2011 Checkered Garter babies

[guidofatherof5]

Great news.
You had a right to get excited.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

It usually doesn't look like anyone was hurt. That is, until days later when the swelling around the mouth starts and infection sets in.

I would highly advise that you feed them separately.

I gotta say... that has never happened to me! I have had numerous fights, when I say numerous I mean A LOT. Most of them occurring as I am prepping to feed the snakes, I haven't even introduced any food yet and they already know it's feeding time and start getting flippy and nipping at anything that moves... including the other snakes.

[ConcinusMan]

Shoot, Shannon, it happened every time I wasn't quick enough to stop them. When you get them interlocking mouths and sinking each other's teeth into the inside of their mouths, it gets infected and swells up, every dang time. A real PITA to treat too.

All I'm saying is that if your babies are starting to fight, I would feed them separately. The fighting will only get worse from here on out. If I didn't feed my concinnus babies separately after the first few meals (they are OK at first but then later they start fighting) they would rip each other to shreds.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Shoot, Shannon, it happened every time I wasn't quick enough to stop them. When you get them interlocking mouths and sinking each other's teeth into the inside of their mouths, it gets infected and swells up, every dang time. A real PITA to treat too.

All I'm saying is that if your babies are starting to fight, I would feed them separately. The fighting will only get worse from here on out. If I didn't feed my concinnus babies separately after the first few meals (they are OK at first but then later they start fighting) they would rip each other to shreds.

wow that's bizarre! I have seen TONS of fights over the years... right down to the interlocking mouths and bleeding and two snakes with hurt ego's afterwards... yet I never had anything come of it! I understand why it happens, but why it has never happened to me is puzzling. I have feeding techniques pretty down pat now, to the point where I don't have many fights anymore thanks to my patented "speed feeding" technique

[Spankenstyne]

I'm in the same boat as Shannon, never yet had any issues with any of the squabbles & they tend to happen regularly at mealtime. Nothing serious, just food steal attempts and some minor head grabbing. I think in my case it may partly be due to bite sized pieces. That way the attempts are unsuccessful and they tend to look elsewhere quickly when the food isn't hanging out to grab onto.

[HazAnga]

Well everyone, Tina surprised me with an earlyer litter then i expected. She didn't even look really prego like Helga did. And I know why... there was only 5 live and healthy babies. 4 albinos and 1 het. There was one still born that looked like it had stopped growing inside the egg sack at some point because it was like half the size of any newborn ive seen. And anywhere from 6-8,9 jellys
I still can't wait to git home and look closer at these scrubs. I noticed while I was getting ready for work, had enough time to put them with the other babies and make sure no retained sheds.

[guidofatherof5]

Congrats on the ones that made it.
Sorry for your losses.

[Sonya610]

Shoot, Shannon, it happened every time I wasn't quick enough to stop them. When you get them interlocking mouths and sinking each other's teeth into the inside of their mouths, it gets infected and swells up, every dang time. A real PITA to treat too.

Well your prior warning put the fear into me! I am busy stessing over 2 things during feeding time a) they will bite each other and cause some massive infection and b) one will go crazy and leap out of the enclosure (even with the cardboard barrier).

If statistically the nips are NOT a problem (and they have never actually nipped at each other that I could see, lots of tongue flicking and high drama though) maybe that is one concern that I can relax about. I will bet on good immune systems that can handle the odd bite, as the stress of separating them is probably taking more years off my lifespan than theirs!

Will continue to be careful and if a bite happens and an infection occurs will learn the lesson. I think scarying one off in order to appease my fear of food fights is probably causing more harm than good otherwise.

[HazAnga]

Congrats on the ones that made it.
Sorry for your losses.

The still born was a het too. Now I have 10 albinos, 1 het and 2 pastel hets. I have sold an albino and a het already so that would of been a total of 16 live babies born, only one so far not making it.

[Spankenstyne]

Well your prior warning put the fear into me! I am busy stessing over 2 things during feeding time a) they will bite each other and cause some massive infection and b) one will go crazy and leap out of the enclosure (even with the cardboard barrier).

If statistically the nips are NOT a problem (and they have never actually nipped at each other that I could see, lots of tongue flicking and high drama though) maybe that is one concern that I can relax about. I will bet on good immune systems that can handle the odd bite, as the stress of separating them is probably taking more years off my lifespan than theirs!

Will continue to be careful and if a bite happens and an infection occurs will learn the lesson. I think scarying one off in order to appease my fear of food fights is probably causing more harm than good otherwise.

Housing (and feeding) in groups is always a risk of some sort, my experience has been that it's very low with Checkereds and so far my Santa Cruz as well, but make no mistake there's always a risk of some sort.
It's up to the keeper to decide what risks they feel are worthwhile in the longrun and make decisions accordingly. Don't do something you're uncomfortable with because it may work for someone else with their different setups, experience level etc. Just because it works for someone else doesn't guarantee you'll get the same results for many possible reasons that might not be obvious. Only take the risks you're willing to take with your animals and you can always try out different things as you become more confident with doing so.


Haz grats on those new babies!