Baby garter advice (pic included)

[LyrisFlame]

So this is my little snake:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m29/LyrisFlame/DSCF5319.jpg

Sorry about the size - for some reason the resized pic I'm trying to use just goes back to the normal, gigantic size when I post it here.:confused:

I’ve had it for about 3 days now. It was found in the woodpile next to our house along with a mature female and a couple dozen more babies. It was cold and the sun was going down, so they were all moving pretty slow. I decided to keep this one and we left the others alone after covering them back up.

A couple of things I’d like advice with, if anyone knows:

1. I’m not sure how old it is, or if it has shed for the first time or not. It’s very tiny.

2. It hasn’t eaten the guppies I tried to give it, so I’m thinking either it’s too stressed to eat or is too young to eat. But I don’t want to just assume either way and risk the baby not getting food when it really needs it.

3. I’m going away for a week on Thursday, and I will probably have my boyfriend's brother look after the snake when I’m gone. What should I tell him to do?

Any advice on how to take care of a baby snake would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[adamanteus]

Nice looking radix, Freya:). I wouldn't be too concerned about her not eating just yet... it can often take them a while to settle in.

[Zephyr]

You may want to get some larger guppies or some worms. From experience, motion along with smell motivates eating responses fairly quickly.

[ScimitarX]

Very pretty little snake you have there:)

[anji1971]

That is a beautiful snake!
And don't worry about the food too much, she'll eat when she settles in. Just keep trying different things every few days, until something sparks her interest. My garter Deejay wouldn't touch guppies at all, but she loved small worms, and now that she's grown she eats everything.........right out of my hand.:)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

if she was still around her mother, then she was literally just born when you found them all. they don't really nest, the mom gives birth and the babies make their way off on their own. baby garters shed right after they are born, and then you will see another shed sometime soon. Sometimes it takes them a few days to eat, maybe even over a week. make sure that she has a place to hide where it is also warm, and try leaving a fish or two in the water bowl and leaving her in the cage undisturbed for a day or two.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

oh yes, and as james mentioned, you have a Radix, commonly known as the Plains Garter

[jeanette]

very pretty snake :)

[LyrisFlame]

Okay, so I just got back from a really crappy road trip, the snake hadn't eaten any of the fist I left, apparently no one gave it fresh water, I just gave it a worm which it ate (much to my joy) only to throw it back up a minute later, it's starting to look a little skinny and sunken and I'm starting to get a little peeved. Not with the snake, but with the people who aren't helping by telling me it's "just a snake" and not to worry about it.

Why would it throw up the worm it just devoured? It seriously just inhaled this worm, and I thought it was all good, but then it threw the whole thing up again and now I'm feeling quite frustrated.

If I can't get it to eat I'm just going to free it because I don't want to accidentally kill it, you know?

:(:mad::confused:

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

well if its skinny i wouldnt release it, does it look healthy act normal? did you give it fresh water?

Okay, so I just got back from a really crappy road trip, the snake hadn't eaten any of the fist I left, apparently no one gave it fresh water, I just gave it a worm which it ate (much to my joy) only to throw it back up a minute later, it's starting to look a little skinny and sunken and I'm starting to get a little peeved. Not with the snake, but with the people who aren't helping by telling me it's "just a snake" and not to worry about it.

Why would it throw up the worm it just devoured? It seriously just inhaled this worm, and I thought it was all good, but then it threw the whole thing up again and now I'm feeling quite frustrated.

If I can't get it to eat I'm just going to free it because I don't want to accidentally kill it, you know?

:(:mad::confused:

[LyrisFlame]

well if its skinny i wouldnt release it, does it look healthy act normal? did you give it fresh water?

Well, I haven't been around it long enough to be able to say for sure what is normal, but today I noticed that its body just didn't look as round and toned as it was before (a week ago), it was kind of... I dunno... sagging? sunken? Which didn't seem good.

It looks kind of... depressed almost. Just kind of lays there listlessly. I'm hoping that maybe now that I'm back and can keep things the way they are supposed to be the snake will start to feel better.

I did change the water and it drank for a few minutes when it realized someone had finally given it fresh water to drink.

I seriously hate relying on other people to do this stuff.

[drache]

please don't worry just yet
one, two, or even three weeks is not long enough to starve a snake
obviously the snake is hungry, so it's likely to eat eventually
if the worm was largish, it may not have wanted to stay down
just keep it supplied with fresh water, and try feeding every other day or so, until it takes something

[anji1971]

The fact that it drank as soon as you changed the water indicates that it may have been getting dehydrated. It's a good thing you got home when you did!
As Rhea just stated, keep offering food every couple days, and offer smaller items at first.
The snake is probably extremely stressed out right now. Hopefully that's all it is, and it will perk up shortly under your care.

[bulrush]

Try offering a smaller worm or a small slug. They like soft-bodied things.

[LyrisFlame]

please don't worry just yet
one, two, or even three weeks is not long enough to starve a snake
obviously the snake is hungry, so it's likely to eat eventually
if the worm was largish, it may not have wanted to stay down
just keep it supplied with fresh water, and try feeding every other day or so, until it takes something


The fact that it drank as soon as you changed the water indicates that it may have been getting dehydrated. It's a good thing you got home when you did!
As Rhea just stated, keep offering food every couple days, and offer smaller items at first.
The snake is probably extremely stressed out right now. Hopefully that's all it is, and it will perk up shortly under your care.


Thank you, Rhea and anji. I'm feeling better about it today. The snake is moving around again and has gone back to watching us and cruising around the tank. She seems okay. I think she's sniffing out the worm I just put in there.

The worms we bought are just medium to small earthworms, but I'm cutting them in half anyway.

I think the water probably did have a lot to do with it. Just another reason to be happy that I'm home.

Thanks again everyone for listening to me fret about the baby snake. I'm driving my boyfriend crazy with my demands that everything be as clean as possible and done "by the book" I guess. :rolleyes:

[anji1971]

Glad to hear she's doing better. :)
And we're always happy to listen and help if we can!

[LyrisFlame]

So here's an update:

I think my little garter is eating... I've never actually seen it eat, but the worms disappear and the snake spends time readjusting it's jaws so I assume that problem is solved.

Also, it shed while I was out doing errands today. I had noticed the eyes getting a little cloudy, but didn't expect to find snake skin out of the blue. So that was kind of cool.

It's hiding a little more recently, but it still seems to like watching me.

Good so far!!

[Lori P]

Very good indeed!! :-)

[anji1971]

Now that it's shed, it may be even more interested in eating. Sometimes they go off feed before a shed.
Sounds like things are going well-- thanks for the update!:)

[drache]

that sounds promising

[bradpitt786]

Just keep trying different things every few days, until something sparks her interest. My garter Deejay wouldn't touch guppies at all, but she loved small worms ,Sometimes it takes them a few days to eat, maybe even over a week I just gave it a worm which it ate only to throw it back up a minute later.
===============
BRAD

[janettesuzy]

I just recently got two baby garter snakes (no more than four weeks old. We got a terrarium and put the snakes, water, a fake tree and some very small crickets. Has anyone ever tried crickets before. I would rather not use mice if I can help it. My snakes are very small so we bought really small crickets. Should I just wait and see if they eat?

[adamanteus]

Hi Shannon, and welcome to the forum.:)
I'm afraid you've been misinformed, Garters don't eat crickets... or any other arthropod. In captivity you should feed them on pinky mice, fish and earthworms (nighcrawlers).

[Snake lover 3-25]

hello and welcome to the forum:)

[Stefan-A]

Welcome aboard, Shannon. :)

[anji1971]

Hello, and welcome! :)
Definitely ditch the crickets. Try nightcrawler and fresh trout or salmon pieces. Your snake will thank you!;)

[infernalis]

Welcome.....


I would rather not use mice if I can help it. My snakes are very small so we bought really small crickets. Should I just wait and see if they eat?


Ditto the above comments, (James and Anji) Insects are not garter food.

Luckily there are frozen pinky mice that you simply thaw and serve, No one here gives live mice to their snakes. However it will be a lot easier for you to start with some cut up Salmon or Tilapia from the grocery store or some cut up night crawler.

Sounds a little gross, but since garter babies are so little, night crawlers have to be cut into pieces with scissors.

Another alternative is to buy some feeder guppies (NO rosy reds or goldfish, They are bad for snakes to eat) and put them in the water bowl so the snake can "hunt" for them.

Best wishes and good luck.

Do you have any pictures to share? We love pictures.:D