New litter of Easterns (WC)

[EasternGirl]

Wow...a litter of 60! I have heard of easterns popping out litters that large but...wow. My eastern female had a litter of 30 twice...the first time they were all stillborn, the second time all but three were stillborn...then she had 30 jellies this year. Were all 60 scrubs born live?

[wxknight]

Well, I didn't count but there were at least 60. It might have been two litters though cause 2 of the females looked thinner. One female was bigger so I was thinking one had 20ish one had 40ish. Is that normal? For several females to have litters within 24 hours of each other? Cause there were more the next day from the third female, which had about 10 but were slightly bigger neonates. There were maybe 5 still borns in total between 3, possibly 4 (one really small female) snakes. Only 1 of the neonates died a couple days later, before I put water in the tank, possibly from dehydration. The 12 I have now are doing well and eat almost everyday the last five days or so.

And Snake Man, I'm quite territorial about my spots but I figure if you're on a snake forum you're one of the few people I'd tell lol, since I know you'll be good to them. I'll try and post a map of exactly where they are, but one hot spot is near a quarry in North Andover at the end of Sharpner's Pond Rd. The spot with the red ones is near the soccer fields/compost site off the same road. At the quarry there is an area surrounded by young pine trees that is about an acre of rocky vernal pools. On a good day between April and early June you can find 15-20 adult snakes of various species. Some days you'll see 2 or 3 4-5 ft racers that climb up the pine trees when theyre spooked. Another spot nearby I've seen a group of 20 or so male garters congregating near a hole just after hibernation in March.

[EasternGirl]

I know we have discussed on here the possibility of females in close proximity triggering one another's hormones. I would think that it makes sense for them to give birth around the same time like that. Sorry about the stillborns and the little one that died...but it sounds like you have quite a few babies on your hands! Good luck with all of them!

[snake man]

I would just use them to look no keepies . Thank you for sharing.

[wxknight]

new 1.jpgnew 2.jpgnew 3.jpgnew 4.jpgnew 5.jpg

When the snakes get full of worms they show their patterns a little better. You can see a few of the different patterns and colors, especially the last one of three.

[wxknight]

new 6.jpg

A couple nearly stripeless ones in this pic.

[wxknight]

The garters are doing well and bulking up. I took some pictures two nights ago just after feeding them earthworms. After a couple weeks they are starting to show a little more color too. Uploading pics in a bit.

And no worries Snake Man. If you go there and find anything post some pics. You can probably find a few snakes this time of year but Spring is a guarantee.

[guidofatherof5]

Do you feed in that enclosure?

[wxknight]

Yes. I usually throw the worms in an area were there is as little dirt as possible so they don't eat too much other none sense. Sometimes they run off into the dirt though because the other ones try and steal their worm. Just fed them again and one got so fat it threw up then ate half of what it regurgitated lol.

[guidofatherof5]

You might consider feeding away from the substrate. A separate container or containers. Best to not ingest any substrate.
Just my opinion.