he choked??????

[KITKAT]

my garter snake choked and died...
i hav pics will post pics....can garters even choke??

Yes, garters can choke. Their breathing hole is in their mouth. If they get a big piece of food and it wedges and won't go down, the hole in the mouth can be covered/blocked or pinched shut by the food, and they can suffocate if it is not either pushed down or pulled out... but doing those things is very delicate, and can lead to damage too.

When feeding BABY garters, never feed a food piece that is LONGER than the WIDTH of their head. That way, if something gets turned the wrong way, it is unlikely to stick there.

Sorry for your loss... but don't blame yourself - you didn't know, and it sounds like the little piggie took food that was too large for him/her.

[drache]

oh Josh
so sorry
babies can be such a pain - both in the neck and in the heart
the first year I got babies from Scott I lost my best eater under mysterious circumstances - it was a radix and I was totally crushed
not that it helps, but you know - infant mortality is pretty high across most species
the "normal" ones are actually all little miracles of nature

[Josh]

Josh, I'm really sorry. What a sh*t week you're having! Was it a piece from a large fish? Maybe with a large rigid bone in it? In this instance the bones can sometimes become lodged in the snakes throat, if they don't swallow them the right way. Really sorry, mate.

the secon peice was about one third of the rosie.
he usually woofs the whole thing down.

[Stefan-A]

Talk about freak accident. I'm so sorry, Josh.

[stonyloam]

Sorry to hear about it Josh. I thought the same thing was going to happen to one of mine this morning, grabbed two pieces of trout stuck together, a real mouth full, got it down though.

[Sid]

Sorry to hear the bad news, Josh

[GGarter]

I'm very sorry to hear that Josh.

I'll definately keep that in mind for when I'm getting my new babies...

Kind regards from Denmark

/Tore

[Edcase]

Damn that sucks .

[Lulu Bennett]

Josh sweety i am soooo sorry to hear this. unfortunatly these thing happen just keep your head up hunnie xxx

[GarterGuy]

Sorry to hear that Josh...I have heard of snakes choking to death on too big a prey item (the whole eyes bigger then stomach thing) and with garters being such aggressive feeders I can see that happening. For my little ones, I make sure the pieces of food are not bigger then their heads. Was it one of the easterns or maritimes? Again, really sorry for your loss.

Roy