Melanistic garter slow growth

[AntTheDestroyer]

I purchased a melanistic eastern garter(Darth) in August, and when he arrived he was roughly the same size as my T. s. infernalis(Obi). As time passed Obi continued to grow at a pretty noticeable rate, but Darth seemed a bit stagnant even though he was eating consistently. I kind of put it off as the difference between two different species. As some of may know I went on a two week vacation and as I was prepping the snakes for their time alone I realized there was a major size difference between the two. It was to the point that I was worried Obi might confuse Darth for a prey item. Needless to say I separated them, but I am concerned that there is something wrong with Darth. He has gotten a bit more finicky about eating, he eats but refuses to eat anything but worms. This could just be a product of the season. I also don't think this is the issue because he was not growing well even when he was eating whole pinky mice. Has anyone else had this experience with this species or in general?

[Albert Clark]

Well Ant, I think there are several factors at work here and the first has to be the ages of the two as well as the locals from where they originate. East coast vs west coast should be a consideration. Prior to your purchase you don't know the frequency and variability on how Darth was fed or do you? I recently recall other similar posts on a snake eating but not gaining weight and length. Animal was taken to the vet and was found to have a enzymatic deficiency where foods were not able to be broken down and utilized. Thus a nutritional deficiency and abnormality. Of course that is a long shot but in the realm of possibilities. As far as the reptile only taking worms and or nightcrawlers have you tried scenting other foods with the worms? More than one way to skin a snake. Haha.

[d_virginiana]

I have one eastern male who is about three years old, and up until very recently he was small enough that I thought something might be off, but now he's the same size as the other eastern male he lives with; maybe a bit bigger. I have another eastern male who is an absolute giant; almost twice the size of my others, and easily mistaken for a female.

I do have one male blackneck that was nearly ftt who is definitely stunted in some way. He's probably about a year and a half, and is still extremely small for his age. Has mild neuro issues, but those have improved with age and he eats very regularly.

Basically, it can be a health problem, or it can just be how the snake is growing. Odds are he's fine and is just a 'late bloomer'. A picture with something like a ruler as a size comparison might help people tell you if he's behind enough in growth to really worry about though.

[AntTheDestroyer]

Here you go. Thanks for the input thus far. I used serpwidgets to get a total length of 8.98 inches. If I remember correctly he was about six inches when I first received him.

[Albert Clark]

I know that the two granites that came out of that litter in June 2015 contained 3 individuals of which one was a runt. I don't know if you recall the photos I posted on that litter? But that runt almost died like two days later. He pulled through but never really showed any real growth compared to his siblings. He had a great appetite but has only in the past month shown noticeable growth in comparison to his littermates. Do you know if Darth was the runt? Sometimes with runts they hit spontaneous growth spurts and play catch up sometimes dwarfing their littermates.

[Eddie]

His body looks good. I would not worry

[Tommytradix]

My melanistics are growing fast. My female is 27 inches and was born july 2015 my male is 19in. He might be a runt

[AntTheDestroyer]

I am not sure if he was the runt, but that was sure not the way he was sold to me. I wrote the seller an email asking him if he knew anything that could be going on, so we will see what he says.

[Albert Clark]

I am not sure if he was the runt, but that was sure not the way he was sold to me. I wrote the seller an email asking him if he knew anything that could be going on, so we will see what he says.

Very smart move! He should be somewhat of a help with any info. Actually the granite garter has shown growth but it was really very slow as your title suggests. And nothing in comparison to the two littermates. He just shed yesterday but I will have to check the info card and see when the last couple of sheds took place. I will show you the picture of the runt compared to his siblings as soon as I find it. Don't forget to scent other foods with worm in an attempt to get him to eat something different. Good luck with that too.

[Albert Clark]

This is one pic when the three were born back in June 2015. The runt on the bottom. Smaller head and body all around. Almost died two days later.