My first garter

[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

Whew, she looks like she means business!!! It's so cute to me when they do that "I'm gonna get ya" pose One of my 3 girls is a wandering and I adore her. She is also my only wild caught. She eats great and has the best little personality. I bet your girl will mellow out nicely once she realizes you aren't going to eat her!!!

[Steveo]

Looking back over the pictures, I do see some scale spread. Assuming she's gravid, how often should I feed her? I brought her home Sunday and she took an adult mouse. I'm thinking she'd be ready for another one tonight?

[guidofatherof5]

This is just me but after losing a garter to fur blockage, I don't feed adult mice to my garters.
Pinkies yes but not adult mice.

[EasternGirl]

I love carefresh...and my snakes enjoy burrowing in it. The only reason I don't use it all the time is because it gets pricey...and because I can't use it for my female eastern with respiratory problems...for some reason it really bothers her..makes her breathing worse. For that reason, I switch around...using aspen, reptibark, and carefresh.

[ConcinusMan]

This is just me but after losing a garter to fur blockage, I don't feed adult mice to my garters.
Pinkies yes but not adult mice.

Same here. I think Stefan and I debated this. In my experience, hair plugs them up. I either skin adult mice while frozen, or simply use rat or mouse pinkies instead. Also, I don't continuously feed them rodents. I alternate with fish and worms.

Even if hair doesn't cause blockage by itself, it certainly increases the chances of it happening.

[ConcinusMan]

Not an accurate way to measure. The shed will usually be longer then the snake due to the fact it is stretched out with all the scales and skin between those scales.

agreed. Try this instead. Used properly, it's very accurate. Do it twice, with different photos and control objects to be sure: Serpwidgets - Snake Measurer

[EasternGirl]

That's pretty cool...I'm going to have to try that.

[Steveo]

Same here. I think Stefan and I debated this. In my experience, hair plugs them up. I either skin adult mice while frozen, or simply use rat or mouse pinkies instead. Also, I don't continuously feed them rodents. I alternate with fish and worms.

Even if hair doesn't cause blockage by itself, it certainly increases the chances of it happening.

Good to know. I have some rat pups without fur yet. I'll use those and save the adult mice for my constrictors.

[Steveo]

agreed. Try this instead. Used properly, it's very accurate. Do it twice, with different photos and control objects to be sure: Serpwidgets - Snake Measurer

Ah! that reminds me of a similar program we used in school called ImageJ. I'll just do it that way.

[Steveo]

This big girl shed today and she looks much better. I went herping today and found a western yellow-bellied racer and another gopher snake. Both will be released tomorrow after logging them in the CO herp atlas. Also saw a dead T. radix - it looked like a bird had gotten to it.
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