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ScimitarX
10-16-2007, 04:48 PM
Hi guys,

im pretty sure that my albino checkered is gravid, she is very fat at the back end of her body and it is quite easy to see and feel lumps. As this will be my first time breeding garters myself i have a few questions. Should i provide a nesting box for her to have the babies in? How soon should i separate the male from her? How many babies is it possible for them to have? They werent brumated and this pregnancy is a bit unexpected, so should this cause any problems

This will be the females third litter as she had two lots of babies(1 lot last year and the other lot the year before last) with the person i bought her from earlier in the year.
Also the babies should be a mixture of normals/albinos or hets because she was mated by my normal morph.
zooplan
10-16-2007, 09:48 PM
Its usual that garters give birth while sliding araound in the enclosure.
Some more hiding-places would be comfortable to the babies.
Because you donīt know when the gravidity started you should seperate the male now.
Clutch size depends on many different causes, the females size is very important, 10 to 30 hatchlings would be normal.
Gijs & Sabine
10-17-2007, 07:29 AM
That's great news, Claire!! How exciting :)
It shouldn't be a problem that you haven't brumate them. And because it's her third time to have babies there shouldn't be any problems at al ;)
Sometimes the first lot is not so good.

Good luck and let us now what happens!!
adamanteus
10-17-2007, 12:45 PM
Congratulations, Claire. I concur with Udo...separate her from the male straight away. Don't want any nasty accidents!
Lori P
10-17-2007, 02:07 PM
Will the males eat the babies? For that matter, do the mothers ever eat the babies?
adamanteus
10-17-2007, 03:10 PM
Males can sometimes eat the babies....not all species, but some do. T. marcianus is one that does this, had it happen to me in the past. I've never heard of the mother eating the babies, but others might know differently.
ScimitarX
10-17-2007, 05:48 PM
Thanks. I will seperate them ASAP:)

These last couple of days the female has been very quiet, constantly hiding in one of the hides, shes usually very active especially in the evenings, so i'm wondering if she is preparing to shed.
CrazyHedgehog
10-18-2007, 02:38 PM
I have found that the mother goes off food before giving birth, and then for a short while after, maybe intended to stop them from eating their own.
ssssnakeluvr
10-18-2007, 04:02 PM
its rare, but mothers can eat them....I have heard of wandering garters occasionally doing it... I keep the gravid girls separate and remove the babies as soon as she is done giving birth....won't take any chances.
anji1971
10-18-2007, 08:45 PM
I remember when mine gave birth, I found her on the opposite end of the tank staring at the baby and looking completely shocked (a 'what the hell just happened?' kind of expression!) I didn't know anything about snake births at the time, but I removed the little one anyway just to be sure. At that time I didn't even realise that one baby was not the norm.....never did find out exactly what happened there!:confused:
Lori P
10-19-2007, 06:39 AM
Anji, it wasn't a look of shock. It was a look of, "(Groan) One more... just one more to go... (burp)" LOLOL!!!!! :-)
anji1971
10-19-2007, 07:02 AM
LOL!!! Lori you are just too much!:p:p
....................although, i wonder.......................how many snakelets can a big snake eat in 3-5 minutes???????????????
EdgyExoticReptiles
10-19-2007, 03:00 PM
id would say a lot i think it depends on how big they are, one baby is very strange but idk canabolism is pretty rare, i would say 7 babies did u find any scales in the poo?

LOL!!! Lori you are just too much!:p:p
....................although, i wonder.......................how many snakelets can a big snake eat in 3-5 minutes???????????????
anji1971
10-19-2007, 07:52 PM
Actually, I was just kidding with that- I was watching TV next to the tank when she gave birth. She just started skittling all over the tank and when I got up to see what was going on there she was on one end, staring horrified at the other end, and when I looked, lo and behold, there was this teeny little look-a-like poking her nose up at me!
So she didn't really get a chance to have her kids for dinner!!!:D:D There really was only one, oddly enough.