One thing to remember is that garters don't actually give live birth, in the same sense like mammals do. They actually retain the eggs with in the body, until the point of "hatching". When the garters are born, they're in a sort of "sack", this is basically what's become of the egg...there's no need for a thick shell, since it's retained with in the mother. That's why garters are considered to be gravid, just like other egg laying snakes....not pregnant. They will come out pretty much one at a time, one after the other....there may be breaks where she doesn't have any and then more will start coming out. It's just like egg laying. After being born (at least in the wild) they tend to scatter. If they stay in a group there could be problems with predation or even cannibalism (it's rare, but happens). Often they will end up congregating under the same hide spot or such, but will eventually go they're seperate ways. There's no partental care from the mother. As far as feeding, they still have yolk in their bodies that usually last them for the first week or two and then they will begin to feed, at about the same time they'll shed....this is a good cue as to when to start offering food to your babies....after the first shed. Well hope this helps out and don't worry.....we were all novices at one time.
