Surprise!

[caloy]

Last thursday 7/28/10,I was leaving for work around noon ,checked my snake collection and to my surprise , my other double het snow redsided female delivered 15 babies,3 jellybeans ( 4 albinos,1 snow,4 anerys,6 regulars).Unfortunately ,when I found them the 1 albino,2 anerys and 3 regulars were already dead,think the mama crushed them to death by accident.Yesterday, I found 1 albino dead floating in the waterdish ,I think she drowned,I feel so bad for the baby,good size too. Too much water in the doggydish. So I now I'm down to 2 albinos,1 snow,2 anerys and 3 regulars plus another litter from my other redsided het snow female(her sister) brn 7/15/10 with 1 anery and 11 possible hets babies. 6 of these babies from this older batch have eaten 5 times with feeder guppies. I'll try and feed the newborn clutch tomorrow. I'm just ecstatic about these babies. First time breeder here and hopefully not the last.

[guidofatherof5]

Great news and sorry to hear about your losses.
We are all on a learning curve here.
Forum rules dictate you post baby photos as soon as possible. Please.:D

[Snakers]

Great news about the live babies, but sometimes stuff happens we can't prevent.

[caloy]

I'll post some photos as soon as I get back from outing this weekend. Out with family right now on beach resort ,bonding with wife and son,hehehe!:D

[caloy]

Pics of the babies from my redsided het for snow female garter.The single shots are the ones that have eaten tonight,1 snow, 1 anery and 1 regular,the group shot are the ones that have not eaten yet, 2 albinos, 1 anery and 2 regulars. Hope you like the pics,took it with my cellphone camera.

[Dyna]

Omg those babies are so cute!!! Congratulations, and my condolences for the ones you lost.

[guidofatherof5]

Beautiful babies. Thanks for posting the photos.
Keep us apprised on their progress.

[mtolypetsupply]

Nice group of little ones! Congrats!

[Snakers]

Great looking babies. You should be proud of the momma

[ConcinusMan]

Something doesn't look right with that first one. He looks short and stubby.

[drache]

lovely babies
may they all eat soon, and grow like weeds

[kibakiba]

The first one doesn't look short and stubby to me, he looks like Runt did when he was born. Maybe he's just smaller than the others, or perhaps the way hes positioned in the picture :)

[caloy]

Actually the first pic ( snow redsided baby) has a stubbed tail.Apparently when I picked it up from the momma's cage, the tip of the tail broke because the baby still had the yolk sac on it and it has dried up ,I kind of felt bad when it broke but I think it will be alright when it grows. That baby was the first one to eat in that bunch. Hopefully it'll turn out to be a pig with a big appetite. I'll give you guys updates as these babies grow.Thanks for the nice comments. I'm just so glad to be a part of this forum.

[kibakiba]

Ahh, well, it's still cute and it looks healthy. I wish I could get a snow, they are so cute! Haha. Good job with all the babies :)

[guidofatherof5]

Actually the first pic ( snow redsided baby) has a stubbed tail.Apparently when I picked it up from the momma's cage, the tip of the tail broke because the baby still had the yolk sac on it and it has dried up ,I kind of felt bad when it broke but I think it will be alright when it grows. That baby was the first one to eat in that bunch. Hopefully it'll turn out to be a pig with a big appetite. I'll give you guys updates as these babies grow.Thanks for the nice comments. I'm just so glad to be a part of this forum.

We are glad you are here, also.

Albinos need a darker environment than others due to their light sensitivity. You know the whole albino thing. Just my opinion.
I keep my albinos with lights out in their enclosure. There's a glass partition on the adjoining group and their light source is enough for both groups. This is by no means a situation you must take care of at this time. Just something to think about.

[ConcinusMan]

Good advice. Low ambient light from a window in a north-facing room is recommended. No problem letting them be aware of night and day but keep daytime light at low levels. Watch out for even artificial light bulbs as some produce wavelengths that could harm your albinos. Generally speaking, light in the red to infrared (heat) spectrum is fine.

Natural spectrum "daylight" bulbs, grow lights, bright white light, natural sunlight, UV emitting bulbs... those can all prove not only very stressful for albinos but it can also kill them slowly.

I did just recently get another albino radix and he seems to see very well and doesn't mind a well lit room (opening the shades from a north facing window) but I wouldn't dream of exposing him to anything like sunlight or UV bulbs. Too dangerous.

My other albino radix seems to be nearly blind and he hates any light bright enough for me to see well in the room. If I'm struggling to see in low light, he's fine. If I can see, he hates that light and avoids it.

Clearly some albinos are more sensitive to light than others but none should have direct exposure to the full spectrum.

[caloy]

Hi guys, just to give an update on my baby garters,some of them started on feeder guppies couple of days ago, today I tried to give the non-feeders some chopped up nightcrawlers and most of them ate,plate was clean when I came back to check on them. My question is, which one is more nutritious : nightcrawlers or feeder guppies?Right now,half of them are on nightcrawlers,half of them on guppies.Do you think I should give nightcrawlers on the ones that takes feeder guppies too?

[guidofatherof5]

Mixing it up won't hurt a thing. Your guppy eaters may grab a piece of night crawler by mistake(that's a good thing) or vise versa.
Your question is a good one.
I would say both items have their pluses and minuses. That's why a variety diet is best. Let each food give out their good stuff.

[ConcinusMan]

Yes, heck, feed them whatever they'll eat,(good garter food that is) and if that is more than one thing (fish and worms) then mix it up and feed them both by all means. Sounds like you have a group that is going to feed just fine and not be too fussy. Usually, after they get started on the guppies/worms and feeding well, it's not too hard to get them to eat fish meat and/or fish scented pinky parts too. I don't know about you, but that's cheaper than live fish and available year 'round for me.

Fish and worms. Perfect start. Should be easy to get them to eat pinky parts w/fish too. Give them that when you can, and they'll grow fast.

[caloy]

Thanks much for the input guys.I'm going to try and let them have a few servings of the live guppies and chopped -up worms a few times then I'm going to start mixing them up with some scented chopped pinky parts. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you guys updated.It gives me great pleasure knowing that I'm able to provide these babies the right care they need.i love it!

[ConcinusMan]

Thanks much for the input guys.I'm going to try and let them have a few servings of the live guppies and chopped -up worms a few times then I'm going to start mixing them up with some scented chopped pinky parts. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you guys updated.It gives me great pleasure knowing that I'm able to provide these babies the right care they need.i love it!


No problem. Garters are one of the easiest snakes to keep, and with high rewards. I'm sure you'll do fine.