Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friend and i caught a breeding pair of Garter snakes last week. they were coiled up together under the same board. is it possible that the female is already pregnant? we have observed some courting behavior with the male climbing along the female's back and trying to intertwine their tails. is it okay to keep the pair until the female has babies? if so, should i not feed them until they're finished mating or should i feed them during? i'll post some pics soon. thanks again for any help/advice!

The female could be pregnant, but if these 2 are gonna breed just let them, it's nature. After they mate successfully, you can let the male go if you want and keep the female until it gives birth. You shouldn't attempt to feed the snakes while they are mating, and most males won't eat.
Michael

Michael's Place

You'll need to be VERY careful with your heating, and make sure that she's kept stress-free with plenty of hiding places, or she's likely to produce a lot of still-borns. If you aren't sure you can do that, it would be better to let her go.

when you say 'heating', do you mean too much or too little?

The answer to that is "yes"--they need a proper, even temperature gradient, and for a WC female I would put in 3 hides, one on each end, and one in the middle.