Worm Based Diet

[Timsreptiles]

Can a small garter snake live off a diet of mainly earthworms?

[guidofatherof5]

I say yes but the quality of the worms comes into play with that answer. If the worm are eating a mineral rich diet I say yes.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

They're probably as good for them as fish especially if they are in calcium rich soil.But as always a varied diet will make sure the animal is getting everything it needs.

[guidofatherof5]

I live in a heavy T.radix area. Worms are their primary food source. Not many frogs and I've never seen any salamanders.
I'm sure there are some mice but worms are the largest part of their diet.
With this being said the snakes are big and healthy.

[Selkielass]

Yes.
t. Butlerii and are believed to subsist mainly on worms, and newborns grow rapidly on a diet of minced back yard worms. In the wild they'd like be too small to eat anything but the worms, leeches and slugs. (But they will take on worms nearly their own length.)

In my care they take readily to anything chopped small enough to fit in their mouths, so I offer a variety of foods when the worms aren't garden fresh.

[thamneil]

Worms are a great snake food! Packed with protein and all kinds of good minerals. I believe that worms make up a very large portion of the diet of the young parietalis in my area. Definitely a good idea to vary it up when they grow larger.

[ConcinusMan]

Yes but you're going to need a lot of high quality worms, preferably living in rich, black compost. Doesn't hurt to throw some bone meal in the dirt too. The snakes are going to need to feed very often and it's going to get messy. If you can give them other foods too on occasion that would be best.

Small garters like butlers, northwestern, etc., often live almost entirely on worms and slugs but those species stay pretty small. It's the larger species that get 3 feet or larger that are going to have a hard time getting everything they need from just worms especially when they reach adult size.

I'd say if your snake is under 24 inches it's probably going to be fine but you need to feed a lot, and often, when compared to a meal of say, whole fish or rodents. Worms are mostly water and digest fast. They don't have to eat as often with the other items I mentioned, and they won't poop as much.

Never feed them "red wigglers" "trout worms" "compost worms" or any worm that puts out yellow, smelly slime or looks like this. They are toxic.

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/vermicomposting-2.jpg

"Night Crawlers" (a type of earthworm) are ideal. If the worms look like this, they're probably OK:
http://www.dicts.info/img/ud/earthworm.jpg

[Timsreptiles]

I have the snake eating earthworms from my pesticide free garden. I can add calcium and vitamin powder as required. The snake has eaten a guppy and will be moved to mice and fish when bigger. He seems to prefer worms over other prey at the moment.

[Selkielass]

Mine adore worms, especially garden worms, but other foods are readily accepted, especially if offered the first time w worm sauce.
If your garden soil is good, and the worms are freshly caught, you should be great. Consider supplementing if you discover your soil is depleted in some way, or you are relying on worms that have been stored for a while and depleted their gut load.
I agree that worm poops do tend to be frequent, and somewhat looser with most species.(well, checkered, and eastern in personal experience.) Butlers on the other hand produce small, relatively firm poops on a mostly worm diet. They may digest them more thoroughly than the larger snakes, but I have no data to back this impression up.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

to add to what was already stated....

yes.


worms are excellent feeders as long as they are healthy and well fed!

[ConcinusMan]

I have the snake eating earthworms from my pesticide free garden. I can add calcium and vitamin powder as required.

That's the thing. It isn't required. Just be very careful with it. Use very little, and not very often.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I don't do the powder thing......... reptiles do not have a bunch of dust being applied to their food in the wild. The best thing you can do for you animals is to make sure that the feeders you are using are very healthy and well fed and offer as much of a varied diet as possible.

[ProXimuS]

Yes but you're going to need a lot of high quality worms, preferably living in rich, black compost. Doesn't hurt to throw some bone meal in the dirt too.

Where can you get bonemeal? I get my worms from Walmart, they are the DMF bait worms. I haven't ever added anything to them and they have so far always lasted a while. It says that they are packed in reed sedge peat humus or something like that. Do they need more than that in order to be healthy worms to feed?

[d_virginiana]

You don't need to worry at all about supplementing if you get some frozen silversides or pinky mice and just feed them occasionally. Your snake could still eat mainly worms. IMO that'd be easier than worrying about how much and how often to supplement.


I don't do the powder thing......... reptiles do not have a bunch of dust being applied to their food in the wild. The best thing you can do for you animals is to make sure that the feeders you are using are very healthy and well fed and offer as much of a varied diet as possible.

Agreed! The only one of my pets that gets supplements is my frog, because she has digestive issues that make it hard for her to eat anything other than nightcrawlers. I've never supplemented my snakes at all.