Slither had babies, now what?

[Dougie]

I am inquiring about my 7 yr old son's snake Slither. She had babies this morning and I am clueless as to what to do next. I know nothing about snakes (I myself, don't even like them) but am researching for my son so when he gets home from school I know what he should do. I have no idea what kind of garter snake he has (I will try and attach a pic from this morning). He has been feeding her minnows and last week tried pinkie mice with no luck. He has had her for about a month and a half. My son and husband are planning on moving her to a 29 US gallon and leaving the babies in the 10 US gallon. I believe there are 6-8 babies but I do not get close enough to the cage to get a good count. (Ok, I know that you all must be rolling on the floor laughing at me so now that you have had a good chuckle can you let me know what my son should do now?)

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w24/gtalovt/P5270002.jpg

[Snake lover 3-25]

is she being kept on sand????????? i think that the 10 gal is fine for the babies and the 29 is more than enough for the mother..... don't feed her on a diet of only minnows..... they can kill them...... :( try salmon, trout, tailapia, pinkies, and worms........:D i'd seperate the mother because there is a slight risk of canibalism..... and maybe put the babies in a cage with slightly damp papertowles on one side and dry towl;es on the other........ see if you can find soe worms and cut them into small pieces for the babies and give the mother some too..... minnows are a VERY bad diet.....:D

[Zephyr]

see if you can find soe worms and cut them into small pieces for the babies and give the mother some too..... minnows are a VERY bad diet.....:D

The snake above is a ribbon snake. Coastal, I believe. They do not have the avid worm taste that garters do, so fish may be the best bet for now. Try tilapia or trout cut/shredded into a "pulp."

[Elliot]

I agree, Western or Gulf Coast ribbon, and minnows will be fine for now. Dusting them every other feeding with vitamin/calcium powder would be beneficial. I doubt that they'll eat worms, my ribbons won't even look at them.

[Dougie]

My son just got home from school and has offically counted and we have 7 babies! We are still trying to figure out which type of ribbon snake we have. Some of the babies look just like their mom and other have more of a redish/brown stripe down their back.
1. Do we try and feed the babies minnows also? Or, should we try to get them to eat pieces of pinkie mice?

2. What would be the best thing to put on the bottom of their cage? Newspaper? or Something else?

[Lori P]

Ribbons seem extra hard to get onto pinkies, too... so be patient and keep trying. Scenting them with the fish will be the way to start.

[Dougie]

I have been reading info on scenting the pinkies. My understanding is that I take a piece of raw fish and rub it on the defrosted pinkies. Am I correct? Does the warmth of the pinkies matter? If so, what temp. am I trying to achieve?

[adamanteus]

The pinky can be stone cold... as long as it is thoroughly defrosted. You're right about the scenting method, just rub them together... fish is the stronger scent.

[Stefan-A]

Correct about scenting.

It matters a little (not much though) what temperature it is, but not nearly as much as with snakes that have heat pits. The temperature would be ideal at normal body temperature. It probably has more to do with how much the food item smells.

[adamanteus]

The idea is (when scenting) that the snake thinks the pinky is fish.... so cold is good. (As long as it is thawed through).

[Dougie]

What size food should I be feeding these babies. They are actually alot bigger than I thought a baby snake would be. It continues to amaze me at the size of food a snake can eat, but I don't want to have them get a pinkie or minnow stuck in their throat (if that is even possible).

[adamanteus]

If the food item is the same width as the snakes head, you'll have no problems.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I have one suggestion, it look like you are keeping them on sand... I would switch them to something other than that. Try aspen shavings, carefresh, or even paper toweling or newspaper work great!

I would just mince up the fish really fine, but don't use minnows, they contain thiaminase like goldfish and are toxic over time to your snake. You can use feeder guppies, but you have to make sure that they are indeed guppies. You can also use salmon, trout, or tilapia from the supermarket. once you get the babies to eat some fish, start cutting up a pinkie in with the fish and mix it up well so all they smell is fish... gradually change it over to just pinkies, and it should work for most of them!

Good luck!

[Dougie]

How long can the babies be with their mom? Would it work if we put all the snakes into the 29 US gallon together and just fed them separately?

[adamanteus]

Just because of the size difference I would separate them ASAP.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

it could, as long as you are careful to wash them all off after eating so that none of them smell like fish! the 29 will nto house them all once they grow up though.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

personally, i separate babies as soon as they are born though.

[Dougie]

Thanks ASnakeLovinBabe you answered a lot of questions I was going to ask! I am thrilled to feed them fish from the supermarket instead of live minnows! We will definately change the sand tonight!

I guess it will be two cages then! Boy, does hubby have his work cut out for him when he gets home!

[Snake lover 3-25]

yeah........ but i seperated my baby for about 2 wks b4 reuniting him with his mom and they've lived together ever since!!!!!!!!! but i have always fed them in seperate cages ang given them a bath after...... bathing them once a week makes them smell less in my opinion!!!!:D:D:D

Edit:but it all depends on the snake and some (mine) would do better than others!!!!:D:D:D

[lestat]

Nice babies. Good luck with them.

[jitami]

Sounds like you've got all the bases covered. I personally love the fact that you won't get close enough to the tank to count the babies, but you're still compasionate enough to ask for help to make sure they'll be ok. Something tells me you have a wonderful son who's going to grow into a kind, caring man :) Thanks mom :)