New to this world!

these guys/girls are born a few hours ago!
12 of them...not bad for a first timer...




about 20 dead young... does anyone know how that might come?
greetings!

cool! Garters are known to have exceptionally large numbers of young, one field guide of mine states
"The progeny are born alive from late June to August and may number from as few as seven to as many as 85. In many cases, however, only a few survive."
-from "Pennsylvania Amphibians and Reptiles" by Larry L. Shaffer

With that many young, its understandable that the mother may not be able to provide nutrition for all of them.

Thats true, but last year i had 26 live young and only 10 death ones...
on the 6th of Juli i had 70! infurtile eggs and 5 dead young from my other snake (also Parietalis)
This was her first time, so i'm hoping next year will be better!
in a few moments...first coffee...i'll give them their first meal...lets hope they eat!
greetings!

I've never heard of such a high number of still borns being normal. I'm not sure what would cause this. What were your temps like and what kind of diet were you feeding? Pregnant females typically seek out higher temperatures. It's also conceivable that some toxins she'd ingested may have been deposited in the yolks or the yolks may have been nutritionally deficient if her diet was lacking. But, the fact that they were fully formed would seem to indicate that something killed them towards the end of the pregnancy. Have the new little babies started eating yet? What kind of garter are they?

-Alice

Hi,
Thanks for your reply!
The Baby's are eating! Like real gartersnakes :eatpointe
They are T. S. Parietalis.

But, the fact that they were fully formed would seem to indicate that something killed them towards the end of the pregnancy.

Just a few days before birth I came back from my vacation. They had been on 'vacation-diet' for two weeks. My mother feeds them when i'm gone.
This might be a cause.

About feeding...i feed them with as much variation as i can. I dont know the English names for the fish, but i can give it a go. Mackerel, garfish, roach (the fish, not the insect) Herring, Sardines (in catfood). I also give them worms once in a while or little slugs.
And I have never had any B1 problems with them.

I dont know my exact temps. The last weak was very hot for the time of the year and the weak before it was very cold. (i love holland )

I dont know if this helps, but its nice to know your thinking with me!

I'd put my bet on the temps. I have a pregnant rosy right now and she seems to take great pains to stay at the appropriate temperature. She moves over to the side with the UTH as soon as the room begins to cool and on hot days she'll coil around her ceramic water dish. Maybe the embryos got heat stressed. It's good to hear that the surviving babies are doing well.

-Alice