Husbandry info

[gregmonsta]

Raising Baby Garter Snakes: Some Personal Observations - gartersnake.info

mcwetboy.com • Jonathan Crowe

[jitami]

"My caging for young garters is otherwise the same as for other colubrids, with one exception. Small snakes seem especially prone to dessication: this applies to adults of small species (e.g. Storeria) as much as neonate garter snakes."

I had found that article in googling as well and figured all of you more experienced folk had already read it...sorry. Have you guys found the above to be true? btw, so you don't have to look it up like I did, dessication basically means dehydration. With our hot climate here I was really worried about this when the babies got here this summer. Of course, they were a couple of months old by then, but it still made me wonder. I know Shanley lost her babies after a short stint of being overheated. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Snake lover 3-25]

wow..... that's long lol i'll have to read it tomarrow lol i've gtg

[adamanteus]

Dessication can certainly be an issue. I'm always very careful when I have babies to raise.

[jitami]

Thanks James. So in a hot, arid climate, with the air conditioner running which dries things out even further, what extra precautions should I take when I one day take the leap and have babies to raise? A moist hide? Misting? I don't monitor humidity now, should I?

[adamanteus]

I think the guy has some good ideas in his article.... a moist hide (that's what I do) or one part of the substrate kept misted. I don't think accurate monitoring is necessary... just keep one area humid/moist all the time.

[jitami]

Okie dokie Makes sense... thanks James!

[adamanteus]

...... And of course, constant access to fresh water.... a small water bowl can dry-up really quickly when it's warm indoors!

[Snake lover 3-25]

wow long but good.... lots of great info.... thanks for posting that

[Garter_Gertie]

I've my 'sauna's in each o'the kids' tanks. A take-your-left-overs-to-work thingy, turned upside down with a door cut in one end of the holder part. Then stuffed with moss I keep wet so condensation froms on the inside.

One o'The Blues Brothers adores theirs - shedding maybe? - and is in there all the time. Niizh uses his daily on a skulking tour o'the tank but rarely is in there for any lenght of time.

Peeps and Jeeps have their 'swimming pool' same sized container with rocks/pebbles in the bottom to keep from tipping and filled with water. There's a good 2" of water in there. It's where the guppies lived for weeks...