question

[Reno]

umm for the past week or 2 ive been feeding my garter minnows... and today i tried to feed her a worm... but she wouldnt eat it... any tips on how to get her to eat it...

[drache]

are you sure it's the right kind of worm?
has she eaten worms before?
I know people say that worms are a garter's favourite food, but several of mine will not eat them

[Garter_Gertie]

I wonder, Rhea... The ones that won't eat them - CB? Winnie, WC, snaps them up and I had to tell an intern at the park NOT to feed her - Winnie, not the intern - EIGHT at one feeding!

I wonder if this will/won't eat worms has anything to do with if thye've ever had to find and eat them on their own?????

Reno, CB or WC?

[infernalis]

some Garter snakes will tend to favor certain foods.

Even though Garters are "Opportunists" concerning foods, whereas most other snakes are "specialists" and will target only one prey item.

Most Garter Snakes will consume many different things, even a dead bird.

But some will turn into a "specialist", if worms are abundant and the baby eats worms, it may choose to remain where the plentiful food is, eating worms..

Now along comes one of us, we pick up pretty little snakey and bring it home, we cannot assume right away it will just grab up a fish, fish may seem completely foreign, after all the snake grew up on those plentiful worms.

Another snake grows up on the waters edge, minnows galore, why leave the area? yum lots of great minnows to eat, then whee off to our new luxury condo and what is that wiggly thing that giant keeps throwing at me?

Captive bred snakes generally get started on different foods, variety, or trained into taking rodents, either way and no matter what, the first meal was chosen by man, not the snake.

How I got these non eaters to feed, I offered a full buffet menu, and let them go to the salad bar on their own, it works reliably.:)

[Reno]

ermmm im thinking CB means captive bred so yea that lol

[Snake lover 3-25]

yup sure does... and wc means wild caught:D:D welcome to the forum!!!:D

[jitami]

Welcome Reno. I wouldn't worry too much about yours not taking worms. They're kind of fun to watch, but from what I understand, they're not a highly nutritional meal anyway. Adding f/t pinkies or fish filet(salmon, trout, tilapia w/ added calcium) would be worth the effort, tho. Good luck!

[Garter_Gertie]

Reno, I'm sorry. I failed to see you're new. I should have typed it out.

Oh! It took me some hard noodling to figure out what a f/t pinky was. That's "frozen/thawed" pinky! :)

[Reno]

ok so worms not worth the while lol... ok and thanks for the welcomes lol

[Garter_Gertie]

Well, I wouldn't say worms aren't worth the while. I'm of the opinion a varied diet's best.

While it's true a worm hasn't the total nutritional value of a pinky, they're still a usual food for a garter. There's little difference between adding vitamins [calcium] to a worm and adding vitamins to a piece of talapia. If you properly feed fish for human consumption - skin, eyes, bones, flesh - you wouldn't need to add calcium as your garter will be getting the benefit of all parts of the fish.

As Rhea asked, what type of worm(s) did you use? Have you tried more than one time? Did you just toss it in, or put it in a dish, or hold it out to your snake in your fingers? Presentation seems to make a difference with Winnie.

But if captive bred s/he may have never seen a worm before. If you've got the correct worms, I'd keep trying. Variety's good. And the more things you can get your snake to eat the less dependent you'll be on a single food item.

Also, how long have you had your snake? If s/he's just settling in s/he may be more resistant to a change in food.

[Reno]

umm im not exactly sure what type of worms they are... and ive tried feeding it to her (atleast i think its a her) by just dangling it infront of her with my hands lol.. and ive only had her for right at about 2 weeks now

[Garter_Gertie]

She's probably not sure of you yet - or all that hungry (when was the last time you fed her a minnow?) - since, I'm assuming, for the two weeks you've had her you've not hand fed the minnows, or have you?

So that you know she eats, put her and a worm in a container she can't escape from, and leave her alone. Let her eat in peace. Then put another one in, or put 2-3 in with her initially. Once she gets comfy and used to worms you can try hand feeding them to her.

We got Winnie last year late summer/early fall and she only started eating from my hand this spring. She's so used to it now that she'll even take worms even from the hands of kids that visit the park.

It could be your hand she's leery of, not the worm.

[Reno]

She's probably not sure of you yet - or all that hungry (when was the last time you fed her a minnow?) - since, I'm assuming, for the two weeks you've had her you've not hand fed the minnows, or have you?

So that you know she eats, put her and a worm in a container she can't escape from, and leave her alone. Let her eat in peace. Then put another one in, or put 2-3 in with her initially. Once she gets comfy and used to worms you can try hand feeding them to her.

We got Winnie last year late summer/early fall and she only started eating from my hand this spring. She's so used to it now that she'll even take worms even from the hands of kids that visit the park.

It could be your hand she's leery of, not the worm.

well i just fed her a frog but it was hoppin around her cage for a minute before she struck it haha... anyways i have hand fed her minnows since i've had her so i dont really think its my hand... and i have tried the putting her in a bow thing and putting the worm in there with her too... that didnt work... im just going to stay with the fact she dont like 'em lol but thanks for the help

[Reno]

ok i have one more question for you guys... is there a place where i can buy live or dead toads/frogs cuz my snake really likes them frogs lol and its hard to find them around here thats just right for her to eat and not to big for her... so if anyone knows a good place to buy them that would be great

[Garter_Gertie]

You're welcome, Reno! Yup. Sounds like worms are going to be her least fav food.