View Full Version : he choked??????
my garter snake choked and died...:(
i hav pics will post pics....can garters even choke??
this is wierd he is bareley moving.
he is moving but the piece of fish isnt going down!!!!!
he keeps opening his mouth thats not a good sign...
enigma200316
08-20-2007, 09:27 AM
I would think either try to force it down or myself would take tweesers and pull it out!!!!!
Josh ... get the fish out of his mouth gently ... use tweezers or something ...
i got it out but his neck is flat,
hes dead..
thanks for the help though.
enigma200316
08-20-2007, 09:36 AM
I don't know why his neck would be flat unless the rib like bones on the side were broke, or the muscles are weak and maybe thats why he couldn't swallow....:confused:
enigma200316
08-20-2007, 09:39 AM
Damn, I'm sorry Josh wish we could have done some thing more.....:(
i dont know he was fine last night he was my second best eater.
i dint see a lump in his stomach so i figured someone ate his lunch.
so i cut up pieces of rosy. placed it on his shell. i came back later about a minute after and he was by the bowl. so i went to get my camera for another eating sequence. But when i got back i saw a lump in his neck.
so i turned my camera on but there were dead batteries so i went looking for new ones. when i came back he was in the sme position with the food the same in his throat but he ate one more peice. The big piece. So i waited and he still was not moving so i started this thread.
enigma200316
08-20-2007, 09:46 AM
how big was he?
enigma200316
08-20-2007, 09:49 AM
I'm thinking maybe being that small, that he did do some thing to the bones in the neck, maybe he tried to eat tomuch at once.....hard to say really!!
he was a really good eater to.
enigma200316
08-20-2007, 09:53 AM
well maybe James or some one can try and shed some light on this,but I think a vet would have to examine to be sure and theres no point in that
cost.......
yea thats true.
god this week sucks.
why can they just eat like normal snakes
adamanteus
08-20-2007, 11:42 AM
Josh, I'm really sorry. What a sh*t week you're having! Was it a piece from a large fish? Maybe with a large rigid bone in it? In this instance the bones can sometimes become lodged in the snakes throat, if they don't swallow them the right way. Really sorry, mate.:(
KITKAT
08-20-2007, 11:52 AM
my garter snake choked and died...:(
i hav pics will post pics....can garters even choke??
Yes, garters can choke. Their breathing hole is in their mouth. If they get a big piece of food and it wedges and won't go down, the hole in the mouth can be covered/blocked or pinched shut by the food, and they can suffocate if it is not either pushed down or pulled out... but doing those things is very delicate, and can lead to damage too.
When feeding BABY garters, never feed a food piece that is LONGER than the WIDTH of their head. That way, if something gets turned the wrong way, it is unlikely to stick there.
Sorry for your loss... but don't blame yourself - you didn't know, and it sounds like the little piggie took food that was too large for him/her.
drache
08-20-2007, 12:00 PM
oh Josh
so sorry
babies can be such a pain - both in the neck and in the heart
the first year I got babies from Scott I lost my best eater under mysterious circumstances - it was a radix and I was totally crushed
not that it helps, but you know - infant mortality is pretty high across most species
the "normal" ones are actually all little miracles of nature
Josh, I'm really sorry. What a sh*t week you're having! Was it a piece from a large fish? Maybe with a large rigid bone in it? In this instance the bones can sometimes become lodged in the snakes throat, if they don't swallow them the right way. Really sorry, mate.:(
the secon peice was about one third of the rosie.
he usually woofs the whole thing down.
Stefan-A
08-20-2007, 12:24 PM
Talk about freak accident. :( I'm so sorry, Josh.
stonyloam
08-20-2007, 02:22 PM
Sorry to hear about it Josh. I thought the same thing was going to happen to one of mine this morning, grabbed two pieces of trout stuck together, a real mouth full, got it down though.
Sorry to hear the bad news, Josh
GGarter
08-21-2007, 03:18 AM
I'm very sorry to hear that Josh.:(
I'll definately keep that in mind for when I'm getting my new babies...
Kind regards from Denmark
/Tore
Edcase
08-21-2007, 10:52 AM
Damn that sucks :(.
Lulu Bennett
08-21-2007, 02:11 PM
Josh sweety i am soooo sorry to hear this. unfortunatly these thing happen just keep your head up hunnie xxx
GarterGuy
08-21-2007, 02:57 PM
Sorry to hear that Josh...I have heard of snakes choking to death on too big a prey item (the whole eyes bigger then stomach thing) and with garters being such aggressive feeders I can see that happening. For my little ones, I make sure the pieces of food are not bigger then their heads. Was it one of the easterns or maritimes? Again, really sorry for your loss.
Roy
it was a maritime.
so im down to three.
o i sold an eastern for ten bucks
to to my pet store.
they offered me it was cool.
i meant pet store guy not the pet store itself lol
he was looking for an eastern garter and asked me were he can find one:rolleyes:
chloe
08-21-2007, 04:27 PM
Sorry to hear of your loss
enigma200316
08-21-2007, 06:52 PM
I wasn't sure you could sell them in PA:confused:
Have you found any laws for or agaist it???
I haven't been able to find anything yet really.......
idk know if you can but he bought them for his own collection
enigma200316
08-21-2007, 08:27 PM
idk know if you can but he bought them for his own collection
I'm not against it,but I haven't been able to find anything and if I do it in the future I want to do it legally you know what I mean.....
yea i know what you mean.
Cazador
08-22-2007, 05:51 PM
the second piece was about one third of the rosie. He usually woofs the whole thing down.
Hey Josh,
Sorry to chime in so late, but I'd offer the same advice as Rhea. Garter snakes have a LOT of babies, but very few (percentage wise) reach adulthood. Most are preyed upon, others are born with "defects" that impair digestion, fitness, predatory ability, movement, etc.
It sounds like yours had some sort of natural defect since in the past it has eaten food 3x larger than what you recently offered. I just mention that so that you're not second guessing yourself and afraid to feed the others. Be sure to offer these growing little babies calcium with vitamin D once in a while (at about 2-3 week intervals) just to be on the safe side. Calcium does much more than just grow bones. It is essential for normal heart function, and the vitamin D allows the calcium to be absorbed and metabolized.
I'm pretty sure you already know this, but also don't feed your snakes food that is bigger in diameter than themselves. They're capable of eating food about 1/3 larger than their own diameter, but give yourself a margin of safety. Best,
Rick
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