Bad times............baby garters dieing

[Dibzy-Time]

Hi there.
I bought some baby garters a while ago and a few days later one of them died. I took the other one back to the shop and swapped it for an amel corn as the shop owner wasnt happy with the garter. He told me that they were to small to sell and should have still been in an incubator. I then sore some more baby garters plus the one i gave back to the shop. IO bought the 1 i had before and 2 others.
Sad to say the origanal one died a few days ago but the other 2 look very healthy and are eating fine.
What can i do to stop this happening again?

Dibzy-Time xxx

[drache]

hi Dibzy
welcome to the forum
be aware that the shop may not have given you the right kind of care info; they may not know how to care for garters, especially if they're not fond of them, and may not have properly cared for them before you got them
did you check out our care sheets?
http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet
I hope that helps

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you on the forum.
There could be many reasons for the babies to die. Rhea's right, the shop may not have provided them proper care. Then there is a thing called"failure to thrive" which occurs sometime with babies. I'm glad to hear the remaining scrubs are doing well. We love to see photos so please post some when you can. Thanks for doing your best with the other babies. You probably save them.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

welcome to the forum!


what exactly was the guy talking about when he said they should still be in an incubator??? Garter snakes are born live and they don't spend any time at all in incubators! :eek:

[MasSalvaje]

Welcome to the forum! I am sorry to hear about your losses. Like others have stated, make sure you check out the care sheets on the site, pet shops couldn't care less about the care of the snake especially if it is a garter. Get as much info as you can from the care sheets and ask any questions you may have on the forum, there are a lot of very helpful folks on here.

One thing I have noticed is that people (not you, just in general) tend to look at garters as a very hardy species in general. As adults that statement is often times true but as little guys there is very little room for mistake. They require a lot of observation and TLC because the slightest aspect left unattended can mean life or death.

I think that is one reason so many on here are so willing to offer help and support, they realize how crucial the care is especially with the youngens. So please don't be shy, if you have a question throw it out there.

Welcome again,

-Thomas

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome to the forum! I am sorry to hear about your losses. Like others have stated, make sure you check out the care sheets on the site, pet shops couldn't care less about the care of the snake especially if it is a garter. Get as much info as you can from the care sheets and ask any questions you may have on the forum, there are a lot of very helpful folks on here.
One thing I have noticed is that people (not you, just in general) tend to look at garters as a very hardy species in general. As adults that statement is often times true but as little guys there is very little room for mistake. They require a lot of observation and TLC because the slightest aspect left unattended can mean life or death.
I think that is one reason so many on here are so willing to offer help and support, they realize how crucial the care is especially with the youngens. So please don't be shy, if you have a question throw it out there.

-Thomas

Very well put, Thomas.

[ssssnakeluvr]

welcome to the forum! and....what they said!

[Odie]

Hi, from Oregon, Dibzy-time :)

[Dibzy-Time]

Cheers guys. The bad thing is, the place i got them from was the place ive always used. And ive never had a problem up till now!!! The ones I have that are still alive are doing really well. I feed them in seprate tubs the other day and they ate really well. How should i feed and how oftern? Can you guys pleae give me as much advice as posible as well as me reading the care sheet please as the much advice i get now the better im going to be in the future.

Thanks for all the advice peeps its much aprieciated!!

Dibzy-Timexxx

[MasSalvaje]

Cheers guys. The bad thing is, the place i got them from was the place ive always used. And ive never had a problem up till now!!! The ones I have that are still alive are doing really well.

Then what Steve mentioned about the "failure to thrive" may be the answer. There are too many variables to say what caused the first two to pass and the other two to do well. Lets focus on the two that you still have a say as to what happens.


I feed them in seprate tubs the other day and they ate really well. How should i feed and how oftern? Can you guys pleae give me as much advice as posible as well as me reading the care sheet please as the much advice i get now the better im going to be in the future.


It sounds like you have a good hold on things. The how often depends a lot on what you are feeding them and how old they are. If they are very young and you are feeding them worm bits and safe fish you can offer smaller portions every day or larger portions every 2 or 3 days. Adults you would feed at different intervals then the young, at times males will be different than the females, and an only worm diet would be a different interval then an only fish diet which would different from an only rodent diet.

Most people here (I may be using that term loosely) would recommend a varied diet, a combination of all of the above. Each one of us has little differences we prefer and that work best for us and our animals, you will also grow to learn what is best for your situation. The best thing I can suggest is to soak up as much as you possibly can, and it sounds like you have a great start!

-Thomas

[Dibzy-Time]

cheers ^^^^^^. at the minite im feeding them worms. They look to small to take anything thiker and bigger.

[ConcinusMan]

I think the very little one's should have some low-intesity UVA/UVB full spectrum light source (and a way to hide from the light) because they are growing fast. Calcium/mineral supplement powder on a worm, or whatever, now and then isn't a bad idea either, but don't over do it. Sounds like your little guys that are doing OK will make it just fine. Feed them often, but don't let them get over stuffed. At that age, occasionally one will just up and die though. Doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong. You should stay away from red (tiger) worms though. Night crawlers should do nicely, even if you have to chop them up.

[Mommy2many]

Welcome to the forum! Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions!

[gregmonsta]

cheers ^^^^^^. at the minite im feeding them worms. They look to small to take anything thiker and bigger.

:rolleyes: That's the beauty of salmon/trout fillet as well as pinkies. With a good knife you can definately make these small enough ;). I wouldn't rely on worms alone, you'll find there's not much goodness in them and you'll get a better growth rate from varying the diet. Try small pieces of fish and pinky parts with one worm chopped in and spread over the other food. keep doing this for a few feeds and then slowly decrease the amount of worm in the mixture ;)

[ConcinusMan]

Still very interested in how the little guys are doing. Hopefully he'll come back and update us.

[mtolypetsupply]

Glad to hear they're doing well.

Everyone else has thoroughly covered diet, I want to commend you on tub feeding them!!! It is DEFINITELY my preferred method, allowing me to know who eats what, since most of my garters are cohabbed. In addition, I find that feeding time is a wonderful time to clean the tanks. The inhabitants are already out and happily eating. Lastly, there is little chance you will ever have a snake with complications from ingested substrate.

Good job, and keep up the good work.

:)