a very "special" checkered garter....

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

aww its cute

[Odie]

aww its cute

I 'm with Reed
Heck, I would like one if it's life is not too effected

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I will assure you that these guys are NOT deprived of thiamine! they have been this way since birth, and they are constantly pumped with vitamins and i specifically buy the one with the highest thiamine content. I do not feed gold fish or F/t fish, just rosy reds and pinky parts. As well as your occasional worm lol! Mom herself never did anything like this nor ever showed signs of a thiamine problem. Trust me, I have seen the havoc thiamine deficiency wreaks on a garter snake. I tried to save someone else's pet but it was too late...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

he's living a perfectly normal baby garter life, loves to be handled, he's just doin' it with a different style. Kinda reminds me of Happy feet! lol!

whatever the cause, I love my little Weetod anyways

[GarterGuy]

Well I'm glad to see that such a snake is being cared for by such a responsible and loving owner. I always worry when I hear of stuff like this, "What kind of quality of life is the snake having?...Are they going to try and breed it?...Will the animal just become a 'side show' of sorts?"...but in this case, I don't think I have anything to worry about. It's a shame that your female does carry the recesive gene, not surprised since she is albino (often other recesives can go along with albinism). If anything, I'd worry about her possibly produce more snakes with this disorder, might be best to not breed her or breed her to another male, to try and avoid producing more snakes with the disorder. In any case, it's good to see "he's" being well cared for and loved...I hope that little Weetod is able to live a long and healthy life.

[Stefan-A]

I will assure you that these guys are NOT deprived of thiamine! they have been this way since birth, and they are constantly pumped with vitamins and i specifically buy the one with the highest thiamine content. I do not feed gold fish or F/t fish, just rosy reds and pinky parts. As well as your occasional worm lol! Mom herself never did anything like this nor ever showed signs of a thiamine problem. Trust me, I have seen the havoc thiamine deficiency wreaks on a garter snake. I tried to save someone else's pet but it was too late...

I don't doubt you, I just meant that stargazing might have another meaning when talking about garters, compared to corns.

[MoJo]

Stargazing does in fact refer to the symptoms - ie the way the snakes seem to look upwards. I posted a link to this on the corn snake site and a breeder there that knows the most about stargazing in corn snakes and is also a vet brought up an excellent point. The mother of these babies was ill while she was gravid so it is very likey that the babies were infected by a virus and there was some neurological damage.

The only way to know would be to do a necropsy. You could breed the male to his Mom and you would expect half the babies to be like him.

Joanna

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

lol sorry but I'm not going to breed him to anything! and im not sending him off to no lab!!! because even if i were to do that it would just mean more snakes that have to live with a disorder of some sort. I am quite content just keeping him here and giving him the best possible life, upside down.

Like I said, Mom was very ill and I believe that the illness was what caused this malfunction. Like I said she had a LOT of infertile slugs come out too. Almost 15!

Mom and dad were for sale right next to their last litter when i picked them up! all 30 something of them looked fine! i do not beleive this is a genetic defect as this pair is 4 years old and previous offspring appeared normal. Normal breeding is scheduled to commence in about 3 weeks when I bring them out of brumation. I do not expect this year's litter to have any problems.

[adamanteus]

a LOT of infertile slugs come out too. Almost 15!

So that would be.... what? About 14?

[MoJo]

lol sorry but I'm not going to breed him to anything! and im not sending him off to no lab!!! because even if i were to do that it would just mean more snakes that have to live with a disorder of some sort. I am quite content just keeping him here and giving him the best possible life, upside down.

Like I said, Mom was very ill and I believe that the illness was what caused this malfunction. Like I said she had a LOT of infertile slugs come out too. Almost 15!

Mom and dad were for sale right next to their last litter when i picked them up! all 30 something of them looked fine! i do not beleive this is a genetic defect as this pair is 4 years old and previous offspring appeared normal. Normal breeding is scheduled to commence in about 3 weeks when I bring them out of brumation. I do not expect this year's litter to have any problems.

I certainly agree that it sounds like this happened because she was ill. I was not suggesting that you do anything to prove if this was genetic but discussing the ways in which you could do it.

Good luck with this years litter.