Hey, I'm posting this because I had a question/comment. I was cleaning my garter's cage today and I found an approx. 2 inch dead baby snake behind her water bowl. I have had her, and only her since early october. How long is the garter's gestation period? Is it odd that there was only a single baby? I was always under the impression that garters were egg-layers with multiple, sometimes many infants. Gopher seems fine and healthy, but I was just wondering what was going on. Any help??
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
my garter's puzzle
Gofair
May 27, 2005 12:27 PM
Replies (2)
aliceinwl
May 27, 2005 10:07 PM
Garters give birth to live young. I've read about a few cases where garters have retained sperm from previous matings and had litters the following year, but I don't think that it is common.
-Alice
undfun
May 27, 2005 11:13 PM
Garters do retain sperm, but no garter gives birth to 2 inch young. No garter is an egg layer either. (Some SE Asian "garters" aren't actually garters [Thamnophis]).
I know of one case of parthenogenesis in garters!
Are you sure it isn't a dried up worm or some such? Where did you get the snake, how big is it, did you notice any swelling now or previously? I've had garters and waters surprise me with babies, and in my case the adult was in a cage with air holes big enough to allow the babies to escape!
