Sammy had 7 babies today

[Sssssnakey]

Sammy hadn't been eating the last couple weeks although I'd been trying and threw away three pinkies in the process of her not eating (one each week, the last being Friday). I even bought a feeder gold fish that I put in her water dish and she didn't eat it.

I was beginning to wonder if she was gravid and today we came home to find she'd had seven babies. I separated them from her, but I don't think the large disposable Glad container with holes in the top is adequate for them. Besides not having very good ventilation even with the small holes I put in the lid.

Can the babies stay in Sammy's cage with her or will she eat them?

I fed Sammy this afternoon and she ate three pinkies. She usually only eats one so I figured she was pretty hungry.

I cut off some pinky legs and the tail and put the parts in with the baby snakes and they aren't eating them.

How soon do baby snakes eat and what should I feed them?

Thanks for all your help! btw I'm going to take some pictures now and post them.

[Sssssnakey]

Here are some photos:

These are her babies. You can only see some of their heads, but there are 7 babies.

My oldest daughter says when they're all on top of each other like that they make her think of the Indiana Jones movie.

Sammy is doing well after giving birth.

[guidofatherof5]

Beautiful looking babies. Give mom an extra pinky from me. Some babies start eating right away. Others start during the first week and others wait even longer. Small chunks of earthworm with pinky parts, guppies. Moving food seem to attract them more quickly. I offer food everyday rather than waiting. I don't want to miss the time they want to eat. Of my 6 babies born last week 4 are eating guppies. The other 2 are waiting.
Make sure the babies have a heat source. Keeps their metabolism high and more alert for food opportunities.
My experience has been with baby radixes only.
Good luck with your little scrubs

[Zephyr]

I've had excellent success with salmon/tilapia pieces and mouse bits. A lot of the wandering garters I've had won't even look at worm pieces, so I'd stick with what mom's been eating.
They're probably not eating because they were just born; give them a day or two.
They look so adorable. Sammy must be a very proud mommy.

[ddawg]

Congrats on the babies!! my eastern garter gave birth to 36 snakes yesterday!!! They have started eating cut up earthworm already. You can see my pics.

[Sssssnakey]

Thanks for all the compliments! We're really excited about them. My youngest daughter was thinking we needed to make them all blankets so they could sleep. lol I told her they don't need blankets or sleeping bags, but I will make sure they're on the heating pad.

Thanks for all the info!

[Sssssnakey]

ddawg - That is totally amazing that your snake had 36 babies!

Steve - Thanks for the info about feeding them! I read part of another thread about separating the babies from the adults so I'm glad we took the babies out of Sammy's cage. Now I have to figure out what to do with all of them.

[guidofatherof5]

Now I have to figure out what to do with all of them.

Love and enjoy them Babies are so cool. Sit and watch them. See the little personalities and attitudes that develope.

[Sssssnakey]

They do already seem to have their own personalities. My kids already named the most active one Jakey. I don't know if it's a boy though. I'll have to post some gender photos later.

I need to get another cage though. This large disposable food container with tonz of holes in the lid is not my favorite place to see them. Maybe I'll check the thrift store tomorrow.

I'm glad I found you guys! I posted my photos on Facebook and got three negative comments from my friends and family. They said things like "I hate snakes" and "they creep me out" and "are you going to keep all of them". It hurt my feelings to be sharing something we're excited about and have them be so negative. I ranted a bit and told them they hurt my feelings. I wish people could let go of their fear and realize that snakes are amazing, beautiful creatures with "personalities and attitudes" of their own.

[Stefan-A]

Congratulations!

You've already been given good advice, but I'd like to add that since they're wandering garters, it might be best to separate the babies from each other as well. I had a little "incident" earlier this spring when I was housing them in pairs; One of the babies tried to kill its cage mate and would probably have succeeded.