Communal feeding

[Eight]

Hey guys. To those of you who feed your garters communally, how long do you leave the food in for?

Only that one of my two males doesn't seem too inclined to eat straight away, but the other is a little fatty and I'm worried that if I leave the food in there enclosure for too long the one that is eating readily will over eat.

[katach]

We feed communally. We solve the piggies over eating problem by careful monitoring. We watch them eat to keep them from fighting and once they have had their share they get removed to a separate tank or just not allowed near the food anymore. When feeding in groups it is always a safe idea to watch until the food is gone or removed.

[thamneil]

I feed communally and have never worried about over eating. I allow my babies to eat until they no longer want food. Give then a proper basking area and they will be able to regulate themselves.

[Eight]

I've tried shooing him away but apparently he grows a set when it comes to feeding.

I have been keeping an eye on them but if it's ok to just let them eat I'll stop shooing any more away from the food. I'll monitor them closely though to make sure they don't become overweight.

[guidofatherof5]

We feed communally. We solve the piggies over eating problem by careful monitoring. We watch them eat to keep them from fighting and once they have had their share they get removed to a separate tank or just not allowed near the food anymore. When feeding in groups it is always a safe idea to watch until the food is gone or removed.

Sound advice.

[Light of Dae]

You can leave food in the tank overnight... just make sure there is water in the dish to keep the food edible n moist. I'd watch the piggy one carefully until he is no longer hungry(yes let him eat till he stops on his own accord) then make sure there is enough food for the shy eater n leave it be.

The piggy will be full enough he will not bother the other one when he is finally ready to eat.

I used to do this when I my George was with Daffy(RIP). Daffy had a Radix appetite and would eat till he was a sausage, George was always to shy n would wait till night time to eat.


You could also want to consider container feeding. It is A LOT less stressful for me to container feed my groups of babies... I have a few rather aggressive eaters n Last night I realized I only had pinkie mice and it was late so I did dish feeding for the babies.... OMG Both the male Mexicans would not eat from the dish but insisted on stealing from the tiny eastern boys. I had to remove one from the other constantly! The female group did little better, one Mexican was a pig, the rest were all to shy! They all sat in watched the big girl eat n I waited as long as I could, then I went to bed. This morning there are some fatty babies n some still hungry!

Last time I dish feed large(bigger then two) groups!

Container feeding (if it is plausible for you), gives each snake equal opportunity n you can see how much each eats.

[EasternGirl]

I feed my babies communally...but I always supervise feeding carefully to make sure that each baby is getting his/her share. I do have a couple of pigs that will eat all the food if I don't shoo them away and let the others have a chance to eat. Also...when I have one that doesn't want to eat...I put him/her in a separate feed tank. It always seems to work.

[Steveo]

I did communal feeding with my 2012 scrubs for a few weeks... I didn't like the way it was going... too many food fights, some didn't eat right away, etc. Once I had to step away for 3 minutes and came back to find one snake's head in another snake's throat.

Now I put them in separate tupperware containers. I can control portion sizes, I don't have to worry about food fights, and I don't even have to watch. I'll put them in for 30-60 minutes, then move them back to the tank. I can see how much each ate. It's a bit more labor intensive but it's less of a time suck. It also allows me to handle each scrub for a minute or two, twice weekly.

[Spankenstyne]

I do the same as Neil, I group feed & let them eat as much as they want. I leave the food in for a couple/few hours until there's a tiny bit of food left and everyone is ignoring the food dish. A few piggies will sausage out but most will just eat a normal amount. I double check on the smallest ones to make sure they have a full belly. If they don't I'll separate those ones into their own container to eat a meal and go back in with their siblings. I haven't had any that I have had to do this more than one time to. I also usually just feed the babies chopped worms & fish, if it was pinkies I would regulate it more.