questions about a young garter...

[Montys_Mom]

Hi there

I haven't been around in a long time. I have a new critter that my kiddo brought home. Of course I let it stay over night and the rest is history. I had our garter taking minnows at first to get it used to eating, which it did quickly and easily. The snake shed twice, also seemed to almost double in size so I decided to switch to pinkies. I was so surprised that it took to pinkies very well and on the first attempt! Now our garter takes them from my fingers with enthusiasm. My question is, since we found it this year, about 17 weeks ago, and it is now 19 inches long how old might it actually be? Is it a new baby this year and just has sprouted like a weed? Or was it older than we first thought and not a new baby? When we tried to measure it 17 weeks ago it was maybe 10 inches long and pretty thin. And, since it has a long thin tail that tapers soon after the vent is it safe to assume this is a female? I keep calling it a her but it would be nice to know either way. Also, she can be pretty jumpy, hard to catch, but is perfectly fine once she is being handled. My kiddo and I are spending daily time holding her except right after feeding and when she gets eye caps before a shed. Anything else I should be doing?

the photos are 1st: 17 weeks ago 2nd:16 weeks ago 3rd: 6 days ago not sure if you can tell a size difference, but in the 2nd and 3rd photos they were taken with her on the same branch.

Thanks
Lori

[Rushthezeppelin]

Sounds like it's probably a '14 scrub to me. How interesting that it seems you found this one almost to the week that I found my checkered. She hasn't doubled in size on me though (maybe weight but not length).

[Montys_Mom]

thanks! She does seem a lot different than my first baby garter. I went through old photos and realized Monty was almost this size at a year old and I definitely got him as a wee one. Glad you held onto the checkered. Nice find.


My kiddo almost stepped on her because she was basking on the sidewalk, then the chase was on and the snake was caught (why my child didn't just let it be can be explained by genetics) and the snake latched onto a finger and wouldn't let go LOL. So in comes my very excited 17 year old with a small snake attached to a finger smelling all musked and nasty with a big grin on his face.

[Rushthezeppelin]

It could potentially be a scrub from this year though if your area is plentiful in their preferred foods. Hard to say for sure but he is a bit smaller than my checkered was.

[Montys_Mom]

It could potentially be a scrub from this year though if your area is plentiful in their preferred foods. Hard to say for sure but he is a bit smaller than my checkered was.

Found a photo of her when my kiddo brought her home. The earthworm is normal sized so you can get an idea of how small Juno was just a few months ago. From this to 19 inches long today and about as big around as my pinkie finger is quite a leap. Being so small to begin with, I still think she was from this years babies. What do you think?


http://i.imgur.com/pz0Fe4o.jpg

[Rushthezeppelin]

Might be this years....tough call. Could be a yearling that has barely survived too. My checkered wasn't a whole lot bigger than that when I found her. Head was a fair bit bigger though so that might be a clue.