New to snakes!

[Illi]

Hi everyone! I found a garter in my house and felt so bad for the poor thing because it was freezing so I set up a small tank for him. I've had him for a little over a week now. Any and all info and advice would be great because I don't know a whole lot!

[Albert Clark]

Welcome Illi to the forum! It's nice to have you here. That was admirable of you to house him bc he was freezing. Most wild snakes have the ability to find refuge in cold weather Captives do also, but the wild ones have been doing it more on a regular basis. He probably was looking for refuge when you spotted him. Are you planning on keeping him?

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks for looking out for the little one. Any chance you can post a photo so be know what species you have? Here's a link to the forum care sheet. Ask all the question you might have.
Garter Snake Forum - Garter Caresheet (http://www.thamnophis.com/index.php?page=caresheet)

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//744/medium/welcome.jpg

[Illi]

Sorry my camera isn't the greatest. I do plan on keeping him. I found him on Dec 31st and we had a bad rainy night before so we suspected he came in the house because of that.

[guidofatherof5]

Thanks for the photos. Still hard to get a good look at the snake. Might be an Eastern - Thamnophis sirtalis but it could also be a Butler's Garter - Thamnophis butleri. Butleri are a protected species in your State. What are you feeding?

[Illi]

I've tried feeding fish, thawed pink mouse, and crickets - was told to try by pet store - but he showed no interest. I have an up close video of him but the site will not let me post it.

[Illi]

https://youtu.be/XZdfvVy0Xwo

[Qwerty3159]

Don't feed him crickets and if there's any in the cage take them out, garters don't eat those :P

Have you tried nightcrawlers?

[boyer45]

Welcome, you are in the right place! I would definitely try nightcrawlers to start with.

[guidofatherof5]

It might take awhile for it to start eating. It needs to settle in.

[Zdravko092368]

It may take some time to start eating as it was probably in brumation mode. He will need ahttp://cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png (http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/#5585250) week or two of being warm 70-85 degrees to start eating again, may not take that long though. Your best bet is to buy nightcrawlers from a bait shop or walmart, the big worms used for fishing.

[Illi]

Then I will definitely try nightcrawlers next. I will let you all know if it works!

[Illi]

The first day I tried nightcrawlers it took him a couple hours until he showed interest in them. I cut it into fourths since it was long. I watched him open and close his mouth a couple time, he boobed one, then showed no more interest. So I thought maybe they were too big. So I cut the next one up into eights the next day but he showed absolutely no interest what-so-ever -_- I'll try again today since it's been 2 days since my last try.

[BUSHSNAKE]

Its winter. Its normal for garters to refuse food this time of the year. Just keep an eye in him. If he hides let him be. If hes active then offer food. It could be a little while before he eats but im sure he will

[Tommytradix]

try leaving the food in there overnight it sounds like your watching him too closely and not leaving it in there long enough.

[Illi]

I did leave the food overnight. When I first turn on his light when I wake is when he's most active and that's when I saw him opening and closing his mouth. It was also really warm that day here so the room was warmer. Maybe that had something to do with it?

[Tommytradix]

I did leave the food overnight. When I first turn on his light when I wake is when he's most active and that's when I saw him opening and closing his mouth. It was also really warm that day here so the room was warmer. Maybe that had something to do with it?
do you have him on any heat? if not i would recommend a uth and basking lamp.

[Illi]

Since he's so small I have him in a 3.3 starter tank. It came with a 5w bulb and since its plastic I can't really up the wattage for fear of it melting. So I got a reptile heating pad that is place on the back surface since it was too big to go underneath. That almost never gets turned off it gets very cold in my house. There is a suction cupped plant in the tank so he can climb higher to the light or a certain part of the heating pad. He loves it and now I rarely see him off of it unless he's playing in his water bowl lol

[Illi]

Update: Since I've had him for 20 days now and he's been active this entire time, I went ahead with a friends advice to assist feed him. And... success! I was able to get him to eat a small part of an earthworm! I am very satisfied with that. At least he has that in his belly. I was told that if he still is not eating on his own in 2-3 days to do this again to help him get back into the habit of eating.

[Albert Clark]

Any update on the little w/c????

[Illi]

So sorry! I've been super busy. He's eaten a whole meal once about a week and a half ago, then he shed his skin. Had some problems with that at the start but I sprayed a little water in the tank and he got it off in one piece.

[guidofatherof5]

Sounds good.