Slither had babies, now what?

[Dougie]

I am inquiring about my 7 yr old son's snake Slither. She had babies this morning and I am clueless as to what to do next. I know nothing about snakes (I myself, don't even like them) but am researching for my son so when he gets home from school I know what he should do. I have no idea what kind of garter snake he has (I will try and attach a pic from this morning). He has been feeding her minnows and last week tried pinkie mice with no luck. He has had her for about a month and a half. My son and husband are planning on moving her to a 29 US gallon and leaving the babies in the 10 US gallon. I believe there are 6-8 babies but I do not get close enough to the cage to get a good count. (Ok, I know that you all must be rolling on the floor laughing at me so now that you have had a good chuckle can you let me know what my son should do now?)

[Snake lover 3-25]

is she being kept on sand????????? i think that the 10 gal is fine for the babies and the 29 is more than enough for the mother..... don't feed her on a diet of only minnows..... they can kill them...... try salmon, trout, tailapia, pinkies, and worms........ i'd seperate the mother because there is a slight risk of canibalism..... and maybe put the babies in a cage with slightly damp papertowles on one side and dry towl;es on the other........ see if you can find soe worms and cut them into small pieces for the babies and give the mother some too..... minnows are a VERY bad diet.....

[Zephyr]

see if you can find soe worms and cut them into small pieces for the babies and give the mother some too..... minnows are a VERY bad diet.....

The snake above is a ribbon snake. Coastal, I believe. They do not have the avid worm taste that garters do, so fish may be the best bet for now. Try tilapia or trout cut/shredded into a "pulp."

[Elliot]

I agree, Western or Gulf Coast ribbon, and minnows will be fine for now. Dusting them every other feeding with vitamin/calcium powder would be beneficial. I doubt that they'll eat worms, my ribbons won't even look at them.

[Dougie]

My son just got home from school and has offically counted and we have 7 babies! We are still trying to figure out which type of ribbon snake we have. Some of the babies look just like their mom and other have more of a redish/brown stripe down their back.
1. Do we try and feed the babies minnows also? Or, should we try to get them to eat pieces of pinkie mice?

2. What would be the best thing to put on the bottom of their cage? Newspaper? or Something else?

[Lori P]

Ribbons seem extra hard to get onto pinkies, too... so be patient and keep trying. Scenting them with the fish will be the way to start.

[Dougie]

I have been reading info on scenting the pinkies. My understanding is that I take a piece of raw fish and rub it on the defrosted pinkies. Am I correct? Does the warmth of the pinkies matter? If so, what temp. am I trying to achieve?

[adamanteus]

The pinky can be stone cold... as long as it is thoroughly defrosted. You're right about the scenting method, just rub them together... fish is the stronger scent.

[Stefan-A]

Correct about scenting.

It matters a little (not much though) what temperature it is, but not nearly as much as with snakes that have heat pits. The temperature would be ideal at normal body temperature. It probably has more to do with how much the food item smells.

[adamanteus]

The idea is (when scenting) that the snake thinks the pinky is fish.... so cold is good. (As long as it is thawed through).