Male/Female/Pregnant..?

[Gyre]

I'm pretty sure I know the sex.. Ha ha.. but just in case I'm more ignorant then I think. (And to show her off) Also, I'm sure many of you can judge this ten times better then I can, but does she look pregnant at all? I've done my best to feel her bower body, and I'm finding it hard to gain anything from that..





Thanks a bunch for any info you've got.
Hannah

[Cazador]

That's a female, and she's large in the right area to be gravid (between her mid-point and her vent). Babies aren't difficult to feel, if you let her crawl between your thumb (on her back) and your fingers (under her belly). Gently press down so that she can crawl into her cage without too much effort, but hard enough that your finger tips press slightly into her abdomen (about 1/8" or 2mm). She'd feel lumpy if she were gravid. I couldn't see any obvious lumps, but that's not really out of the ordinary. How's her appetite?

P.S. Please don't call yourself ignorant. You're learning like every other intelligent person on the planet .

[KITKAT]

Rock-a-by baby.... in the substrate!

[Gyre]

Originally Posted by Cazador

How's her appetite?

Extremely good. I'm alternating between minnows and redworms. She'll eat four minnows, or five to six worms dayly. I'm sure she'd eat more, but that certainly seems like enough.. I don't want to over feed her.

Originally Posted by Cazador

P.S. Please don't call yourself ignorant. You're learning like every other intelligent person on the planet .

I know. I plan on keeping the questions coming.

[Cazador]

Originally Posted by Gyre

She'll eat four minnows, or five to six worms daily.

That could also be the reason she's so large... If these are 5-6" nightcrawlers or 2" minnows that she's getting daily, it would certainly explain her size. Even if they're only 2" worms, I'd only feed her about every 3-4 days, at most. You definitely need to cut her back at meal time.

Here's a "guideline" you might choose to follow: Feed babies daily, juveniles every 2-3 days, and fully grown adults once or twice a week.

There are two schools of thought for feeding gravid females. Some feed them as much food as they want as often as they want it, and others feed small portions every two days or so. I've found that the second method keeps the female eating longer throughout her gestation period and helps her maintain weight.

Given her past feeding schedule, I'm a bit skeptical that she's gravid, unless you're able to feel lumpy young as she crawls through your fingers. They shouldn't be up near the stomach (mid-point), they should be between the stomach and vent. Best wishes,
Rick

[snakeman]

Sometimes garters are just fat .I have had this double het female eastern that has looked gravid for the past three years.Every time I wind up getting nothing from her.

[Gyre]

I just got my hands on her this morning, and didn't feel much of anything.

I was feeding twice a week at first, but I started feeding her dayly when I looked at her and thought that maybe she was gravid. I read somehwhere to just feed as much as they'll eat, and that's what I've been doing for about two weeks.

Phew.. Thanks a ton. It's a bit of a relief actually, as entertaining as a litter would be. I was worried I'd wake up to 40 baby snakes slitherig around the tank.

Hannah

[suzoo]

Do you know when she may have bred? That would give an idea of a due date, and how gravid she should look.

[Gyre]

Originally Posted by suzoo

Do you know when she may have bred? That would give an idea of a due date, and how gravid she should look.

Yes, that is one of the only things I'm completely sure of. When I acuired her, I got a male at the same time, (Early Nov. o6) and they bred very frequently until the male died, about a month and a half ago. That sort of freaked me out, because he seemed to be healthy... That's when I started doing more nutritianal research. That's how I found the forum, actually.

Hannah

[Cazador]

Hannah,

I don't think you're out of the woods yet. Are you giving her calcium and vitamin supplements? It's better to be safe than sorry.

Rick