A researcher was preparing specimens she caught to be used in a herpetology class (essentially pickling them so we can have a collection for years to come of local fauna.) One of her larger garters got loose and ended up catching it in the office and putting it back in the terrarium. The researcher indicated that it might be a gravid female they were going to keep it until september. I kept going in and checking up on her each day - she pulled off an escape attempt one of those days - and she gave birth earlier this week to 21 babies!

I decided to adopt two of them. The rest are going to be fed and released. So I have two garters, and find myself wanting to make sure I give them the care they need. Initially I was going to adopt the runt and name him/her Wilbur (after Charlotte's Web), but he/she hasn't eaten since birth and will likely not make it. I didn't want to have a sad situation on my hands, so I got two who actually ate without problem. I've named them wilberforce and wilbury. Pictures below.


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