ribbon feeding

[aquamentus_11]

For all you ribbon snake keepers, a few questions:

1) Do they calm down?

2) Are they finicky eaters (compared to garters)?

3) How do they do when housed with garters? How do the garters do?

4) How often do they need to be fed?

[guidofatherof5]

For all you ribbon snake keepers, a few questions:

1) Do they calm down?

2) Are they finicky eaters (compared to garters)?

3) How do they do when housed with garters? How do the garters do?

4) How often do they need to be fed?


#1 Yes and no.

#2 Yes and no.

#3 Seems to do fine. Seems to do fine.

#4 Same as other garter snakes. Young more then adults and adults less then young.
Sorry for the vagueness of my answers;)

Being a 1 ribbon owner I by no means consider myself as experienced.

[aquamentus_11]

haha well you're one up on me

[aquamentus_11]

i'm fairly certain that what i was looking at today was a female, but it's a young snake and their tails are longer then garters'. it became fairly thin right after the vent without any bulging or thickening. does anyone have a picture of a female vs a male ribbon vent and tail?

[infernalis]

For all you ribbon snake keepers, a few questions:

1) Do they calm down?

2) Are they finicky eaters (compared to garters)?

3) How do they do when housed with garters? How do the garters do?

4) How often do they need to be fed?

The ribbons I kept were flighty, they never calmed down.

they were finicky, mine would only eat live fish. I gave them some guppies every other day, sometimes skipping a day.

and I never tried to keep them with my other garters...

[aquamentus_11]

hmmm the one i'm looking at seems very calm already. live fish every other day would be a problem though. filet with some Ca2+ I can handle or f/t.

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...I don't know...I always thought they ate live fish...ribbons are basically more aquatic versions of garters from what I understand. In the wild they tend to live near the water and hunt live fish...I believe. I don't know how one would do with fish fillet.

[EasternGirl]

Okay...I just did a search on the internet and found a girl talking about owning ribbon snakes and feeding her snakes earthworms, guppies, and platies...and she says you can also feed fresh fish fillet if you can get them to eat it. She also mentioned breeding your own guppies and platies to feed to the snake...which I have heard other people mention. She mentions feeding pinkies too...but said her ribbons would not eat the pinkies. She did talk about scenting however...she said she may try scenting the pinkies with fish or worms in the future. Hope this helps.

[guidofatherof5]

My Shyblue (T. p. orarius - Gulf Coast Ribbon Snake) readily takes unscented pinkies after some training with fish-scented ones.

[aquamentus_11]

yeah, i'm hoping it'll be ok with filet and pinkies like steve says. if i can't get her on filet, i'd have to give her back though or find another home: i can't sustain a population of live fish with my current lifestyle. she's eating crickets now though, so i'd think she'd be happy to get anything else at this point....

[EasternGirl]

She probably isn't eating the crickets...she probably isn't eating. Try to take them a copy of our caresheet and tell them about the dangers of crickets...please Nate. I hate to think of those poor little snakes stuck in there with a bunch of crickets. If you feel uncomfortable saying something, find out if they have an email address and I will email them...I won't mention you. Thanks.

[aquamentus_11]

I've mentioned it to them twice and the goldfish problem. I'll try to find a website/e-mail address for you.

[guidofatherof5]

She probably isn't eating the crickets...she probably isn't eating. Try to take them a copy of our caresheet and tell them about the dangers of crickets...please Nate. I hate to think of those poor little snakes stuck in there with a bunch of crickets. If you feel uncomfortable saying something, find out if they have an email address and I will email them...I won't mention you. Thanks.

Especially since crickets can inflict some bites on the snakes.

[chris-uk]

Not sure who told me, so it could be an urban legend. Someone I spoke to mentioned someone they knew (see, sounds like an urban legend already) had bought a large box of crickets and put them all in with their snake figuring it would eat them at its leisure. The crickets ate the snake.
Not sure about the accuracy of this, but highlights one of the dangers of crickets and garters.

[kibakiba]

It could happen I'm sure... My adult crickets bit through think fruit skin all the time... Their jaws are pretty powerful, you know, cause you wouldn't think of a cricket as powerful really. But they're also persistent little bugs....

[EasternGirl]

Yeah...I was going to say something about that because I thought I remembered someone saying something about the crickets attacking the snake but I wasn't sure.

[gregmonsta]

For all you ribbon snake keepers, a few questions:

1) Do they calm down?

2) Are they finicky eaters (compared to garters)?

3) How do they do when housed with garters? How do the garters do?

4) How often do they need to be fed?

1) Maybe ... depends what you do. Top opening enclosure are a no-no. When handling - if you don't get them successfully the first time - leave alone. Group housing works well.

2) Yes they are - but I've had no problems with trout/salmon fillet and have managed to feed scented pinkies and fluffs.

3) Had no issues - calming benefits of grouped housing a plus.

4) I feed mine on the same schedule as my other thamnophis, every 4/5 days.

[aquamentus_11]

ok great, thank you. this keeps sounding more positive.

[aquamentus_11]

re: crickets. i hate them. they used to gnaw on my tokay if i didn't get all of them out and i hated it. i almost got a rough green snake before deciding on a garter or atb, but decided not to because of the damn bugs (not to mention the fact that everyone says rough greens die very quickly in captivity). the snake has grown A LOT since i first saw her 3 weeks ago, so the store must be doing something right. they feed fish too, but they're goldfish.....they won't listen to you, marnie, but i found their website. Pet Grooming Lewisburg, WV - Susan's World Of Pets & Dog Grooming (http://www.susansworldofpets.com/) when you do send your e-mail, please format it in a way that won't trace back to me: i have already tried a couple times like i said and they got offended. this is a small town and my only place to buy pinkies so i'd hate to have them dislike me whenever i walk in ;) plus, i'm on friendly terms with them and they hook it up with supplies once in awhile. tell them that you're conducting a survey of pet stores to see what they feed their snakes. if you inquire about corns, rats, boas, etc. too, then they won't think twice i'm sure. i'd appreciate it.

[EasternGirl]

Will do, Nate. I wouldn't mention you...I got your back. :).