Update on the young San Francisco garter snakes...

[chris-uk]

In Britain even £150 ($240 Canadian) is considered pricey for a tetrataenia.

Yes. I considered 80EUR a bargain.

[CrazyHedgehog]

I paid £300 for 4, (2.2) at Doncaster, tiny, and not really eating.but he was honest and said they were 2 weeks old and only one had eaten :O

I knew I was taking a risk, but that was top of my list to get to add to mine....

1 is as he said eating, but limited, the others, I have assisted, as soon as its in their mouth they seem happy to eat, but just won't seem to start on their own.

But now I am torn.... I really do not want to sress thenm out by feeding, and I am tempted by the fridge method, but we are still shoelace size, really tiny and thin and I would worry they are not strong enough to cope with that either!!.

I would appreciate your advice on whether you have done this with tiny new borns or only when a little bigger...(Oh and what temp fridge please)

[twgrosmick]

I have used the short brumation approach. (in my case two weeks) for one of my male checkered and female red sided garters. worked well for me and got them feeding again right away.

[twgrosmick]

I paid £300 for 4, (2.2) at Doncaster, tiny, and not really eating.but he was honest and said they were 2 weeks old and only one had eaten :O

I knew I was taking a risk, but that was top of my list to get to add to mine....

1 is as he said eating, but limited, the others, I have assisted, as soon as its in their mouth they seem happy to eat, but just won't seem to start on their own.

But now I am torn.... I really do not want to sress thenm out by feeding, and I am tempted by the fridge method, but we are still shoelace size, really tiny and thin and I would worry they are not strong enough to cope with that either!!.

I would appreciate your advice on whether you have done this with tiny new borns or only when a little bigger...(Oh and what temp fridge please)

Mine were on pinky chunks. A little big bigger than you described. I had my fridge set at 53 or so for about two weeks. I would wait to hear input from others seeing as they are very small. Try offering different types of food. worms, fish, etc.

[gregmonsta]

I have used this technique with adults before but this is my first time with a non-feeding baby. It's just over 3 months old and hasn't eaten a thing despite repeated attempts with different techniques. Temp is currently hovering between 10-14C.

[Invisible Snake]

I'm curious, will the short brumation method work with non-feeding hatchling corns?

[thamneil]

Been a while since I've been on the forum. The tetra's have really grown! Im trying to figure out a way to get some into Canada!

[Thamnophis]

I'm curious, will the short brumation method work with non-feeding hatchling corns?

Yes it will work... Done this long time ago.

In theory you can use this method with every snake that in the wild brumates.

[Thamnophis]

By the way... reptiles normally do not loose weight during brumation. So it does not matter if the juvenile is skinny.
They only loose weight when you brumate them TO DRY!.
Make sure the substrate is wet, not damp, but really WET.
When a skinny juvenile in brumation loose fluids the chance it will die is big.

Bears loose weight during the hibernation and that is why they have to be fat before they go to sleep in the cave.
And that is why reptiles do not have to be fat before they brumate. They just need to be reasonably healthy and be kept on very wet substrate.

[Stefan-A]

The colder it gets, the more energy mammals and birds burn.
The colder it gets, the less energy reptiles and amphibians burn.

Not using your own energy reserves to heat yourself has its benefits.