wild baby albino garter snake care advice

[user]

I also live in Oregon between Troutdale and Sandy outside of Portland. Casper is pretty rare I guess. N.W. Albino. I did find her in the wild basically near a drain pipe in front of my house. I had never seen a white garter snake before then and thought it odd so I found this site and a lot of wonderful people here helped me raise her. Recently I had surgery that had me down for a while and nobody in my family wanted to help care for her while I was down so I thought it best to send her to a fellow who specializes in rare snakes in hopes he could breed her to further the line. He updates me occasionally and I pass the info on here to the folks who helped me raise her. She really had a great personality which I never thought snakes had. They can be just like a dog or cat. And often as moody or funny as a human which I never thought possible. I now think of snakes in a whole new way. Casper was one of the best things that ever happen in my life and I'm so glad I had the experience with her. I actually bawled like a baby the day I gave her up. Silly I know but you really get attached. Enjoy your new baby and keep us posted. 20160419_120938.jpg20160419_120523.jpgIMG_1167.jpg

Wow what an awesome story! That's also really cool we both found albino NW garters! That is pretty much how my brother found this one! And we both found them around the same size! Your Casper is such a healthy looking cutie, I hope that this little girl can grow up just as big and strong as Casper. That is good thinking on your part, really putting the snakes health and well being first. Maybe you'll find another little baby or maybe the guy who is taking care of her will give you one of her babies. That is amazing looking at Casper as a little baby and then as an adult, she is really beautiful. She was so pink when she was little lol. I wonder how this little girls color will change as she grows. Yours is T- and mine is T+ so cool. Casper is seriously a healthy looking animal, a testamate to your great care. I'm glad your surgery went went well too

So I woke up this morning and checked her out. I found her partly in her water bowl, so I bothered her for around 10 minutes with some slug but she wanted non of it pretty much, a little tongue flicking as usual though. But I picked her up and looked at her eyes and that seems to explain some of her behavior and also the fact that I got only around 2 scales off. I will keep watching her. I think I may keep giving her shed box sessions just to ensure her shed is good and moisturized but it may not be necessary. Outside it's raining and the humidity is like 94% according to google.
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Nov 3rd: 2.65g (right after feeding)
Nov 4th: 2.27g
Nov 5th: 2.34g

[Tommytradix]

I also live in Oregon between Troutdale and Sandy outside of Portland. Casper is pretty rare I guess. N.W. Albino. I did find her in the wild basically near a drain pipe in front of my house. I had never seen a white garter snake before then and thought it odd so I found this site and a lot of wonderful people here helped me raise her. Recently I had surgery that had me down for a while and nobody in my family wanted to help care for her while I was down so I thought it best to send her to a fellow who specializes in rare snakes in hopes he could breed her to further the line. He updates me occasionally and I pass the info on here to the folks who helped me raise her. She really had a great personality which I never thought snakes had. They can be just like a dog or cat. And often as moody or funny as a human which I never thought possible. I now think of snakes in a whole new way. Casper was one of the best things that ever happen in my life and I'm so glad I had the experience with her. I actually bawled like a baby the day I gave her up. Silly I know but you really get attached. Enjoy your new baby and keep us posted. 20160419_120938.jpg20160419_120523.jpgIMG_1167.jpg

Casper has been posted for sale for awhile now. I don't think he intends to breed her. She is posted for $1,000.

[WarriorPrincess]

What the heck!! Where is she posted?? My baby is for sale? @Tommytradix

[user]

Steve, the hemostats and scissors got here! Thank you so much for them and thanks for the penny too that was really nice of you. They work so much better than the tweezers I was using before, I appreciate it.

I've been watching her because I've been worried about a unshed skin or something, I've soaked her a few times, I think maybe one scale came loose. I notice on her stomach there is some slight creasing. I also notice little black dots, the biggest of which I got a picture of. She also has not wanted to eat for the since around midnight on Nov 3rd which wasn't that long ago.

In the center of this you can see the black dot. She has a few more smaller ones I think. I thought it may be dirt but it doesn't come off when I rub it. You can also see maybe some rough scales? Some are wounds healing but others seem to be just a little out of place? It's easier to see in pictures then with your naked eye, I wish I had a magnifying glass, maybe we can try to get one.

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This is her belly, that may be retained shed or just tension along her rib cage creating a divot
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Last thing about the penny. I used to love going to San Francisco zoo when I was a kid and LOVED getting these pennies from all the machines. I have never seen this one before. Thanks for that penny again.

[guidofatherof5]

Okay, I think your snake has a retained shed but without being there I can't know for sure. This is a dangerous situation especially for small snakes. Here is my suggestion. Make up a warm shed container use a lid to trap the warmth in. Make sure there is also some water in the container. After 20 minutes of shed box time take her out, here's where it gets tricky. There are two easy areas to check for a retained shed. One is at the corners of the mouth and the other is the vent/cloaca. As soon as you take the snake out rub up in the jaw area or the vent. If there is a retained shed the shed should start to come off. To help get it loose I use running warm tap water. If the shed starts to come loose at the head you should be able to grab it and peel off the head and jaw area. Try not to break the dead skin, you are trying to loosen it so you can let her crawl out of it while you genitally hold in against her body. It will be like turning a sock inside out. Keep us posted on this situation. I think I did a post on retained sheds, I'll try to find it and bring it up on the page.

[user]

Alright, she's in the box right now, she's been there for a while. There is condensation on the top and the temp is around 80 where she is hanging out I think.

[user]

She wasn't too happy with that lol. I gently rubbed around her jaw mostly, I didn't see anything come off but I'm going to give her more time. The next time I'm going to use a wet Qtip to rub because she is tiny.

I am also unsure but am ordering a magnifying thing and putting her in the shed box doesn't hurt.

[guidofatherof5]

Finger skin works best. Cotton doesn't offer enough resistance to get the shed loose. Have you seen any crinkly skin on she sides when she is bent?

[user]

Thanks ok I will do that instead. No I haven't, that's something I've been looking out for.

[user]

I use my finger along her jaw/mouth and cloaca but no peeling. There is also no folding at all on her sides. I will keep watching.