Seasonal variation in diet?

[Stefan-A]

Has anybody else here noticed some sort of seasonal variation in what type of food your garters prefer? I've only had garters for a relatively short while, but I'm fairly certain I already see some sort of pattern.

I feed mine mice, fish and worms. Worms are available for just a part of the year, so I can't say much about them. But it seems to me that my snakes almost refuse (they are generally reluctant) to eat mice for about four months of the year, October-January, clearly preferring fish. The rest of the year they seem to take mice as readily as fish, maybe even preferring to eat mice.

As I understand it, they do have seasonal dietary variation in the wild. But in captivity..?

[ClosedCasket88]

if you know a retailer that sells nightcrawlers through the winter let me know, thatd b killer

[Thamnophis]

I have not noticed this with my animals.
Maybe this is because I feed my gartersnakes always with two or three different food-items. Every feeding they get a pinkie, some smelt and some pieces of chickenheart. And so every now and then they get worms and/or other fishpieces.

But I will watch them better to see if some specimen have changing preferences during the season.

[Stefan-A]

I try to give ft mice as a first option and if they refuse, I offer them fish. And this time of year, a lot of mice go to waste but almost no fish. Scenting doesn't help either.

[abcat1993]

if you know a retailer that sells nightcrawlers through the winter let me know, thatd b killer
our hardware store sells them.:eek: :confused:

[ClosedCasket88]

and what state would that b?

[GarterGuy]

Haven't really noticed this with my pair of T.s.concinnus. They seem to always take the prey the same no matter what the season is.

[Cazador]

I've occasionally noticed that if I rely on one type of food for a long time, then they occasionally become more finicky. Then I have to switch to something else, but I haven't noticed a seasonality to it. I haven't really looked for a pattern beyond how long I feed one item, though.

[ssssnakeluvr]

Walmart and Kmart have nightcrawlers in the sporting goods sections...fishermen like to fish all year!!!! I haven't noticed any seasonal changes in appetites. I try to get mine eating rodents on a permanent basis and they do fine on that...I usually can get problem feeders to take rodents if they like worms...has worked better than fish most of the time with me...

[snakeman]

My flame female always refuses mice around sept. oct..After that she will only take nightcrawlers.I stuck her in the fridge early so I would not have to deal with that.She is the only one out of 17 easterns I have that gives me problems.

[abcat1993]

and what state would that b?
Illinois, north of chicago

[KITKAT]

Illinois, north of chicago

You must be wading... right?

:D

[abcat1993]

I just thought I'd contribute to the main idea of this thread and say that my garter is now refusing pinkies.

[Stefan-A]

Well, the pattern I mentioned before seems to repeat itself. Last feeding time, they both ignored the fish and the female basically chased the male around the terrarium to get the pinkie the male had managed to grab first. Didn't even take a second for the chase to start after I got the first pinkie into the terrarium.

I normally feed them one food item each to keep them away from each other's food, but the female didn't even wait for me to throw the second (which later turned into a third, a fourth and a fifth) in there.

[suzoo]

if you know a retailer that sells nightcrawlers through the winter let me know, thatd b killer

I have not noticed a patern in my snakes eating, as they are easy feeders and take whatever I offer.
I also buy nightcrawlers from Walmart. Here in my tiny hic town in Missouri they sell them year round in the Sporting Goods section. :p

[Stefan-A]

Oh this is nice, now they both refuse to eat anything except worms. :rolleyes:

[KITKAT]

Oh this is nice, now they both refuse to eat anything except worms. :rolleyes:

My snakes do go through a pattern. They seem to prefer worms at times, and fish at other times. I don't regularly feed pinks, but when pinks are taken, they are taken with fish and not with worms.:p

[Cazador]

I definitely notice that they become more finnicky before and after mating (like yours just did). I just offer food one day later than their usual routine. Sometimes it helps, but it's still frustrating.

[Stefan-A]

Well.. I don't really have feeding routines, they don't get food at regular intervals, but rather at intervals of 3-6 days.