They're Here!!!

[jitami]

My babies are here! They're soooooooooooooooooo tiny! They were a little chilled but both seem healthy and active. One is really cruising around, checking things out. OMG, they're little!

They'll find the water, right? I actually heated the whole tank up(stole Sly's heat lamp for a few minutes) to 79 cool end and 86 warm end since they seemed a little chilly. Does that seem ok? Geez... this is worse than being a new human mom! I'm a pro at that!

Just to keep the hounds at bay, pictures are coming, but I can tell you now that they're not good quality!

Lovin the little explorer... hopefully his brother is ok, too... :confused:

[crzy_kevo]

congrats tami that should be good temp my little ones are doing ok with 80 on one side they will choose what side they want

[jitami]

Thanks Kev, it was about 78/82 so I figured bumping it up a little couldn't hurt. I have seen both boys out together in the last few minutes. Here goes someone cruising by the front of the tank now :) Working on pics but yeah, they pretty much suck. Most are through the glass and I must not have my camera set right. But they're here :D

[infernalis]

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/happy.gif

[jitami]

Aw, the happy dance :)

Is it normal for them to be so active? Are they going to be this active on a regular basis or just til they get settled in? I'm loving it!!! I've seen them both get a drink of water and they're both cruising around now. They almost bumped into each other, coiled back, and both went opposite directions. Too funny.

Ok, here's the pics... and that giant brown pipe is a toilet paper tube!
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/BabyTiny.jpg

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/DSC01318.JPG

couple more on their way...

[infernalis]

My little muttley is very active and squirmy most of the time:D

[jitami]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/DSC01329a.jpg

I know this one's super blurry, but I was on the phone and wanted to try to catch both babies together...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/DSC01331.jpg

[Zephyr]

They look VERY content. lol

[jitami]

My little muttley is very active and squirmy most of the time:D

Sweet :D

[jitami]

They look VERY content. lol

haha Kyle... thank you soooo much!!! I love my babies :):):)

[Zephyr]

haha Kyle... thank you soooo much!!! I love my babies :):):)
I think they love you back too.

[jitami]

Well, for now they tolerate me staring at them and that's good enough for me :D

They've both settled down. One's chillin' in the cool corner and I have no clue where the other one is...

[Garter_Gertie]

If they're not cuter'un a babies butt! Dekays?

DA-Am! Sweeties! My guys don't go travelin' at all. Big chickens. :(

WooT! The Happy Dance for you!

[Garter_Gertie]

I've got no thermal-thingy on my two tanks. I've no AC, so I've not heat going on either tank. The kids seem to burrow down to cool off.

Like rite now ittiz 85 in the Hoggy tank. And prolly quite similar in the Garter tank. Not much I can do...

[Tori]

They are little beauties! Congrats!

[jitami]

If they're not cuter'un a babies butt! Dekays?


Aren't they, though? Nope not Dekays... thankfully they're not THAT tiny! They're the result of an accidental breeding between a sirtalis & a marcianus.

[Garter_Gertie]

Ah-ha. You know about that. You don't plan to breed them, do you?

PLEASE SAY NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jitami]

No :D

And thanks Tori :)

[crzy_kevo]

verry nice babie tami they one looks like a marcianus and the other looks like sirtalis lol

[jitami]

Thanks Kevin. It will be interesting to see how they turn out as they grow up. Honestly, though, right now I can't tell them apart. I had to leave for an hour or so, just got home and can't find either baby, but... one shed already... how cool is that? Yeah, I don't know if this set up is going to work, though. If I can stand it I'm going to give it a day or two, but not being able to find them kinda freaks me out. I'm sure they're grateful for all the hiding places, tho.

[GartersRock]

Cute cute cute!!

[Snaky]

Congratulations, very nice looking babies :)

[jitami]

Thanks Guys! I saw both of them for a second this morning so all's well :)

[jitami]

Ok, I'll stop the play by play eventually, but just had to report that we have full little tummies :D I tried the no stress approach of just leaving a dish of food in the tank and both babies ate. The one who stays hidden most of the time was actually the first to the food dish :D That one ate a bit of pinky & some tillapia, the other a couple pieces of tilapia. Sweet! :D

So far, my adult Sly, does not recognize Tillapia as food! He got the two pinkies that I cut parts from w/ tilapia... we'll see.. Anyone else every have to scent fish with pinkies to get them to eat the fish? LOL

[anji1971]

They're really cute...... congratulations!:)

[jitami]

Thanks Anji! :)

And Sly was a definate no go with the strips of tilapia & pinkies! He approached the dish, sniffed, and wandered away. He usually has a voracious appetite and will eat mice enthusiastically both off a dish and with tongs. So I figured I would try tease feeding him the pinkies with tongs... big ole boy ran from the pinky! Ok, fine! Tomorrow he'll get pinkies that haven't touched that yucky tilapia. :p

[anji1971]

Mine were kind of funny with the tilapia at first. (Well, other than Deejay, who would eat anything!)
I realised after a few minutes that they had trouble seeing the white tilapia strips against the white feeding bin!:rolleyes: So now I put them on a darker coloured plate when I feed them.:D

[jitami]

That's funny Anji, but makes sense! Sly wouldn't even touch the pink pinkies on the white plate(plastic lid). It had to have been smell, cause it got his attention and he went to check them out, but wasn't interested. He'll eat fish out of a dish, maybe I'll try floating some pieces of tilapia in his water dish next time I get some rosy reds? Mice are easy enough, tho.

One of the babies, on the other hand, would have eaten the white dish if he could have :)

[jitami]

Since it's so quiet today I thought I'd let you guys know that both babies were hangin' out in their plants this morning... total opposite corners of the tank, both chillin' then one did a little exploring... now they're both gone :D I'm thinking this tank will work out ok after all. As long as I see them both a couple of times a day I'm going to assume they're fine.

Today's observation of the babies led me to a question, though. For those of you who find babies in the wild, how often are they up high? They were both as high as they could get and I watched one trying to climb the glass and get higher for a while before settling in the top of his "tree." I've never thought to look up while looking for garters, but :confused: It wasn't exceptionally cool either... was in the upper 70's in their tank this morning now low to upper 80's depending on which side and they're both MIA.

Just thought it was interesting... I know some of you have been through this a million times before... to you, sorry for the rambling :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

believe it or not i have found a garter up in a tree..... a good 6-7 feet two!!!! but she was very agressive.... only second to a baby i found once.... she was soon released back to her tree

[jitami]

Cool Shanley... that's really ineresting :)

[GartersRock]

A garter in a tree?? Awesome!! ;)

[Zephyr]

I've seen garters fall off of shrubs/low plants when I go hunting for them; found them on the sidewalk a couple times too. lol

[GartersRock]

Lucky.... ;)

[infernalis]

OK here's one for you a Dekayi in a tree!!!

http://www.reformedsniper.net/snakes/images/xena_054.jpg

[GartersRock]

:p Cute Caption!!

[infernalis]

Thanks Amanda, I took that out back in my woods:D

[jitami]

That's a great picture Wayne!

[Zephyr]

OH. OHHHH.
I forgot that when I was in Utah there were 5-7 wandering garters under some very loose bark about 5 1/2 feet off the ground on a weeping willow tree. :)

[jitami]

Sweet! Must look remember to look UP when looking for garters :D

[GartersRock]

Darn! One more thing to think about while herping. lol!!

[infernalis]

Just dont walk while looking up:eek:

[jitami]

Not a great pic, didn't want to turn on lights and scare the boys, but I'm always excited to see both babies out and about and thought the pic was worth sharing anyway...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/Babies.jpg

btw, think it's coincidence that both times I've fed them I've placed the dish right where they're staring? lol

[Garter_Gertie]

Hehehehe! They are cuties! Love their faces.

[Zephyr]

They're on the lookout 4 sum eatins'. lol

[GartersRock]

Very cute!!!

[anji1971]

They are cute! There's something about those little baby snake faces...........

[crzy_kevo]

They are cute! There's something about those little baby snake faces...........

i think its the large eyes :D

[GartersRock]

Yep. Def the large eyes. ;)

[jitami]

Well, the babies are both stuffed like little sausages(love that term Shannon :D)full of tilapia and pinky parts and they officially have names now :) See siggy...

[GartersRock]

Cute names! Congrats on the eating!

[anji1971]

Love the names, Tami!:D

[Garter_Gertie]

I like the names!

Sad thing is, I actually remember Frick and Frack. On skates.

Can I go die now?

[crzy_kevo]

good names tami :D

[jitami]

I like the names!

Sad thing is, I actually remember Frick and Frack. On skates.

Can I go die now?

Nope, won't letcha :) Be proud of all you've seen and done so far and look forward to all the wonderful things to come :)

Hubby started calling them Frick and Frack this weekend and I thought it was pretty much perfect :) I keep aiming for noble, sophisticated names, but never quite get there. LOL

[Zephyr]

lol
How cute.
Did you get to see them go psycho on the food yet?
That was my favorite part at feeding time. lol

[jitami]

Yeah, they're great eaters Kyle! :D

Today was actually their third meal, but the second got interrupted when I was sure Frick was going to eat Frack or the other way around lol. I'll probably end up separating them in the future, but with just the two to watch and keep track of feeding them together isn't too bad. I'm just a nervous mommy :) I told my husband that mealtime is considered a success if I have two fat little babies and not just one :D So far so good :)

Oh, I'm going to make a new feeding tray for the them, tho. Here's my idea... I'm going to take a small lid, like maybe a gator-aide lid and put screening over open side, then place the chopped up food on the screen so that the "juices" run through the screen and there's nothing making the babies think they should eat the actual tray and it will prevent them from crawling through the liquid scenting themselves as they do. Whatcha think?

[Garter_Gertie]

I love'ya, Ja'tami...

But I feel the La Brea Tar Pits suckin' at my ankles... (whine)

I can't 'see' what you're talkin' about. Just remember - NOT RUFF EDGES! The screen makes me think o'ruff edges...

And if you let them wallow in the goodly juice, you get the joy o'givin' them a BATH! I love giving my boys (all four) a bath! They seem to actually like it but for when I warsh their face(s).

[jitami]

Yeah, we did the bath thing once, but that was the interrupted meal and they probably didn't get to eat nearly as much as they would have if they hadn't been swimming in worm guts :)

Ok, lid thing hard to picture.... take lid, turn upside down, take like window screening...nothing really sharp, and maybe rubber band it around the outside of the lid(maybe hot glue?) Then place pile o'parts(food) on top so that they're just sticking their heads up onto the edge of the lid and grabbing food, while the juices are running into the upside down lid. With my luck they'll probably crawl right over the pile o'parts, but it can't be as bad as having a puddle to try to eat and crawl through? Did that make sense? I have a hard time picturing things, too, and obviously an even harder time explaining them! lol I'll take a pic when I make it! lol

[Zephyr]

If it weren't for bath time, my babies wouldn't be as tame as they are today. :)
Though I do give them baths even if they aren't "dirty." :P

[Zephyr]

Yeah, we did the bath thing once, but that was the interrupted meal and they probably didn't get to eat nearly as much as they would have if they hadn't been swimming in worm guts :)

Ok, lid thing hard to picture.... take lid, turn upside down, take like window screening...nothing really sharp, and maybe rubber band it around the outside of the lid(maybe hot glue?) Then place pile o'parts(food) on top so that they're just sticking their heads up onto the edge of the lid and grabbing food, while the juices are running into the upside down lid. With my luck they'll probably crawl right over the pile o'parts, but it can't be as bad as having a puddle to try to eat and crawl through? Did that make sense? I have a hard time picturing things, too, and obviously an even harder time explaining them! lol I'll take a pic when I make it! lolI gots it. :)
The only thing I can't see is how you'd clean it. :O

[Garter_Gertie]

Eh, Ja'Tam... I'm still blind. Yeah, a pic. That would help me. Still... I'd go for the rolling and gooshey. They're snakes! Let them have fun! But I will refrain from further opinions until I see whatchew talkin'a bout, Willis.

[jitami]

I was thinking the jet from my kitchen sink sprayer thing and a little bit of dish soap should work... if I rubber band the screen then I can take it off and just scrub the whole thing.... or toss it in the trash and make another in a few days. Hubby has these screen filter things that he buys by the hundreds that I think I'm going to pilfer for the screen.

[jitami]

Ok, feeding day again :D Here's the feeding dish so far. Couldn't find a rubber band so had to use a hair tie, but that will have to change. Food is still defrosting on it, so not sure if it will work like I want it to, but it should. Pretty simple & no juicy babies :cool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/FeedingDish1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/FeedingDish3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/FeedingDish2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/FeedingDish.jpg

[crzy_kevo]

very interesting but i have to agree with gertie sounds like the same amount of work as cleaning them after the meal so i don't see a point
but they are your babies so do what you want :D

[jitami]

Yeah... for bigger groups of babies it might be beneficial?

These two still eye each other a little too much for my comfort so ended up being fed separately for most of the meal today. The flightier one actually ate pretty comfortably while being held :) May have to quit calling him the flightier one. The other dominated the food dish and got his fill, then I pulled him out so his brother could eat, but his brother wouldn't go back to the dish? So put "good eater" back in, took "flightier one" out and offered him the dish while I was holding him. He ate three more good sized pieces including that whopper that's on the top of the pile in the picture :) Between the two there were only 3 or 4 pieces left on the dish and both are stuffed to the brim :D

[Garter_Gertie]

That's a pretty good idea! Now that I can see it. Good idea, Tami! A mini snakey collander!

[reptile3]

Congrats on your babies, they are so cute!

[jitami]

Thanks Stephanie!

Here are some updated pics of "Da Babies" aka Frick & Frack... it seems impossible to capture their true colors. The area in between the checkers on one of them is a light almost turquoise color & the other is a light yellow/green. I can't wait to see what they end up looking like as adults!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/BabiesSept4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/BabiesSept2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/BabiesSept3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/BabiesSept5.jpg

Btw, I'm still using the feeding dish and really like it, but now I'm taking the boys out one at a time and holding them in my hand while they eat off the dish. Still no icky goo. Once they're down to eating two or three prey items I'll just use tongs, but for now they just grab & swallow pieces till they have no neck :D

[Bay_area]

They look good, Congrats!

[jitami]

Thanks Jerry! I'm totally in love with the little buggers :)

[anji1971]

They're so cute!
Glad your little feeding invention is working for you!:)