March 30th 2024 I was lucky enough to witness the birth of a litter of Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi, the Valley Garter Snake.

I had just cleaned the cage earlier that day in the afternoon and when I did a quick check at 7 PM I noticed that one of my females just had started to give birth. About a week earlier then I had calculated based on the date I had ended their hibernation.

On some parts of the video it is clear to see that the babies are still in the “egg” when they are born. This type of reproduction is called ovoviviparity. The egg in this case is not much more than a transparent membrane. Ovoviviparous snakes possess embryos that develop inside eggs that remain in the mother’s body until they are ready to hatch.

It is also clear to see that the baby snake needs to use quite some force to break though the membrane to take their first breath of air.
This mother had 22 healthy (and 2 stillborn) babies.
Directly after being born the babies started to shed their skin for the first time, which is quite normal for Garter Snakes.