My vet, while good with some reptiles, isn't good with very small snakes, which I found out when I had a problem with one of my green snake babies. If I got him a week or two ago it might have been a different story, but after settling him in, watching him, and seeing the inside of his mouth, he seemed to me past any decent help I could've given him. He wasn't acting like a garter should. I don't think he had much time left, and although I would have preferred him to die, or get better, with me, in this case I think it was better to return.