Quote Originally Posted by Jared View Post
I'm going with internal parasites as cause of death. Most garters are very adaptable to different environments, they are definitely a hardy species to keep. The only times I have had Garters die on me...every time it was due to feeding "big name" pet store feeder fish. After performing autopsies on them I realized that the lung cavities had parasitic worms in them. A telltale sign is one or more small "lumps" under the skin. Sometimes these lumps are barely visible. They don't look like blisters by any means just a small area usually only 2-3 scales worth which seem raised up ever so slightly. These are the tail ends of the parasitic worms. My snakes ate voraciously right up until the time of death, and at the time off death the bumps will be gone, as the worms move about, apparently to the lung to finish out the life cycle. I never feed with store bought feeder fish. Pinkies, earth worms, and non fatty pre frozen fish fillet ect.
Then what do you feed? or did I read something wrong.