Hi All - Long time no See - Quick guidance, please....

[jitami]

Hi! Let's skip the I told you so's from 4 years ago, k? Sigh. So... I've had an older male housed with an older female for four or five years now... based on the sub-forum this is in you can guess what happened. After all this time I just walked in to see blood spots in their tank... yep... right now I've got 8 little squiggles on damp paper towel with a shallow water dish... do they need heat? It's warm here, but I haven't temp checked their new tank (I'd guess 80). Had to do some serious scrambling to get them into my one spare tank, move daddy into a tank with two males he's never been housed with (they're doing the mating ball thing to him - I'd feel sorry for him, but he seems to have recently had a snack and he's dealing with the mating attempts fine so that's his new home). Then go through every ounce of carefresh & move mom onto paper towels. Really hope I didn't traumatize her too much, because I have a feeling she's not done. Thankfully the tanks are in a busy part of the house, so I noticed fairly quickly. I even helped one little guy out of his sack. I thought he was dead when I found him, but he seems fine now. I know there's no hurry to feed them... and I'll be reading this forum all night lol, but is there anything I need to worry about with them or mom (or dad for that matter) now?

Thanks thanks thanks <3 Whew... my adrenaline is still flowing!

[jitami]

Btw, Ella (mom) is a huge girl and every summer after their appetite picks up I look at her and think 'she better not be pregnant'... said it a couple of weeks ago... so yes, she did look gravid, but she's such a big girl that it wasn't anything too obvious.

[jitami]

Sorry, another quick Q - how long do I leave the paper towel damp? They do have a large, but shallow water dish.

[snake man]

Keep it damp for a week or more. Congratz on the babies pics?

[jitami]

Thanks snake man... so no worries about it being too cold because it's damp? I will try to get pics. I'm not sure my camera will focus on them being so tiny. I'll give it a try in full sunlight tomorrow. One of the little darlings just slithered out of the last bit of shed in front of me... cute cute cute.

[guidofatherof5]

I use damp paper towels until their birth shed is complete.
Then I make sure they have access to plenty of water to keep them hydrated.

[Invisible Snake]

Welcome back! I was wondering where the old school members went. What type of garters are they?

[jitami]

Welcome back! I was wondering where the old school members went. What type of garters are they?

e. elegans... sorry I haven't been around... just got busy with dogs, kids, life, but I have missed everyone here!

[guidofatherof5]

e. elegans... sorry I haven't been around... just got busy with dogs, kids, life, but I have missed everyone here!

We have missed you also.

Sounds like your male has been hanging with his lady too long.

[jitami]

We have missed you also.

Sounds like your male has been hanging with his lady too long.

Yeah, apparently... I really thought we were free and clear... was kind of prepared for it the first year, just in case, but really wasn't expecting anything at this point! Geez. Now those two males he's in with better have been sexed properly... feeling a wee bit paranoid at the moment! lol