. So far I have 10 live babies and 3 dead (two were stillborn and the other wasn't fully developed). I could use some advice as to how to tend to these little guys.

What I'm doing now is I have them in a rather large Rubbermaid container with locking lid lined with paper towels and some cardboard tubes laid inside as hide spots. There is a heating pad, on low, at the one end. There is a shallow water dish at the other (I didn't know how deep I should have the water so went shallow for now, I didn't want them to drown themselves). I tried to get some feeder guppies but none of the pet stores in town had any, so I bought redworms for now. I'll try getting some feeders tomorrow. So far, they haven't shown any interest in the worms, but are curling up in the dish with them. lol

What other things can I try to feed them aside from earthworms and guppies? What have you had success with? Garter snakes are new to me and I haven't found any websites that talk about the rearing of babies yet. Anyone have any good links?

Wow, its been an exciting day. I just wish I'd known she was gravid so I could have been better prepared.

Oh, is there anything special I should do for the momma when she's done?

Any advice is most welcomed!

Thanks!

Get a dozen small minnows from a bait store. Small crappie minnows are good. Cut one up into tiny "bite-sized" pieces and offer. I bet at least some of the babies will eat this. I started my baby garters that way, and now (a year later) one of them eats 2 whole minnows per feeding, and one is eating pinky mice. Good luck. Also, I have heard that while baby garters will eat worms, they may not be nutritionally complete enough for them to grow and thrive. Anyway, try the minnows. The guppy idea was good, too, since an entire organism, complete with guts, has more goodies. Good luck. Duffy

Well,

I got the feeder guppies, three dollars worth to start. All but one of the babies ate. Minnows are totally gone! I'm surprised at how voracious they were. I'm sure I could have fed them twice as many.

While this has all been quite unexpected, this has been absolutely wonderful. I hope they continue to do so well.

~L~

Good job! You have a whole family on your hands now. Good luck with them. Any plans for the little ones? Duffy

Well, I plan to keep one simply because they're my first babies. It's a must. :-D The rest, I'd be interested in selling or working trades on. I just can't guarantee whether they are sirtalis or similis, nor do I know what she was bred with. All I can say is the mother looks exactly like this one, markings and all (but much blacker and stronger blue to white blue): http://www.gartersnakemorphs.com/trueblue.jpg

The baby who wouldn't eat yesterday ate today. Yay! So, if I'm lucky they might all make it. I need to get these guys housed seperately here soon though, there's one who is quite territorial over the waterbowl. I need to find a cheaper means of food though. I bought another $4 of minnows, and poof they go again. I left a few in the bowl though so maybe they'll try to start feeding themselves.

I definitely need to find someone to let borrow their digital for a day. The one I have is broken. :sob:

~L~