They all have finally done it...

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Well as of tonight I know that finally all 7 babies have eatin. On July 29,2011 23 babies were born to Pheobe , my eastern garter. The next day I released all but 7. I have never raised babies before and was nervous about the whole thing and still am but today was a happy happy day. On the 3rd day after being born I had 4 of the 7 babies eating. I heard that it could take about 2 weeks to have the babies eating. But when 2 weeks came along the other 3 still hadnt eaten yet. All the advise that you all gave me help me out so much . I kept tring. I think about 2 days ago I had other eating so that left 2 that looked small and even though they acted like nothing was wrong I was still worried and just earlier I was tring to find ways to scent the worms to get the other 2 eating. I asked Rod (hubby) to get worms. He came home and I fed Pheobe and then on to the hungry babies. I got the ones done that I knew would eat and hat the 2 in a seperate take and I left some worm pieces in there also. I came out into the living room to get something and came back in and sure enough 1 of the 2 (sweetie pie ) ate finallly. So I took her and put her in with the other ones in the main encloser. So that meant 1 more needed to eat. I left the baby alone and came out and ate and watched some tv . Rod went into the bedroom for something and came out and said" why is there a fat baby in the tank" I jumped up and went in there and YAY all babies ate. Im so happy. Thank youu for the help and advice. I am looking forward to all eating tomorrw.

[katach]

Congrats!!

[guidofatherof5]

That's great news.
Keep shoveling it in. Babies can and would love to be fed everyday.
This is grow time.

[kibakiba]

My babies don't eat very much, and tend to only accept food every other day, to ever 3 days. Azul gets fed more often than the others due to his tiny frail size, but he's also the only one who will actually eat every day.

[guidofatherof5]

Baby radixes are chow hounds. I once had a group that got fed twice a day.
I did that for the first few weeks.
When it came time of dinner the little pigs acted like they hadn't been fed for a week.:D

[kibakiba]

Azul does that, I fed him some left over frog chow (cut up night crawler butts) and he acted like he's never seen food in his life.

[d_virginiana]

Good news! Do you have pics of the ones you kept or did I miss/forget that post?

My baby is constantly eating. She's like a bottomless pit.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

i will have some on soon. I took some but I need to put them from my camera to the computer . I will try to get some on in the next day or 2. Ill try to get closeups of all I have. 2 of the 7 babies are going to be my moms but she wants me to make sure there going good before I give them to her. I heard that the first 6 months of there lives is the most crucial(spelling?). So I dont know if I should wait til after that. I probably will to make sure.

[RedSidedSPR]

My babies would eat an adult nightcrawler. (try) They're pigs.

That's great stuff!! Glad thyere eating.

[Mommy2many]

Good to hear. I know we always seem to feel better when our charges eat well.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

My babies would eat an adult nightcrawler. (try) They're pigs.

That's great stuff!! Glad thyere eating.

The nightcrawler we get are 2x the size of the babies so I know they couldnt. The night crawlers we get also like to twist around and wrap around what ever is trying to eat them. I know they will do that cause obvisly (spelling?) they know there going to die. We get huge ones. It cost about 3 something for 18 nightcrawlers and they love them. Im so glad that they all eat now. and some of them are pigs...lol

How often are they sopposed to shed? Cause they only have shed 1 time and that was the day that they were born. I heard that they are sopposed to shed more ofen then adults. I was just wondering. Thank you again for the help.

[RedSidedSPR]

Shedding depends on the snake. Mine do it a few times a month.

I was joking about them eating a nightcrawler. The worms are as big as the snakes, but my flame once bit a whole worm, couldn't hold on and let go.:D thats why i said that.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

Oh ok np. I understand. Thank you

[RedSidedSPR]

Actually, my flame once shed 3 times a month, but then next he only shed once.. it just depends.

[nickermaker87]

Cool, I bet raising babies from your own female is exciting :) my two baby easterns are complete opposites. The one has shed twice in the month I've had them and has now surpassed his sibling in size (probably about twice his size now- I'm wondering if I should separate them now so the smaller guy is safe?). He will stuff his face at every opportunity, eating good sized chunks of nightcrawler until he looks plump. I feed daily, and if I see a head poking out of a hide or if they are cruising around looking hungry, I'll feed twice. However, the smaller one (with the red in his sides) only takes two, maybe three tiny bites, and usually only every other day. Is this normal or is the little thang going to die? Also, should I cut that back on feeding his brother, the fat-a$$ ;) ?

[ConcinusMan]

I wouldn't call it exciting. I'd call it a lot of work, and a lot of luck, to raise them up successfully. Exciting? not really. But very rewarding when it works out and they become healthy young adults.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yes I would cut back on the feeding twice a day. (WTH?)

I feed my babies everyday, but I don't let them stuff themselves. Id wait afew days I'm between feeding that beast.;)

Fat isn't good. If he's fat, don't feed him, let him get slimmer by waiting at least 2-3 days between.

[kibakiba]

Fatness can kill a snake. Do not let them become overweight. It also lowers their life span.

[RedSidedSPR]

No snake needs to feeding in one day. Ever.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

im going to be going out of town tomorrow morning and be gone until sunday night. Will the babies be ok until then without being feed or should I take them with me?

[kibakiba]

They should be fine, just feed them a little extra and make sure they have clean water.

[ConcinusMan]

im going to be going out of town tomorrow morning and be gone until sunday night. Will the babies be ok until then without being feed or should I take them with me?

Babies that are well fed, say once a day or nearly every day can be left at home, with access to water, for up to around 5 days no problem. They won't starve. If you need to be gone longer, stop feeding them a couple of days in advance, and turn off their heat before you leave. I do this anyway. That way their water doesn't evaporate so quickly, and their need for food will be greatly reduced at the lower temperature.

Just remember that these snakes are tougher than you're giving them credit for. Their physiology is built for this. They can eat more than they need for a period of time, and when things get lean, they can then go long periods without food.

I feed my babies a little bit almost every day. And occasionally, I don't feed them for several days. It doesn't hurt them one bit.

[Mrs N1ntndo]

thank you both. I made sure they had fresh water and there in the bedroom while im gone so there away from the kitties.

[nickermaker87]

Lol ok. He's not fat.. yet. We usually do once day. We did twice couple times because he seemed hungry and I felt bad lol. I'll bring him down to every other. His "begging" is just hard to resist ;) but the little skinny one barely eats. Takes a couple bites every two or three days. Frustrating, but it seems like I'm maybe just being paranoid?

[RedSidedSPR]

Paranoid. He's just not a pig.

[nickermaker87]

Ok, well as long as he's alright. He's getting ready to shed for the second time since I've had him (the bigger chowhound beat him to it by a couple weeks and is much bigger), so he must be growing at least a little..

[RedSidedSPR]

He's fine. Trust me.

[nickermaker87]

Lol. Ok :)

[Mrs N1ntndo]

all my babies are doing grreat except 2 im worried about. 2 have only eaten 2x but are still very active and lots of tongue flicking. The others are get big very quick. I dont know when they will shed. Im excited to see if colors will be brought out more. I hope they dont all shed at once but itd be coool at the same time.

[nickermaker87]

That's like my two. The big eater is hella growing, but the finicky eater is tiny. Are you keeping them in all together then?