finding food for dekay's

[Gaius Iulius Tabernarius]

So I've had about 4-5ish brown snakes in my terrarium for over a month now. and for a while they seemed fine, occasionally I'd catch them eating the earth worms I've been giving them. and I always make sure to dig up a pile of them at least once a week to add to the tank, usually I get 2 or so per snake and put them in when I give my ribbon snakes their fish. They are all shy eaters, but so far they've been ok with it.

That said, lately one of my smaller snakes has been roaming around the tank looking for food, and trying to get out. Which confuses me because I often see the worms I put in the tank, in plain view, on the substrait, and he just sort of misses them. A few days ago I took the step of dropping one right in front of him and he ate it. But this is becoming a pattern. Plus its becoming harder to find earthworms due to the drought in my area. I still see plenty of snales but my snakes don't seem interested in them. Is there anything else I could try? They have no interest whatsoever in the fish I give my ribbon snakes, I even tried to sent them with worm gunk and that just made all my snakes avoid them.

I'll post a pic of the set up for reference, just as soon as I can upload one. its a standard 40 gallon tank with a heating pad on one side, uv lighting, and sphagnum moss/potting soil sub strait. I also have two planters around the tank, and cardboard on the far side because I read that it makes them feel more secure.

Also if anyone knows where I can order worms that aren't poisonous for my snakes, that would be helpful.

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[guidofatherof5]

S. dekayi are snail eating experts. Their jaw is specially designed for pulling snails from the shells. They will readily eat nightcrawlers if cut into small enough pieces. You can try dicing up some fish in the worm goulash you make but fish has an overpowering scent that might make them not eat the worm pieces. Pinky parts mixed in with worms is feasible.

[MNGuy]

You can create your own worm magnet/hot spot by laying a board, log, etc. down in your yard somewhere shady and lightly watering it every now and then to attract worms. I have a plastic planter on my concrete walkway that regularly attracts small worms underneath it due to the continuous dampness. I have newts I feed these worms to.

Good luck.

[Gaius Iulius Tabernarius]

whenever I put snails in the tank they clime to the top and hang out between the lid and the edge of the tank. the snakes can't reach them there. I tried putting Vaseline on the top but it had no effect.

[Gaius Iulius Tabernarius]

Ok it rained and I have a **** ton of snails, but my gravid female just gave birth and now I have babies to feed, is there anyone on this site that has experience with dekayi's that I could talk to? Its becoming increasingly difficult to find good answers to the myriad questions I am coming up with.

[Eddie]

Only real luck I have had feeding those babies is by cutting earthworm pieces very very small with a razor blade. It worked for me until they put on a little size. Good luck with them!!

[Zdravko092368]

The babies heavily prefer slugs, baby slugs aren't hard to find in weeds and such if you have a garden.

[Gaius Iulius Tabernarius]

Would it be possible to feed them ground chicken? Or clams? I figure they are the closest analog to amphibians and slugs that I am able to buy. It would certainly make things much easier.

[guidofatherof5]

I doubt they would eat it. Ground meat can have its share of additives and clams contain Thiaminase.

[Gaius Iulius Tabernarius]

good to know, I suppose I could always try smashing the snails open and cutting them up, its gross but they are the most reliable find in my yard.