Gail's garter - the snake kind silly.

[mikem]

Thanks for the tail pics. Looks good.

[Mommy2many]

Very pretty girl!

[Selkielass]

Lovely gal!
I kind of like the scars on my w.c. Bikers. They are proof that these snakes have their own history, and make identification. Easier as their subtly different colors change with shed phase.

[chris-uk]

Nice girl. And the tail doesn't look like it will be a problem.

[kueluck]

Feeding - I've found some sites that say feed every 2 or 3 days, haven't found a thread here for how often to feed, just what I should and should not feed. 3 days ago the rescue place said she ate a fuzzy, yesterday she ate 2 big earthworms and this morning she had a couple pieces of tilapia pieces, after I rubbed some worm slim on it. Can I over feed her? It's so much fun watching her eat! I still haven't seen her in the water, should I be worried about this? So far all seems good, and she is very curious about the three cats that watch her. Oh and she did poop last night, just in case any one wanted to know.

[guidofatherof5]

Yes, garters can be over fed.
I feed my adults twice a week with a treat(small meal) in there also.

[EasternGirl]

Her tail looks fine...Seeley, my male eastern, has a stub tail exactly like that...just something that must have happened to him in the wild before I found him. He has never had a problem shed in the year and a half that I have had him now...he always has perfect sheds. Yes, you can overfeed...it can cause the snake to regurgitate or become obese...so the best thing to do is go by the rule of thumb that as soon as you see a nice bulge in her tummy...stop feeding. My Cee Cee will eat until she explodes if I don't stop her...so I just watch until her tummy has a nice little round bulge and then I stop. Zena looks like a pretty decent sized female...and eastern females can get quite large...Cee Cee is three feet. You can feed smaller feedings more often or bigger meals less often...smaller meals more often is better for digestion. I feed Cee Cee about 2-3 pinkies worth of food per week. So...either I would feed her one...one and a half pinkies every 3 or 4 days...or 2 or 3 pinkies every 5-6 days. If I feed fish or earthworms, I just try to make it equal to two-three pinkies worth of food. I would try to get her on a schedule at this point. If you haven't seen her in the water...she may be going to it when you aren't looking...but try putting her up to the water and see if she drinks. What kind of water dish do you have for her? It's good that she is pooping!

[mikem]

Don't worry about the water. She knows it's there and will drink/soak whenever she wants. Pooping updates are always welcome!

[kueluck]

I would like to feed her Mon pinkie, Wed worms, Fri fish. I figure this way it's balanced and with feeding her pinkies should I still use calcium? Are the bones in the mice enough? I also plan on using a multi-vitamin on the 1^st and 15^th of each month. Here's a photo of the water dish.
water dish.jpg


And this is what I found on craigslist yesterday for $25 (29 long critter keeper) and spent today cleaning all the items. The only thing I added was the aspen and the small hide on the left. And hope to add more snakes after this coming weekend. Also got a fogger which my frogs will enjoy.
29 long.jpg

[guidofatherof5]

Variety is good but I'm not sure switching the foods around like that is what you should do.
I feed one food source for awhile then switch. I also think Mon, Wed, and Fri. is too often.
Just my opinion.