First F.T.T

[RedSidedSPR]

No kidding.

[PINJOHN]

So sorry about your baby. But if this is your first and only FTT you must be doing something right!

sorry did not mean to mislead, this is the first baby death since i have allowed my snakes to breed for the first time in a number of years, it has reminded me of the challengers that breeding presents and i look forward to next year with all the excitement that breeding brings

[chris-uk]

If this one is your only FTT then you're still only looking at 2 from your two litters this year (if you counted our Angua as an FTT from your litter), that's not bad odds.
It's like you say, breeding has it's challenges. I'm sure I'll experience them in the next year or so. Some I look forward to, others I don't. As with many things in life, you take the rough with the smooth and get on with it.

[PINJOHN]

A second baby from the albino female found dead this morning, this one more upsetting because of its unexpectedness, it was feeding well putting on weight and was generally active and otherwise healthy i cant really consider this one as a f.t.t more as sudden death syndrome, some of the others who don't eat near so well are still hanging in there,
its most perplexing.
edit
i just wonder if the great amount of inbreeding that has gone on in the UK with albino checkererds has weakened the overall
stock, the [normal] farther of these baby's is over ten years old and while i know that this is old for a breeding garter, my thoughts were that knowing that his father was wild caught, then in spit of his age he was bringing fresh genes to the table [so to speak] if this was someone else s post i would be advising that these things happen but even so i cant help trying to rationalize it.

[chris-uk]

Sorry to hear you've lost another. Sad day. :-(

[chris-uk]

Caught me out with the edit there John. :-)

I'd tend to agree that inbreeding of albinos has weakened their physiology, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that there is some genetic factor here. Is it nature or nurture? We know damn well that the care you provide is first class and won't have varied from one litter to another, so that gives us faulty genes.

[d_virginiana]

I've never heard of someone with an albino checkered that you could describe as a really strong eater, no shedding problems, ect.
Sorry for your loss It seems like you give your snakes really good care, there was probably nothing you could've done to prevent it.

[Char361979]

I've never heard of someone with an albino checkered that you could describe as a really strong eater, no shedding problems, ect.

You have to meet Binky. She bucks the trend. Good eater, never a shedding issue, loves to be handled. A dream of a snake, and a beatiful albino to boot!!
Binky was an American import so she's probably not to bad in the inbreeding stakes. I agree with Chris, I think it's genes here.