Stefan's garters

[EasternGirl]

My son was a chubby baby and toddler..he was so adorable. Chubbie puppies with their chubbie little bellies...and that chubbie snake in the video. If Selena keeps eating everyday like she does...she is going to be a chubber too. Can you overfeed a snake? Should I not feed her everyday? She wants food all the time!

[kibakiba]

You can overfeed them quite easily. If you're feeding pinkies, you should probably only feed her once every couple days with a little bit of worm in between. I think all garter snakes pull a "can't you see I'm withering away at the seams?!" act all the time. Mama ate a fuzzy, something that would normally keep a snake her size full for a week or 2, and 10 minutes later she was looking for more and acting like she'd die without more food

[EasternGirl]

Uh oh....Well, I've only been feeding her pinkies a couple of times a week. But, I have been giving her worms everyday....just about half a worm, cut into little pieces. Could I have hurt her by feeding her too much?

[kibakiba]

I've been told that overfeeding can kill a snake, but my snakes are a bit chubby and seem to be perfectly healthy and active. It'd take a lot of overfeeding to kill a snake. I've also read, though I'm not sure if it's true, overfeeding can eventually shorten the life of the snake. However, I'm sure another member could give you better information, a lot of the stuff I had learned from other sites has been corrected many times on this forum, thanks to all the amazing members

[Stefan-A]

Overfeeding is normally not a problem with growing snakes. It's the adult ones that are at risk. Especially snakes like this one, that doesn't know when to quit eating.

However, that one is fat for a different reason.

[ConcinusMan]

I agree with Stefan. you can't really overfeed young growing snakes. More food only makes them grow faster, rather than get overweight.

[EasternGirl]

Good to know...for a minute there I thought I might be slowly killing my snake!

[ConcinusMan]

Nah, it's not like that. You're not feeding her goldfish. Your snake is still young. Warmth + lots of food = fast growth. Once they get to be big adults, then you gotta go easy on the food. Especially fatty food.

[EasternGirl]

Thanks!

[Stefan-A]

Yeah, the paper towel is there just in case she gives birth. Once she stops eating and/or sheds, I'll move her to an enclosure better suited for giving birth.

Going into shed, moved her to a "birthing enclosure". Need to check my notes from last year, might tell me how long it was between shedding and giving birth.

Edit: Notes weren't useful. Last year it was more than a month between them.