Wild Caught Garter Feeding/Housing tips

[Billman]

I have a wild caught Garter. Caught him the Saturday before last. have had him for about 13 days. He's roughly 15-20 inches long Give or take. Tried to get him to eat for a while, but finally took a small earth worm from me and gobbled it. -(Over the past few days, He's gotten much more tolerant with a human, and no longer stays in his hide. (After gentle handling and just making him familiar with my hand in the cage)- I Tried to feed him more, but is back to showing no interest.
Here's my situation:

It's kept in a 10 gallon tank with about 1 1/2- 2inches of Aspen bedding, with a "Hide" and water bowl. Temp is at about 73-75f and humidity is at about 60-70%

What I have noticed is when I put a worm in, He will flick his tongue and go over, But instead of grabbing it, He will push is down into the aspen bedding with the tip of his nose, and lose attention on it. He cant be filled up, the little earth worm he ate about 2 inches long and like half the girth of a pencil.

Would it be easier to house and feed him on newspaper or paper towels? The worms like to go into the bedding, and the garter pushing them in doesn't seem to help.

So, I guess what my questions are when boiled down are:
1.What is he doing when he is pushing the worm down in the bedding?
2.Was it a bad Idea feeding him a small worm at first? Couldn't possibly be full
3.Is newspaper or paper towel substrate better for feeding?

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[drumcrush]

Hey mate, I got myself a wild caught garter too:) he is housed in a ten gal. As well. I'm not keeping him tho, I will release when spring rolls around. As far as feeding, I feed this guy large Canadian nightcrawlers and I dust with calcium powder every couple of feeds. I hold the worm up with tongs until I know he has a good hold of it.As far as pushing the worms into the bedding, I have no idea. For bedding, I use aspen. Paper towels will work fine too. I like the aspen to help him feel more secure. Along with the feeling of security, I put pictures of forests in the back and sides of the tank.

[infernalis]

Try fish!!

Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

[Billman]

Drumcrush- Ok good to hear, I like the aspen, but the dang worms stick to it an burrow down.. :P



Infernalis- I read that care sheet last night, Very nice. I will definitely try some fish.

Still wondering what the pushing food down thing was about. He's be locked on to it, and either push it down with his nose, or burrow his head right under it and lift up, but wouldn't eat it. Never seen that before.

Thanks guys!

[infernalis]

I have never seen that either.

[drumcrush]

Drumcrush- Ok good to hear, I like the aspen, but the dang worms stick to it an burrow down.. :P



Infernalis- I read that care sheet last night, Very nice. I will definitely try some fish.

Still wondering what the pushing food down thing was about. He's be locked on to it, and either push it down with his nose, or burrow his head right under it and lift up, but wouldn't eat it. Never seen that before.

Thanks guys!
Hmm, maybe try feeding it outside the enclosure, possibly in a tub or something with paper towels. I like doing that with my albino checkered because she always makes a mess haha

[Billman]

Ill give it a shot

[franks]

It is wild-caught, possibly the snake prefers live food and is showing an aversion to dead prey?

[infernalis]

It is wild-caught, possibly the snake prefers live food and is showing an aversion to dead prey?

One of the things I like best about garter snakes, they are extremely tolerant of people.

I know a guy who tong feeds wild garters in his yard, and they take the chow.

WKMYcT6sshM

[drumcrush]

I saw that video on youtube, I even subscribed to the guy haha that's a really neat video!

[Billman]

Update!
Thanks for the input by the way everyone!

Just went out after our rainstorm today for some worms. Got a Bunch and have them all in a little cooler. None were very big, maybe a Gram.

I tried offering some again today. Reached in, he flicked his tongue, and dropped it by him. Took it right away. I didn't like how the shavings stuck to it so I put a piece of paper down in there. Dropped another on the paper and -Bam!

He took one right from my hand, however I am going to try to avoid that HA!

I wasn't very sure how many to feed him as I didn't find any really good sized worms. (Can I over feed?) I think it was about 6 in total, 5 just now and one last night. Most didn't really register on my scale, and I think one was about .2g. (Heaviest one) Still have a cooler full, but decided to stop.

[mistersprinkles]

One of the things I like best about garter snakes, they are extremely tolerant of people.

I know a guy who tong feeds wild garters in his yard, and they take the chow.

WKMYcT6sshM

I do the same thing with wild praying mantises. I just grab a grasshopper, pop the head off and put the grasshopper in the mantis's mouth and they grab it with one arm and eat it.

[mistersprinkles]

I wasn't very sure how many to feed him as I didn't find any really good sized worms. (Can I over feed?) I think it was about 6 in total, 5 just now and one last night. Most didn't really register on my scale, and I think one was about .2g. (Heaviest one) Still have a cooler full, but decided to stop.

Just like any snake, you shouldn't overfeed. Garters can eat a lot in the wild but you don't want to overfeed anyways. If the worms are, lets say, 1/3 the length of the snake and 1/2 the thickness, 1 or 2 every 5 days would be what I personally would feed the snake. And I'd keep track to see if it was pooping after five days or not, and if it wasn't, I'd adjust the feeding schedule accordingly.

Have you tried fish like infernalis said? All you need to do is put little feeder minnows (or guppies, or little feeder goldfish) in the water bowl. Must be live.

[drumcrush]

Just like any snake, you shouldn't overfeed. Garters can eat a lot in the wild but you don't want to overfeed anyways. If the worms are, lets say, 1/3 the length of the snake and 1/2 the thickness, 1 or 2 every 5 days would be what I personally would feed the snake. And I'd keep track to see if it was pooping after five days or not, and if it wasn't, I'd adjust the feeding schedule accordingly.

Have you tried fish like infernalis said? All you need to do is put little feeder minnows (or guppies, or little feeder goldfish) in the water bowl. Must be live.

Don't feed minnows or goldfish. Guppies are fine though

[mistersprinkles]

Don't feed minnows or goldfish. Guppies are fine though

Why not minnows or goldfish?

[drumcrush]

contains an enzyme that's called thiaminase. This enzyme blocks the absorption of vitamin B1 <--------------taken right off that garter snake care sheet as posted by Infernalis

[Billman]

Very informational stuff right here. I have not tried fish yet but definitely will, however. He is eating like a bear and is basically no longer afraid of me being around. I am feeding by hand, I know its not good practice, but its a garter. Why not. Although its not really the case, this snake will come up and take it out of my hand easily like my dog. I know the snake isn't consciously doing this, But I find it extremely interesting. Especially when the consequences are so little if he has a slip up. I just hate dropping the worms in there, they collect everything.

I'm going to try to get him on pinkies next feed, If not I'll do guppies.

btw. I did notice a new poop in there both times I went to feed. So I think I am feeding the right amount of worms.

[drumcrush]

I feed by hand sometimes too:p it's alright, you're fine haha i drop the worm all the time lol I feed my adult WC male 2 large night crawlers every other day(supplemented with calcium powder every once in a while). I'm gunna release home when spring rolls around, get him back out in the wild:p but yeah, try and get him on pinkies, I'm gunna start feeding pinkies to my albino garter. They were too big for her, but now I think she's ready for em:) guppies are always a great choice:p

[Billman]

Good to hear!

You say you feed every other day? I feed on Sundays, should I bump up my feed schedule??

Oh, And I hear ya on dropping the worms.. Those dang things are so hard to handle! And they love to ball up at your finger tip giving the snake more of a chance on tagging you haha!

[drumcrush]

Yeah, I would. The reason being is that the night crawlers aren't as nutritious as mice. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/gsnakecare.pdf take a look at this PDF, it provides pretty good information. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-pfd9aAaLpA&feature=c4-feed-u here's a video of me feeding my Eastern garter. Ignore the background talking and stuff.lol this is when I first got it, so it's is on paper towl.

[Billman]

Wow, I was way off.

Thanks for that info.. Really helpful! Exactly what I needed to know. I am definitely going to try to get it on F/T pinkies soon.

[drumcrush]

Yep, sure thing:p you might also wanna check out thamnophis.com if you havent already. Its a forum just for garter snakes and they have a lot of cool and nice people their:)

[Billman]

Alright thanks! I'll check it out

[infernalis]

Yep, sure thing:p you might also wanna check out thamnophis.com if you havent already. Its a forum just for garter snakes and they have a lot of cool and nice people their:)

Because it's our forum too.

Same server and everything ;)

[Billman]

Well, Good news!
Got the Garter on Pinkies today! Wasn't too bad, No interest at first so I dug a few earthworms up from outside to aid me.

First I fed him the tiny worm to get him in feed mode. Next I just rubbed the worm on the pinkie and set it in moving my finger around to get his attention. He went over and took it.

He ate 2 of the 3 small pinkies I tried feeding him. Refused the last one. Took it but left it behind afterward.

Next week I may try a fuzzy and just feed one.

Happy with this outcome!

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[drumcrush]

awesome! good news! I will be getting some pinkies for my albino this weekend:)

[Billman]

Sweet! Let me know how it goes!

[drumcrush]

Sweet! Let me know how it goes!
She took the pinky, got the head down, and spit it back out lol

[wrecker45]

I picked up a pastel checker garter last sunday. I am feeding him salmon till he is big enough for pinkies.

[drumcrush]

I picked up a pastel checker garter last sunday. I am feeding him salmon till he is big enough for pinkies.

Sweet! That's cool!

[wrecker45]

Drumcrush i have pics of him and my redtail boa i pick up at a show. They are under general discussion. Couple of pics.

[drumcrush]

Sweet, ur garter is tiny lol I bought mine when she was a little bit bigger. She shed three times for me so far:)