can garter snakes be fed live fish?

[fishyfriends876]

Hello. I am considering getting a garter snake, but when I was researching and watching some vids on them, they all disagreed on what they should be fed. One site said to avoid live fish, but most other sites and videos had the garter snakes be fed live fish. I know that goldfish, minnows, and other fish with thiamenese (I can't spell) should not be fed. I considered giving guppies, since I take care of fish and know how to breed them. is it o.k. if I breed my own guppies and then give them? Or maybe just but feeder guppies and give them? (I know a fish store that sells really healthy feeder guppies for 12 for a dollar. None of the guppies have any sign of sickness) Thank you in advance!

[Bandit]

You can feed live fish. However, there are more pitfalls than benefits (parasites, diseases, etc). More importantly though, you'd be much better off feeding it rodents. Wouldn't hurt to supplement with fish though. You could probably just feed it frozen filets rather than live.

[MnGuy]

Some people don't recommend feeding live fish because they can carry parasites and disease. Frozen-thawed fish (you can buy silversides at most pet stores) is safer because freezing for a period of time kills parasites.

I keep two garters and feed them frozen-thawed fish and earthworms (not red wrigglers).

Garters are interesting snakes. They're curious, check you out, observe their surroundings and are active during parts of the day.

Good luck!

[David339]

I fed mine earthworms (not red wigglers) when they were smaller, night crawlers work too. Now mine eat F/T mice. I've heard of the silversides as mentioned above if you want to feed fish.