What happened to my little garter :(

[snakeman]

garters thrive on frogs.But they are way too hard to come by.Fish and worms are not enough.Thats why a rodent diet is the safest next best thing.I would go with live goldfish before I would go frozen/thawed. F/T Fish will always be a gamble.

[infernalis]

The answer to the underlying question: What you described sounds like an overheated snake.

When babies (most sensative to heat) get "baked" they coil up and the bottom jaw drops. (mouth agape)

Last summer when my house got hot, I moved all the baby garters to my basement.

[RedSidedSPR]

How hot is too hot?

[infernalis]

How hot is too hot?

Over 100 degrees (F) for a long period.

However I just did the conversion, and 82 (F) is not lethal in itself, other factors must be involved here.

[XXxxXXxx]

The answer to the underlying question: What you described sounds like an overheated snake.

When babies (most sensative to heat) get "baked" they coil up and the bottom jaw drops. (mouth agape)

Last summer when my house got hot, I moved all the baby garters to my basement.

well it didn't reach even near the 100F you mentioned , I think 29c is around 85F and that is the highest it got but it did sit like that for maybe 6 hours ..

Also he was around 2.5 feet , So wasn't actually a "baby" but i don't know the actual age as i only had him about 6 months ...

But his mouth was open and he was pretty coiled up ( but not as coiled up as snakes can go)

So do you think it was the heat that killed it ?

Don't snakes usually bury under substrate if they get overheated ? He was acting normal before this morning...

[RedSidedSPR]

Well, as for the size/age thing, My male is about 3 and he's not that long
I wouldn't call yours a baby

But I really don't know what happened.

[infernalis]

Was the cage exposed to direct sunlight at the time?

[XXxxXXxx]

Was the cage exposed to direct sunlight at the time?

No , I had the curtains closed and the only light was from the bulb in the viv ...

[flickerfriend]

Im so sorry to hear that!

[Simland]

I'm not the most experienced keeper, but I don't think it's the heat. Not with the temperatures you listed. If there were temperature spikes that you're not aware of, however...

My garter seems to do best when his air temp is around 28-29C and he's a northern specimen.