glad to be back

[jere000]

I caught a good size Garter today, pretty sure it's an Eastern but I could be wrong.Anyways I have this girl on the same rack as my boas, and i wanted to know if I should worry about parasites?I sprayed down her cage and her with some reptile relief which kill any mites and stuff, but can she spread some internal parasites to my boas?
Anyways here's a couple pics of the girl/guy.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/012-9.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/013-9.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/014-2.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/015-3.jpg

[drache]

if you caught her in SI, then she's an eastern - very possibly melanistic, since there is a population of those I've heard rumoured about
please be protective of their location - I'd love for them to be around for a long time
she's beautiful btw - congrats

[ssssnakeluvr]

nice eastern! possibly a gravid female. not melanistic, can see pattern, getting ready to shed. would love to see pics after she sheds! the boas would have to come in contact with her feces to get internal parasites... getting her dewormed is a good idea

[guidofatherof5]

Very nice looking snake.

[ConcinusMan]

Pretty cool looking. Erythristic melanistic maybe? I wonder if her hiding strategy involves sitting really still, curled up, in a yard full of dog poo? :p

[jere000]

I moved her into a thiry Gal. glass tank away from my boas so there's less risk.I'm thinking she might be gravid too.How much does a deworming cost?If cost to much I'll just keep her until sheds or gives birth then release her and her babies.Then just scrub her enclosure and buy some CB stuff.I missed it when my boa gave birth although I'll get more chances to see that, but I want to catch this girl in the act if she is pregnant.

[ConcinusMan]

If there's any chance she's gravid, hold off on deworming. It should only be done if the snake is in top condition and not under any kind of stress, physical, social, or otherwise. I would wait until after the babies are born and she has had at least a month of feeding very well to regain her body mass.

Then weigh her in grams. Dosage is highly dependent on the the mother's mass and it must be all her mass, wieghed when she is fully recovered from having babies, and fully hydrated, no excess from carrying offspring or from meals taken within 6 days. I have the right meds and access to a scale that can weigh the meds in micrograms/milligrams for the proper dosage. It's a fine line between too little, and too much, and you don't want to do either.

I would be willing to take her body mass measurements in grams, a month after having babies and feeding well, and then send you the proper dosage. No charge.

Other than that, you would have to take her to a vet. Vet will tell you the same thing. She needs to have those babies and time to recover some body mass before dosing her with deworming meds. Proper, effective deworming is hard on a reptile. There is a right time, and a wrong time to do it.

It's worth it for the long-term health of your snake, but here is always an element of risk. Timing and accurate dosage is everything.

[jere000]

If there's any chance she's gravid, hold off on deworming. It should only be done if the snake is in top condition and not under any kind of stress, physical, social, or otherwise. I would wait until after the babies are born and she has had at least a month of feeding very well to regain her body mass.

Then weigh her in grams. Dosage is highly dependent on the the mother's mass and it must be all her mass, wieghed when she is fully recovered from having babies, and fully hydrated, no excess from carrying offspring or from meals taken within 6 days. I have the right meds and access to a scale that can weigh the meds in micrograms/milligrams for the proper dosage. It's a fine line between too little, and too much, and you don't want to do either.

I would be willing to take her body mass measurements in grams, a month after having babies and feeding well, and then send you the proper dosage. No charge.

Other than that, you would have to take her to a vet. Vet will tell you the same thing. She needs to have those babies and time to recover some body mass before dosing her with deworming meds. Proper, effective deworming is hard on a reptile. There is a right time, and a wrong time to do it.

It's worth it for the long-term health of your snake, but here is always an element of risk. Timing and accurate dosage is everything.Thanks for the offer man that's very generous.I'll definitely take you up on that offer, if you ever get into boas let me know I'll hook you up.

[jere000]

Also should I feed a possibly gravid garter?I fed my boa 3 small meals throughout her pregnancy(November-February), so I wanted to know if I should feed her.I have plenty of rat fuzzies and a couple adult mice left.

[guidofatherof5]

I would try to keep the food soft, worms or fish(no bones). If she'll eat I don't see a problem with feeding her.
I've had a few eat the day they delivered.

[jere000]

I would try to keep the food soft, worms or fish(no bones). If she'll eat I don't see a problem with feeding her.
I've had a few eat the day they delivered.I'll throw a little dish of worms in there when she sheds.I'll also try to get some guppies.

[RdubSnider]

That's a beautiful garter snake

[jere000]

Thanks, I got a couple pics of her today now that she's setttling in.The pics are kinda bad as I'm trying not bother her to much.These pics don't capture her colors well at all.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/005-9.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/006-8.jpg
What do you guys think the chances of her being pregnant are based on these pics?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

She looks gravid to me! Also, i think you are going to be shocked at her coloration when she sheds. She looks ORANGE AS HECK!

[jere000]

She looks gravid to me! Also, i think you are going to be shocked at her coloration when she sheds. She looks ORANGE AS HECK!Her lips were pretty red when I caught her, I can't to see her shed.Her babies are going to be awesome.

[RedSidedSPR]

Awesome snake

[ConcinusMan]

She looks gravid to me! Also, i think you are going to be shocked at her coloration when she sheds. She looks ORANGE AS HECK!

That's why I was saying she looks erythristic and at the same time, an overabundance of melanin. Can't wait to see what she looks like after the shed. She's very interesting looking to say the least.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

That's a neat looking garter.

[ConcinusMan]

If this color proves to be genetic, I wonder what the result would be if combined with albino? Hmm....

[jere000]

If this color proves to be genetic, I wonder what the result would be if combined with albino? Hmm....She looks like a normal garter to me am I missing something?

[ConcinusMan]

Technically, she is normal I think. But the orange, combined with being so dark that there's no stripes, is a bit different. Now imagine if that same snake was albino, which would take away the dark pigment, but not the red/orange. You would have a very interesting morph. Now if her coloration proves to be genetic, and not just random polymorphism, then coming up with an albino version of her in the future would be very possible. I imagine a cleaner looking snow eastern with some orange. That would be cool.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

[QUOTE=jere000;165404]She looks like a normal garter to me am I missing something?[/QUOTE

After she sheds we will be able to tell more. In some ways she looks normal but in others she don't. She looks very dark almost chocalate with the red on the sides. Normal or not she is a nice looking girl.

[jere000]

Well she began her shed today, so tomorrow if she's finished I'll snap some more pics and most likely release her so she can go be happy outside.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/001-16.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/002-16.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/003-16.jpg
You can see she just got the top off and that's it.

[ConcinusMan]

Looks to me like she needs a little help getting started correctly. Once the skin starts coming off the head, the snake should be done shedding in a matter of minutes. There's a problem here. It's not starting correctly. I would help her until the skin is coming off in one piece, like a sock turning inside out, then let her finish. A nice soak in lukewarm water should help.

Seriously, this is a situation that warrants a little assistance.

[guidofatherof5]

A little shed box action and that shed should come right off.
Looking forward to seeing that awesome snake afterwords.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/5014-cheap-shed-box.html

Cs0Vqm2pP18

[jere000]

Listen guys I know how to take care of my snakes.She ended up getting the shed off all on her own already.If I had messed with her and done a bunch of stuff it would've added so much stress to this girl.Which could lead to bigger problems with a potentially gravid animal.You have to learn when to leave them alone and let them do what comes naturally to them.
Here's a couple pics she sure is a looker bet she can't wait to be set free.
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/008-10.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/009-7.jpg
http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn125/jere9000/010-15.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

I don't believe anyone was implying you didn't know how to take care of her.
Just trying to help.
Glad she's got her shed done.
She's a great looking snake.
I had to do a double take on your first photo.
Thought maybe she had her on stereo.:D

[jere000]

I don't believe anyone was implying you didn't know how to take care of her.
Just trying to help.
Glad she's got her shed done.
She's a great looking snake.
I had to do a double take on your first photo.
Thought maybe she had her on stereo.:DIt's a thermometer/hygrometer I picked up at walmart works pretty well.Don't get me wrong I appreciate the fact you guys are so ready to help.On a few forums people aren't so ready to help haha.

[guidofatherof5]

Not a problem. This is a unique forum with a lot of good people.;)

[flickerfriend]

She looks beautiful!

[snakehill]

Very cool idea! Thanks Steve;)

[ConcinusMan]

No harm in giving her a chance to take care of it. She managed to get a complete shed the same day so that's not really a problem. I was only trying to say that I've seen sheds start like that before and go on way too long. Days would be too long.

You said: "If I had messed with her and done a bunch of stuff it would've added so much stress to this girl"

Can't say that I would agree with that in every instance. Constant, ongoing stress is the only kind of stress that matters. A snake that is in shed is stressed anyway. If it goes on for days, the brief stress of handling to assist a shed and get it over with is nothing compared to ongoing stress from trying to get shed completed over several days time.

With that said, all's well that ends well.:)