Northern Redbelly gave birth

[Kantar]

I'm not ready for this!

any tips would be greatly appreciated right about now

I just came back from the lake and noticed little teeny heads, don't know how many yet

[katach]

Aww congrats!! Willow gave birth today too.

[Kantar]

Should I seperate them all?

so far I noticed 5 different ones there may be still more

[guidofatherof5]

Congrats,
Wish I could help but I've had no experience with them.

[kibakiba]

I'd take the babies out of the tank, and put them in a temporary enclosure.

[Kantar]

the are all so tiny

[Kantar]

head count is 9

[guidofatherof5]

You are right. Baby dekayis are very small.
Earthworms and small slugs on the menu for those guys.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yikes. Yeah, they're tiny.. Can't help ya. That's awesome though, congrats.

[Kantar]

slugs are quite rare here, but I'll have to dig up some earthworms. Mama is looking thin and tired, so I'll get a nightcrawler for her

Pictures soon...

[Kantar]

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/283509_10150332405174359_525334358_9563123_992570_ n.jpg

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/216701_10150332403549359_525334358_9563096_4923188 _n.jpg

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/184163_10150332405524359_525334358_9563127_7036667 _n.jpg

This is what they are in now

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/215017_10150332405349359_525334358_9563125_3085055 _n.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Very cute little scrubs.
Best of luck with them.
What was the grand total.

[kibakiba]

They look like tiny black worms. :D
In a good way of course, they are so cute.

[Hornets23]

Awesome! How precious...congrats!

[guidofatherof5]

Be sure they get that first shed off.;)

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Northern redbelly snakes usually prefer slugs but will sometimes eat worms. You may have to find a slug and use it to scent small worm pieces. If i were you i would keep one half of the cage damp paper towels just for a few days. Congrats on the babies they are such pretty snakes.

[infernalis]

Best wishes and good luck.

They are a handful to raise.

[d_virginiana]

Beautiful little snakes :)

[snakehill]

TOO CUTE!! Good luck with them!!!:)

[drache]

tiny and beautiful
I wish you success raising them

[Kantar]

I chopped up a night crawler into little bits and a couple of them were interested, 2 of them bit onto a piece but let it go soon afterward. Only one swallowed down a piece.

What I may do is keep them until the weekend and release the babies and mama at the tree stump where I found the mama at dusk so at least they can drink the dew off the grass. I really wasn't prepared for this, the mama didn't look pregnant until a few days ago when I felt lumps in the belly.

I may keep 2 and raise them, but right now 9 little heads is too much. If they were newborn garters it would be no problem, but hopefully I'll find that out next year when I try and breed my 2 girls frosty and serpent

[guidofatherof5]

Releasing the family at the same location the mother was found sounds like a good idea.
Nice call.;)

[BLUESIRTALIS]

That's a great idea. Does the mother eat for you?

[Kantar]

yeah the mother eats, nightcrawler pieces, she won't take it from my tongs though, it has to be moving on the substrate

[Kantar]

Releasing the family at the same location the mother was found sounds like a good idea.
Nice call.;)

The place I found her at is a hibernating spot for northern redbellies and newborn garters. Its a tree stump sticking out of the ground with a hollow inside, and the roots gave the land around it a bit of a upheaval. I visit that spot every time I go out there. Just before the weather gets too cold, a woman, I call her old lady leary places some hay around the stump to insulate it a bit better.

I can't wait to go out there this weekend :D its baby garter season. All the females are pretty gravid and ready to give birth. Instead of finding 6 snakes in a day I'll be seeing baby garters all over the place, hundreds of them

[BLUESIRTALIS]

If she eats you might want to consider keeping her because sometimes it's hard to find one that will eat in captivity.

[guidofatherof5]

I can't wait to go out there this weekend :D its baby garter season. All the females are pretty gravid and ready to give birth. Instead of finding 6 snakes in a day I'll be seeing baby garters all over the place, hundreds of them

It's baby T.radix time here in Iowa. Many babies out and about.;)

[RedSidedSPR]

It's baby garter time in NC. but god forbid I find one.:rolleyes:

[Kantar]

It's baby garter time in NC. but god forbid I find one.:rolleyes:

where are you at in NC that you can't find garter snakes?

I usually scope out google maps for my destinations to find them, maybe I can help you find spots? :)

[RedSidedSPR]

Well, I go to this HUGE woods, with a creek and a pond. There's no life... I can fond other kinds of snakes if I drive places, but even then no garters...

[BLUESIRTALIS]

Most garters here in South carolina are usually found early in the morning basking, under debris, or road cruising. I find around 150 to 300 snakes a year and i only average around 6 or 7 garters here it's nothing like the redsideds and radixes.

[RedSidedSPR]

Well, I find about 8 a year, and none are garters :D slight exaggeration but still...

[Kantar]

It's the total opposite for me, I find about 300 snakes a year and found 1 different species in 4 years

there are 2 different species of garters, northern redbellies, smooth green snakes and western hognosed snakes here

[RedSidedSPR]

Pretty much all I find are: black rat snakes, rough green snakes, ringneck snakes, worm snakes. I've only found two garter snakes my whole life, and I wasn't even herping. They weren't in NC though... I was on vacation both times.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

The place I found her at is a hibernating spot for northern redbellies and newborn garters. Its a tree stump sticking out of the ground with a hollow inside, and the roots gave the land around it a bit of a upheaval. I visit that spot every time I go out there. Just before the weather gets too cold, a woman, I call her old lady leary places some hay around the stump to insulate it a bit better.

I can't wait to go out there this weekend :D its baby garter season. All the females are pretty gravid and ready to give birth. Instead of finding 6 snakes in a day I'll be seeing baby garters all over the place, hundreds of them


It's baby T.radix time here in Iowa. Many babies out and about.;)


Even if it is in the wild take pics please

[guidofatherof5]

Even if it is in the wild take pics please

I haven't seen any yet in my back yard.
I have received a few reports from my local spotters.

[ConcinusMan]

I've heard that redbellies just don't make it at all in captivity, but that's just what I hear.

[Kantar]

Its stressing me out, is why I can't wait to bring them out to a certain spot and release them. I'll maybe keep just 1 or 2 babies, it would be more managable

the mother never ate in almost 5 weeks even though she tried swallowing down a nightcrawler piece but never finished swallowing, just lets go of it. Only witnessed one of the babies eat, but this time I cut up the nightcrawler into very tiny pieces and scattered the pieces around the enclosure, came back a couple hours later and noticed a few more pieces gone

[ConcinusMan]

Well that's not all bad news. You probably got farther than most people who have attempted to keep them. If you know where mom was found I don't see anything at all wrong with taking them right there and releasing them. I would do it near sundown and where there's plenty of cover or a place for them to hide.

[Kantar]

yeah I was planning on releasing when dew starts forming on the grass

Its cute when they all sleep, all of them were hiding in the tiny white cardboard thingie I made when I turned on the light they all poured out of there within a minute and wandering around

[guidofatherof5]

I found this thread and thought it might be nice to share it with this thread.
http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/garter-snake-lounge/3536-micro-babies.html

[katach]

Wow those are some tiny kiddos!

[Kantar]

I'm definately going to try to keep a couple since I noticed more babies eating the worm bits. They are only bite size, no bigger than a 1/8th piece, but at least they are eating, mama still didn't.

Now I just need to decide on which 2 will stay with me

[RedSidedSPR]

The ones that are eating best :rolleyes:

[ConcinusMan]

Always. Looks are useless if a snake won't thrive.

[Kantar]

these little guys are a pleasure to feed :D

I figured it out on how to feed them, more simple than I thoughtso far different ones ate, thee mother ate, I'm going to try to give them all a little meal before they be released. One is eating like a pig and its definately going to be one of the chosen ones that get to stay with me.

I'm so happy right now.

I'll be bringing the camera out to the lake and snapping some pictures of their spot in the wild

[RedSidedSPR]

Glad they're doing good!

[ConcinusMan]

Well. they're doing well.:D

[Kantar]

7 babies released plus the mama at this location Learys, MB

Every time I catch a snake and let it go I always say stay safe, I really hope these little ones do good

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/s720x720/216779_10150336007659359_525334358_9600223_822189_ n.jpg

Meet Tic & Tac, the 2 chosen ones and the best eaters of the group, battling over the worm bite

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/s720x720/223071_10150336007484359_525334358_9600221_5640026 _n.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

"Tic & Tac" Love the names. When I was 10 I had "Teddy Bear" hamsters named "Ham & Stir" heeheehe.

[katach]

They are really cute! Great names!

[Kantar]

I spent a couple years trying to find these northern reds, when I was releasing the mama I seen 3 NR's bail into the stump which got me excited because the only time I ever seen them in the past couple years was squished on the road. After driving down the road I just missed one that was laying in the middle of the road, a big one, must have been about 11 inches, so I picked it up and put it off to the side and a little bit into the grass where its safer. Then later on when it was dark out I noticed one by the shed browsing around.

So not including the ones I released I got to see 5 northern reds. Last year I caught 2 baby NR's and a month later when I changed the substrate using some sort of brick I put in water and it expands, I guess it had bacteria in it and killed them both in a day, made me terribly upset. I stick with repti bark for everything now