Feeding suggestions?

[d_virginiana]

My little red-belly snake is still doing well, but I'm having trouble getting it to eat. They're pretty much identical to Dekay brownsnakes, so I've only offered worm chunks and baby slugs (lucky timing on my slug colony) so far. I may try fish tomorrow. She's shown some interest in the worm bits when I offer them by hand, tracking and following but never actually striking them. When I leave them in her tank, she just completely ignores them. It's difficult to get food small enough for her; she's smaller than most of my baby garters when I got them, so I'm guessing she's one of this year's babies.
Right now she's hanging out in a small tupperware box with two baby slugs and some cut up worm, but I don't think they're getting eaten...

Any other suggestions on getting these snakes to eat? I've never worked with Dekays before, so I'm just kind of winging it. With her being so small and the fact that she was injured recently (very active, no swelling, don't think this is the reason she's not eating) it makes me nervous that she's not taking food.

[Greg'sGarters]

I'd just keep on trying baby slugs and maybe try live worms but smaller.

[guidofatherof5]

I don't think fish are on the menu for this species.

Reptiles and Amphibians of Minnesota: Redbelly Snake: Minnesota DNR (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/reptiles_amphibians/snakes_turtles/redbellysnake.html)

HerpNet.net - Iowa Reptiles and Amphibians - Redbelly Snake - Storeria occipitomaculata (http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=60&Itemid=26)

[d_virginiana]

Yeah, I didn't think so :p

I think part of my issue is that I can't find anything live other than the baby slugs. They don't move much, and to chop worms small enough for her, they're pretty much mush. I feel like she's adjusting to being in captivity very well other than the eating, so I wanted to make sure there wasn't some sort of 'trick' I was missing for getting them to eat.
She's always out on her vines looking around and sleeps with her top half poking out from under the newspaper. Kind of nice since I was expecting her to basically hide all the time.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

What type of worm are you feeding? I remember Steve saying that one of his snakes would eat earthworm but not nightecrawlers.

[guidofatherof5]

What type of worm are you feeding? I remember Steve saying that one of his snakes would eat earthworm but not nightecrawlers.

Good idea William. I think I will give that thread a bump.

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/8569-earthworm-credit.html

[d_virginiana]

That's a good idea... Of course, not sure where I'd get those right now. Even if it were okay for me to dig outside my apartment, I know for a fact they spray the grounds for fleas year round (the wonders of living in a pet friendly complex...).
There is a really nice reptile specialty shop nearby though. I can always give them a call and see if they have any or could order some.

[guidofatherof5]

I have never seen them for sale anywhere. They seem to be rather delicate. In season mine get eaten very fast here at the Ranch, they don't last but a couple days in the house otherwise.
Turning rocks, logs, boards is a good place to find them.

[Invisible Snake]

I don't know much about these snakes, but I found a few care sheet/info links on them.

Michigan Society of Herpetologists (http://www.michherp.org/nredbellys.html)

ADW: Storeria occipitomaculata: INFORMATION (http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Storeria_occipitomaculata/)

^^^ "Red-bellied snakes are specialized feeders of gastropods. Stomach content analysis has revealed that at certain times they may feed exclusively on slugs (Brown 1979, Semlitsch and Moran 1984). Earth worms and snails are also very common food items, while insect larvae and pill bugs, and possibly young salamanders serve as food items (Harding 1997).
They have a number of adaptations to aid their specialized gastropod diet. The teeth of S. occipitomaculata (http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Storeria_occipitomaculata/) are especially slender and in-curved so they can more easily grasp and hold on to the slimy, soft bodies of slugs and snails (Amaral 1999). Their skulls are also proportionately smaller than other snakes, which may aid in extracting snails from their shells (Rossman and Myer 1999). It is possible that they release very weak venom from their Duvernoy glands during prey seizure. This venom may serve to both weaken the prey (reducing prey-handling time) and reduce the effects of the snail's mucous secretions (Amaral 1999)."

Red-Bellied Black Snake Care Sheet (http://www.popularpets.net/snakes/care-sheets/red-bellied-black-snake.php)

[d_virginiana]

I may try scenting worm bits with slug-slime tomorrow. The baby slugs are incredibly tiny right now, and I only have the one larger one to produce eggs until it warms up so I don't want to chop her up. Like, these baby slugs are pretty much just a blob of cells.

[infernalis]

I had the best luck with baby night crawlers, hatchling size night crawlers are usually under rocks, scraps of wood, etc.

[d_virginiana]

That might be an option for me in a week or two, since I just got a worm-bed started up.
On the bright side, the weather warmed up again tonight and there were plenty of slugs out and about, so she's back in the deli cup with some more appropriately sized slugs. She's been watching these more intently, so I'm hopeful...

[d_virginiana]

She ate one!
And she's eyeballing a second one right now.

I think my garters have me spoiled. I start getting paranoid if a snake takes longer than two seconds to throw itself onto anything edible.

[chris-uk]

Glad she's taken one. Remember as well that she's had a move fairly recently (is it about a week since you got this girl from your dad?).

[guidofatherof5]

She ate one!
And she's eyeballing a second one right now.

I think my garters have me spoiled. I start getting paranoid if a snake takes longer than two seconds to throw itself onto anything edible.

Great news.

[d_virginiana]

Glad she's taken one. Remember as well that she's had a move fairly recently (is it about a week since you got this girl from your dad?).

lol Actually I've only had her since Saturday, but they'd had her about a week where she didn't eat. She was starting to look a little sickly, which is why I was getting worried.

[chris-uk]

If she was a garter we'd all be pointing out that they can take a few weeks to settle after a move. :)
Did she just eat the one or did she manage more?