gravid? wild caught.

[in.service22]

9235
hello, i'm new to owning snakes and recently found this beautiful garter snake who looked to be hurt when i took him/her in. he/she hasn't eaten yet and had him/her for 2 weeks now but has used the restroom once and has gotten better with the injuries. looks like he/she may be getting ready to shed soon as well. but i'm just wondering by how skinny the neck is and how large the mid section is if possibly this snake may be pregnant/gravid. please let me know thanks ^_^

[jwolfe152]

i dont have an answer for ya but they will probably need a better picture probably something from the top down with the snake stretched or if you can handle it something of its bell scales hanging straight down the lower 1/3 of the body is where you will see the bump maybe movement too

[guidofatherof5]

Hello.
Can you be more specific about "looked to be hurt"?
Can you tell us what State you are in? It might help to identify the species you have.

[in.service22]

i'm in florida and he/she had a swollen upper jaw and looked like a slash on the side of the face i've had the sane for two weeks now and the swelling went down and looks much better. also the snake had three what looks to be bite marks under it's chin. the snake is currently shedding as we speak so after the shed i will get a better picture of it right before i feed it... ^_^ i'm just not sure how to tell if it's a female or male..

[Eddie]

Looks like a Florida blue that ate something long.
Ed

[in.service22]

well he/she hasnt eaten in two weeks or longer. i've only had him/her for 2 weeks it just shed today so i'll take a picture before he/she eats to get a better idea of the shape...

[in.service22]

well he/she hasnt eaten in two weeks or longer. i've only had him/her for 2 weeks it just shed today so i'll take a picture before he/she eats to get a better idea of the shape...he was hurt when we got him/her because his right eye is still a little concave like a horizontal line going across it hard to get in picture but i'll try. and the right side of his face his upper jaw was swollen looked like he had a cut on the side of it's face. which is where he/she gets his/her name "slash". the swelling went down but the eye is still messed up.

[jwolfe152]

that kind of sounds like what a weed eater string would do...or maybe someone tried using a shovel or knife on its head and got a glancing blow/cut

[chris-uk]

Could also have been a bird attack that caused the injury.
As the snake in the photo hadn't eaten for 2 weeks the bulge isn't going to be food, which makes her being gravid a reasonable explanation of the shape. We could be more confident when we see the new pics, ideally one from the side with her stretched out and one from directly above.

[jwolfe152]

could it be an impaction and old food stuck. maybe thats why it has not ate in 2 weeks?

[guidofatherof5]

could it be an impaction and old food stuck. maybe thats why it has not ate in 2 weeks?

I'm concerned with the way larger area looks. Doesn't look like a normal gravid female to me. I'd love to see a photo with the snake stretched out, please.

[chris-uk]

she hasn't eaten yet and had him/her for 2 weeks now but has used the restroom once


could it be an impaction and old food stuck. maybe thats why it has not ate in 2 weeks?

Apparently she has defeated once. It's possible there's an impaction and the poo she passed was below the impaction. Not having eaten for 2 weeks isn't unusual and within normal expectations for a snake adjusting to captivity.

Difficult to say anything without some more pictures.

[jwolfe152]

honestly i cant see the bulging are in the pic, i also did not remember see where she had evacuated. also when she did was it just urate or urates and fecal matter? there is just a lot of info missing to be sure of anything really

[in.service22]

927092719272 ok so here are the pictures from the top and from the side he/she no longer looks "bulgy" or gravid also i've seen the forum on sexing the snakes and there were a lot of vent pictures which is why i added a picture of his/her vent. by comparison to the other photo's in my opinion looks to be female. but i would like a consensus on whether anyone thinks it's female or male by the way everyone who has commented thank you all for your thoughts it's really had me thinking of other possibilities that i didnt even think of before. again i'm new to owning snakes and like any worried momma... well i'm sure everyone has been there before i hope... an another topic that was mentioned... the fecal matter was solid and kinda slimey and stunk like rotten eggs...not sure if that's normal or not could also be what he/she ate... again thank you everyone for replying ^_^

[chris-uk]

I would say female, and not gravid.

I wouldn't say your description of the faeces is necessarily a concern, the consistency and smell does vary depending on what they've eaten.

[guidofatherof5]

I agree with Chris. Female and I don't think gravid.

[EasternGirl]

I agree that she is female. If she has eaten and defecated then she probably does not have an impaction. She could be gravid...looks gravid in that first pic to me...but not so much when you have her stretched out...so it's hard to say. I have a wild caught female that has been gravid three times...she was gravid when I took her in. I have questioned each time if she was gravid or not...I think it is one of those things that once you have seen it, you learn to spot it...and it can be difficult to know with a new snake. Once you have a snake for a while and know what the snake looks like when she is not gravid...you can start to know what she looks like when she is. You will have to watch and see...if she starts to gain more weight, then you can suspect she is. You can get a postal scale and begin to weigh her...see if she starts to put on significant weight in a short period of time. For now, I would just concentrate on making sure she is well and getting her set up in a nice enclosure if you plan to keep her...which I would since she apparently was having a hard time in the wild on her own...but that is up to you. We have threads that explain more about setting up enclosures and you can ask us anything you need to ask about caring for her. If you haven't already been given this:Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet) Thanks for taking her in and caring for her :)

[in.service22]

thank you yeah i set her up with a 20 gallon (long not tall) tank with aspen substrate i've also made her a hide tube and put some fake leaves in there and she has a nice sized water dish. she's set up with a warm side where her hide is and a cool side where her water is. i'm using a dome lighting fixture with a low wattage bulb in it doesnt get over 85 degrees on the hot side. also have a hygromeater in the middle for the overall tank. she has fun in her aspen she burrows after we handle her when she goes to bed i usually wake up to her head poking out from the aspen super cute... i love my sanke so much i couldnt have gotten a better one. she's very docile never tried to bite even when she was shedding, has never musked, and just an overall happy snake. i take pictures daily of her in different poses. ^_^ i could go on but i'll stop there... hehe!

[EasternGirl]

Sounds like you have a nice set-up for her. Garters are very easy to fall in love with...and they become quite addictive. I came on here 3 years ago with one that I found in my basement...and now I have 12. I was up to 14 but two passed, unfortunately. Two of my little ones are babies from my big eastern, Cee Cee...one of the great loves of my life :) But really...I love them all so much...they are all great loves of my life :)

[in.service22]

so YAY!!! she finally ate!! i'm so happy to see her eat.... made my entire day! just a bit of good news...

[jwolfe152]

great news it can be very difficult to feed a new WC im having problems with my new female Amaunet but it has only been a few days

[guidofatherof5]

Glad to hear she's eating.

[Foxrun402]

Yeah she looks like she was eating good, looks like a sweet heart too. Hope she continues to thrive for yah ;)