maggots for food for baby garters

[Eight]

Right I'm still looking into getting my first garter snake and I was wondering about feeding younger smaller snakes. I know they eat worms, but is it ok for them to eat maggots? Only that I feed my smaller Tarantula slings on them and I know they are readily available.

Has anyone tried this before that could advise me?

[gregmonsta]

I wouldn't go there at all.

These maggots would be swallowed whole and as such would still be alive when entering the stomach.
These maggots (that will also cope well with stomach acids) then might decide to borrow/eat their way out of their perdiccament.

Best not to try this just in case.

[Eight]

Brilliant. This is why I asked. Small bits me fish it is then.

[gregmonsta]

You might end up having to start them with something live if they don't catch on. Fish-wise guppies are a safe option. A less expensive route would be to get some lobworms to start them off - Fishing Worms and Bait - Lobworms | Worms Direct (http://www.wormsdirectuk.co.uk/acatalog/lobworms.html)
These will wriggle about in a bowl of fish strips and will entice most to eat. You can then gradually reduce the amount of worm until they are on fish as the staple ;)

[Eight]

You might end up having to start them with something live if they don't catch on. Fish-wise guppies are a safe option. A less expensive route would be to get some lobworms to start them off - Fishing Worms and Bait - Lobworms | Worms Direct (http://www.wormsdirectuk.co.uk/acatalog/lobworms.html)
These will wriggle about in a bowl of fish strips and will entice most to eat. You can then gradually reduce the amount of worm until they are on fish as the staple ;)

thanks for the advice. Any idea how long until I can start adding pinkies to their diet? Well, how long until they are big enough?

[gregmonsta]

That depends on how good you are at chopping them up :rolleyes:, I've managed to get pinkies in as part of a mixed diet very early by cutting them into strips lengthways. You can cut one pinky into about three strips to begin with and then move to offering halves. I would aim to offer about 60-70% fish and 30-40% rodent eventually (but those are just my preferences).

[ssssnakeluvr]

on top of that....maggots are insect larva....garters do not eat insects

[Didymus20X6]

Sliced nightcrawlers are a good option, I'd think. Get some small nightcrawlers and a pair of scissors or a knife and chop them up into bite-sized chunks. Watch the little boogers gobble them up!

[Eight]

on top of that....maggots are insect larva....garters do not eat insects
As far as I've read garters do eat insects, but shouldn't as they can't digest the chitin exoskeleton
. I thought that as fly larvae don't have chitin that I'm aware of that it might possibly be ok. Obviously for the reasons stated above I won't be using them though lol.


Sliced nightcrawlers are a good option, I'd think. Get some small nightcrawlers and a pair of scissors or a knife and chop them up into bite-sized chunks. Watch the little boogers gobble them up!

what are nightcrawlers? I've seen the name pop up again and again. Are they available outside the usa?

[Didymus20X6]

Nightcrawlers are a type of earthworm used for fish bait. They come in Canadian and European varieties, but I'm not sure that that means they are available in Europe. Maybe some of our European members can shed some light on that.

[gregmonsta]

what are nightcrawlers?

Lobworms :rolleyes:

[chris-uk]

If you get a batch of frozen pinkies you can usually cut off the legs and tail, those bits are easy to mix in with fish or worms to start giving the garter a taste of pinky. It's the heads that they'll struggle with when they are smaller, but if you go with Greg's advice of slicing the pinky lengthways it shouldn't be an issue.

[EasternGirl]

I chop pinkies up into very small pieces while they are still frozen...just chop them into small bits and then let the small little bits/chunks thaw and put on a little plastic lid for feeding to young garters. I did this with Hermes when I got him...he was 4 mos old. I often chop up little bits of fish and mix it in too. I actually still feed Hermes and Possum like this...although Hermes is 10 mos old now and Possum is a year old...but they are very small and although they could both actually swallow a whole pinky at this point, I think it is easier on them to eat small chunks...easier to swallow, easier on digestion.

[infernalis]

Nightcrawlers are a type of earthworm used for fish bait. They come in Canadian and European varieties, but I'm not sure that that means they are available in Europe. Maybe some of our European members can shed some light on that.

They are an invasive species that originated in Europe.

same worms.


http://www.varanus.us/worms/mating1.jpg

[ssssnakeluvr]

As far as I've read garters do eat insects, but shouldn't as they can't digest the chitin exoskeleton
. I thought that as fly larvae don't have chitin that I'm aware of that it might possibly be ok. Obviously for the reasons stated above I won't be using them though lol.

where did you read they eat insects??? I haven't seen that in any books.... if they did print that, they are wrong... :cool:

[guidofatherof5]

Hey Don, I think I have a book with that in it. I'll have to find it.
Once I read that I didn't put much stock in the rest.:D

[EasternGirl]

I see it many places...not saying that it is correct info...it is absolutely incorrect...but it's out there. A lot of bad info on garters is out there unfortunately. I think I have at least one book here that says something about insects as a food source. But no..garters do not eat insects because of the fact that they cannot digest the exoskeleton. Somewhere down the line a garter must have eaten an insect in order for us to know that...I think that probably occurs in situations in which a garter is starving and has no other food...or in the instance of a captive bred garter being given the wrong kind of food and not knowing better...but I am just guessing here.

[infernalis]

I have a book my son brought home from school that says Dekayi eat insects.

"The essential visual guide to the world of snakes"

History has shown that many reptile related books are so far off base, one has to wonder if the author's actually did any research, or if they just wrote from imagination.

[Eight]

where did you read they eat insects??? I haven't seen that in any books.... if they did print that, they are wrong... :cool:

Just on a few of the countless pages I've trawled through on the net in past weeks. I didn't pay it much attention, especially after being pointed in the direction of a couple of good care sheets. This forums care sheet is one of the most complete I've come across. I think I'm just worried about getting a garter that is much smaller than I ever could of imagined, then started thinking about food sources. I'll see if I can get lob worms.

[gregmonsta]

The website I posted is very efficient. The worms are good quality and the mail service is very quick. You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of months. I usually freeze most of them in freezer bags and defrost them in lukewarm water for scenting later on.

[EasternGirl]

Don't worry about getting a small garter. I remember when Hermes was first shipped to me and I opened the package...I looked inside and saw him for the first time and thought..."Oh my gosh...I have never seen anything so small before...how am I ever going to care for and feed this little fellow?" His head was literally smaller than my pinky fingernail! He was only about 6 inches long. Garters can actually swallow food items a couple times larger than their head size. Hermes could already swallow half a pinky then. They dislocate their jaws and stretch their heads and mouths around the food. I wasn't comfortable feeding Hermes large pieces..and I still am not...I have watched him swallow large pieces and it makes me uncomfortable watching him try to work the pieces down. I chop everything up into small little pieces and he does just fine. He is ten months now and his head is still just about the size of my pinky nail. If he had to eat a whole small pinky mouse though, he could do it.