How Fast Do Garters Grow?

[pittylova]

I'm just curious as to how fast Garters tend to grow? When I got this little snake about 2 weeks ago he was only about 6-1/2"-7" (or so I thought when attempting to measure him. He shed his skin yesterday and I measured him at 8". A whole inch seems like a lot in 2 weeks....is that even possible?!

[reptile3]

I am relatively new to garters etc.. I don't have an answer, but I am curious to know myself!!

[ssssnakeluvr]

shed skins stretch so they are no help in judging the size of a snake. they grow at varying rates depending on diet. it's not unusual for a small one to grow several inches during a summer.
the skins are very stretch while on the snake, and stretch out a bit when coming off of them....a 6 inch baby snake can have an 8 inch shed skin.....

[pittylova]

I measured the snake itself, not the skin :-) I used a string and ran it from tip to tip and then measured the string. Did the same thing both times as it's hard to get him to stay still, he's still nervous.

[ssssnakeluvr]

thats normal...they can be a pain in the backside to measure...

[Stefan-A]

What Don said.


However, 2" in 4 weeks was the growth rate of my wandering garters during the first 8 or so months I had them. In that case, too, I measured the snakes, not the skins.

I recommend getting a little piece of software called SnakeMeasurer. Should be the first hit on Google.

[jitami]

That software looks awesome Stefan! Thanks for the tip! Will definitely be playing with it to measure the babies!

[Elliot]

What Don said.


However, 2" in 4 weeks was the growth rate of my wandering garters during the first 8 or so months I had them. In that case, too, I measured the snakes, not the skins.

I recommend getting a little piece of software called SnakeMeasurer. Should be the first hit on Google.

I use the snake measurer too, very helpful in finding the length of your snakes.

[jitami]

Had fun with Snake Measurer over the weekend! What a great little program! Simple, yet effective!

I only had one pic that would work from the day the babies arrived. On August 20th one of them was 7.6 inches and less than a month later on September 13th they were 11.94 & 10.82 inches. Fun stuff

Thanks for the tip Stefan!