cause of death

hi. um, my friend's snake is living with us, and my
friend's been feeding him crickets. oh, it's a garter
snake, probably 15 inches long. and he hasn't been eating
the crickets, and looked pretty lethargic, and i was worried
about the snake.

so i looked up some information about what garter snakes
eat, and it said pretty much anything they could catch, and
mentioned worms at the top of the list. so i went out to my
yard and dug up some worms, and was looking for potato bugs
or other grubs, but all i found was worms.

i gave the worms to my friend, and he put them in the cage.
the snake didn't move for a couple of minutes, but then he
started moving a bit, so i watched close, and then he moved
really fast towards the first worm and started eating it
really ferociously! i haven't seen this snake move that
fast in the 2 months he's lived with us.

anyway, he went after a second worm while he still had the
first one in his mouth, and it was kinda funny, cuz he
couldn't figure out how to bite the 2nd one to keep it from
slithering away, cuz his mouth was too full with the first
worm hanging out the side of his mouth.

but he ate both worms yesterday morning, and seemed pretty
content yesterday. i noticed him a few hours ago shifting
around a bit and saw him put his head down on one of his
coils. When I came back a hour ago, he was in the same
exact position. I got a *little* worried about him, but i
know that sometimes I worry too much, but i asked my friend
to check on him to make sure he was ok.

my friend picked him up and his tail hung limp, and his neck
and head are in the exact same position they'd been in in
the cage. he didn't move at all. my friend got kinda
upset, too, and we're all pretty sure the snake is dead.
he's back in his cage, neck and head in the same position,
and still hasn't moved.

so i guess my first question is: could he be hibernating or
something? ...please?

:((

my second question is: is it possible that the snake *was*
starving cuz he doesn't like crickets or something, and
eating 2 worms was too much of a shock to his system?

i'm trying pretty hard not to feel *horribly horribly
guilty* for giving the snake worms that killed him, but it's
pretty tough. i feel just awful for my friend, and i really
liked the snake, too. he would crawl in my hair and it
tickled. i don't *want* him to be dead!

i really don't know too much about pet snakes, so anything
anyone can tell me i'd really appreciate.

thanks.

Jenny

--
"It is astonishing, really, how many thoroughly mature,
well-adjusted grown-ups harbor a teddy bear -- which is
perhaps why they are thoroughly mature and well-adjusted."
-- Joseph Lempa

"J.L. Thomas" <jtdgreat RemoveThis @adelphia.net> wrote...
> i'm trying pretty hard not to feel *horribly horribly
> guilty* for giving the snake worms that killed him, but it's
> pretty tough. i feel just awful for my friend, and i really
> liked the snake, too. he would crawl in my hair and it
> tickled. i don't *want* him to be dead!

Sounds dead to me. Take it out and check it out. If it's dead it should
become very obvious very quickly. They don't hibernate in the summer.

It also sounds like you gave him worms from your yard, where more than
likely they've been filtering dirt filled with fertilizer and pesticides.
You know worms filter dirt, right? They store up whatever mineral or toxin
content was in the dirt in their bodies.

I buy organic worms from my local bait shop, where they assure me they only
use plain fertilizer-free potting soil and feed the worms leafy greens.
They're cheap.

Buy him another garter and some fresh bait-shop worms to make up for the one
lost, and you will all feel better. It is good to learn from our mistakes!

fr0glet