meet my newbie!

[ConcinusMan]

Still scratching my head over "totally healthy" snakes up and dying for "no reason". I'm puzzled to say the least. Never happened to me. There was always a reason.

Anyway, there's really no reason to get hooked on a particular variety of garter, especially since you've only had that one checkered that died. I got very attached to several other garters of various species. They do have individual personalities you know. Mostly I have found that females (of 5 different species) were more "personable" and seemed to enjoy being handled, more than their male counterparts, generally speaking. No "replacements", even within' species, could replace any that have been lost. Especially those that were particularly smart and personable.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that what you felt for Rook is not something that is confined to a particular species of garter. If you're looking for a new pet or friend with personality, etc., it's not necessary to keep within species. (but, by all means, stay with garters)

So what do you think of your newbie so far? is she sweet?

[mustang]

wow she dosnt have that super dark dash most checkers have behind their neck...on the other hand most have one and mine has 4 hehehe our snakes are different from the norm...GO UNIQUE!!!!

[mustang]

lol Rook was 24" long when she died at 1 year

iv had mine since about may hes wild caught and hasnt grown much....maybe a few growth horomones hahahaha kidding thats really stupid. what/howofter did u feed rook

[Rook]

there probably was a reason Rook died, I just dont know what it was! she sure seemed perfectly healthy, she did regurgitate her food the night she night she died, but that was the only sign she showed of anything at all. that pic I posted was taken only a few days or a week before I lost her.

Rook ate fish, pinkies and earth worms, how often depends on what age, farley often at first, every 4 days I think, every 6 days when she got older. but she grew like crazy, always an inch or 2 at a time, weekly at first, then bi weekly, then monthly. Rook was a VERY healthy eater! it was actually something I was concerned about at first, always hearing about snakes that WONT eat, and how to get a snake to eat..this was not an issue of Rooks!

I am not hooked soley on Checkerds to the point of forsaking all others! there is actually a few other species are really want someday. I dont think the personality thing has anything to do with Checkerds, thats why I asked for a female..I bought a checkerd because my choices were Checkered, Plains or Blackneck..I didnt want another Plains or a Blackneck..so I got a Checkered lol. should propably mention that its not as easy to get reptiles here because most snakes are illegal to keep in Sask. because of this, most breeders refuse to come here for expos or anything.

Miami is calming down and doing quite well, she ate for the first time since she arrived on Thurs. she is starting to come out of her shell..she was pretty chicken at first..open the cage and she would curl in a ball with her head hiding under her body! but she doesnt do that anymore, and I am able to take her out for longer and longer periods without her getting freaked out, she seems to enjoy it now, which is the aim.

[ConcinusMan]

All of this eating and growing reminds me that I think that too many keepers push their snakes to eat/grow at unnatural rate. Feeding twice a week is best left to the youngsters IMHO. It's natural for babies to grow fast and eat often but an inch a week? That doesn't seem possible. WHAT they were fed should also be taken into consideration. A small pinky meal is going to take longer to digest than a full "stuffing" of earthworms. My point is, you can literally feed/grow a garter to death and I believe slight underfeeding at times is better than overfeeding consistently. I fed whole fish, frogs, or anything with bones, sparingly. Once a month for adults, at most, and always waited a week, sometimes two, before feeding anything.

I cannot report that I have outstanding growth rates, but I can report that my snakes have always grown/shed at a rate that is to be expected of their species in the wild, under the best conditions.

I'm not saying this is what happened to rook. In fact, it's unlikely. But this got me thinking. Maybe she got a hold of some bad food. What did you feed her that last time she regurgitated, and the time (or week) before that?

The reason I ask is that I have seen clustered occurrences of sudden unexplainable deaths like you described and found upon investigation, that all the lost snakes ate the same food, from the same source. Twice this happened, it was pinkies. Once, it was fish from the same tank.

[Rook]

what she reguriated was a gerbil pinkie, what she ate the week before that I havent a clue, it was over a year ago. yes I had the concerns that she was eating too much, and I asked about it on here at the time and the reason I slowed down her feedings. but she was in fact growing about an inch or 2 per week, it was insane, I tracked her growth with pics in fact and measured her after every shed. I got so used to that with Rook being my first snake that when we got Jiffy and he didnt have even a remotly similer growth pattern we wondered what was wronge!

[thinkmore]

Just to add to the conversation, I'm Shayna's mom, and Rook died some time ago so it's hard to remember details, lol.

We did realize when she passed that her under tank heater was not working. And it was that time of year here where the weather was changing, still hot during the day and needing a/c, but just starting to get cooler nights. It was only a bit on the cool side in her tank the one night; people here didn't think nearly cool enough to cause a problem, but I suspect for her it somehow was. I've heard that albino checkereds can be quite inbred and maybe don't have as strong immune systems as they could have. That was part of the reasoning for getting a normal checkered this time, hopefully a bit less delicate.

Losing Rook was really traumatic for both of us. As Shayna mentioned, it's really hard to get snakes at all in Saskatchewan. I know I couldn't bear to not have one at all, so I decided we'd have to get a baby from the wild, so that's how we have our little plains garter, Jiffy. He's mainly my snake though, doesn't eat or grow that much, lol, but I like him.

It has been a long wait for Miami, we're so happy she's with us!

[guidofatherof5]

I know I couldn't bear to not have one at all, so I decided we'd have to get a baby from the wild, so that's how we have our little plains garter, Jiffy. He's mainly my snake though, doesn't eat or grow that much, lol, but I like him.

How about a picture of that radix, Jiffy. I'm sort of fond of radixes.

[thinkmore]

It doesn't take much to get us snapping more pics, lol!

Here's wee little Jiffy, over a year old already.
jiffypop.jpg

He's your garden variety radix. I would seriously consider sacrificing one of my offspring for one of your red radixes though, lol. They are just the most beautiful garters I've ever seen.

And here's Miami again. This was supposed to be Miami's thread, lol.

Miamihand.jpg

(Sorry, you'll have to click to see them big. I can't get into the picture host right now.)

[guidofatherof5]

It doesn't take much to get us snapping more pics, lol!

Here's wee little Jiffy, over a year old already.
jiffypop.jpg

He's your garden variety radix. I would seriously consider sacrificing one of my offspring for one of your red radixes though, lol. They are just the most beautiful garters I've ever seen.

And here's Miami again. This was supposed to be Miami's thread, lol.

Miamihand.jpg

(Sorry, you'll have to click to see them big. I can't get into the picture host right now.)

Both are great looking snakes. Jiffy may be a garden variety but that garden puts out some nice looking snakes. Jiffy is that dark phase with that short rounded snout. Great looking radix.

With Miami it looks like you've got your hands full. Thanks for posting the photos.

I'm not in a position to part with any of my red phase radixes just yet. That is my eventual goal, to make them available to everyone.