A Goodbye to Minnows

[Kettennatter]

A couple of days ago I noticed that my female garter was acting somewhat odd. She wasn’t moving in a straight line and was going through a corkscrew type of motion, which seemed less controlled at time progressed. Researching the issue I came across thiamine deficiency affecting garter snakes. I had primarily fed minnows until now, thinking that they contained little thiaminase, but obviously more than I thought.

I dusted tiny pieces of wild-caught salmon in thiamine and assist-fed the snake, placing the pieces in her mouth whenever I could. After 2-3 hours she seemed to be back to normal.

Both garters have not touched the salmon on their own, as they are now probably conditioned to take live fish. (Live fish were the one thing that I got the younger garter to feed on to begin with.) I now have to figure out what to try next, or simply wait them out.