How Much To Feed?

[kurtnagel]

Now that Rosa (yes, my daughter finally settled on a name, instead of just "snakey") is settled and eating I am now wondering how much to feed her.

Tonight I had my daughter give her a pinky, which she took right away and then an hour later we offered another, which she quickly took. I didn't know if I should offer another?

So now I'm thinking I might need to move up to fuzzies, but I just don't know what to expect in terms of her appetite and needs. (How much, how often, etc)

Advice?

Kurt

[Lori P]

Personally, I let mine eat however much they want twice a week. I find that they regulate themselves pretty well. Since I offer fish, worms and large pinkies all at once, they can pick and choose how much and which they will eat. There is some waste with this method but there is always someone else waiting to eat what the garters didn't. :-)

I do know there can be weight problems, tho, so watch your own snake and base it on how she is doing... hope that helps a bit. :-)

[zooplan]

I do it similar to Lori.
Snake can stay a long time without, but it´s only to survive.
Best is to feed regulary like any other pet.
Babies should have a meal every second day to twice a week, adult schould be feeded once a week.
If they miss eating for a while without losing weight you don´t need to worry.

[anji1971]

I feed my adults weekly. They usually eat a good half dozen trout or tilapia strips.
When it rains, or after I water the gardens, I go out and collect a bunch of big fat nightcrawlers, and offer them those too. They usually eat two or three of the nightcrawlers, in between the normal feed.
The babies get fed every three days. I let them eat as much as they want. Two will take fish, the other is still stuck on worms.

[infernalis]

most of our Garter snakes eat something every other day. The babies get fed nearly every day, but smaller meals...

Yesterday the adult females all ate a pinky and 3 guppies each, and they still acted like they wanted more:D (Piggies)

Feeding can vary, and as long as Rosa is eating, your already doing great:D

[adamanteus]

I feed my adults weekly, by youngsters twice weekly. As much as they wish. They are fed on pinkies, earthworms and trout pieces.

[Garter_Gertie]

Right now I'm feeding every day, every other day, every thrid day - trying to get Jeepers to eat more. Peepers will eat every day, about an entire night crawler. But Jeepers goes too long between eating to make me happy. He's such a skinny little thing!

[GartersRock]

I feed adults weekly and babies and yearlings twice weekly. A large fuzzy for adult females and a large pink for adult males once a month. And 3 times a month as much tilapia as they will eat.

Babies get as much as they will eat of either twice a week.

But I know everyone does it different.

[crzy_kevo]

george eats 4 pieces of salmon every 3-4 days
and checkers eats 2 frogs and 2 pieces of salmon every 3-4 days

[kmreese]

I'm wondering if I'm feeding Koda too much (finally named her...thanks to you all for identifying her sex) :)

After 9 days of captivity she ate 4 nightcrawlers and wouldn't eat a 5th so I figured she was full. The next day I fed her and she ate 3 more, but not a 4th. Not the next day, but the day after she ate 4, but not a 5th. I waited two days and she ate 2, but I didn't offer her a 3rd. That was yesterday and I'm wondering if she's eating too much. Do they always eat until they're full and then stop when they're not hungry? Should I cut back to only once or twice a week? I'm thinking about trying every other day 1 or 2 nightcrawlers and no more than that. What do you think? I'm thinking she's not over-eating because she does stop taking them, but I don't want her to become unhealthy by eating too much (like me :eek: ).

Could it also be that since she was in the wild and hasn't been in captivity for too long that she will eat whenever she gets the chance, knowing that her next meal may not be a for few days or even weeks.

I guess I should just give her more time to acclimate to the new home and regular, abundant food supply.

:confused:

[ssssnakeluvr]

nightcrawlers are ok to feed, they are mostly water and will pass thru fast...and make quite a mess!!!! if you are strictly feeding worms...you will need to dust them once a week with vitamin powder as they aren't the most nutritious food items. you can feed cut up pieces of trout twice a week and be fine. worms won't necessarily make them fat, but they can get overweight.

[GartersRock]

I might cut her back to maybe twice a week... But thats just my opinion. ;)

[GartersRock]

And yes. I would offer some different food items (fish, pinkies etc) or dust with supplements as Don says.

[Garter_Gertie]

I went a week between feedings for Peeps & Jeeps trying to get them on f/t pinkies. Jeepers would have NONE of it. And Peepers I left alone because it looked like he was getting ready to shed and I knew he wouldn't eat anyway and only get stressed.

[garterchick]

i'm glad this topic came up because i have a related question. can you put a garter on a weight-loss diet? i think all of my adults are overweight and i wonder if the "big" snakes i have lost in the past didn't die of fatty liver. so i've tried to restrict the food intake. i still feed once a week, but instead of all-you-can-eat i feed a cartain number of pinkies. sounds good, right? problem is, they kill me with the "are you sure that's all there is?" behavior. so now they always act like they're starving and i can't take it.
any alternatives?

[GartersRock]

Hmmm... Good question. I have never had a problem with overweight snakes but I would love to hear the answer!! ;)

[ssssnakeluvr]

an overweight garter can be a problem. feeding adults once a week is normal. don't give them all they can eat....an adult can eat a couple pinkie rats or small mouse a week will be fine...or several chunks of fish. with adults eating mice, if they start to get fat you can feed them a mouse every other week. babies can be fed twice a week.

[Loren]

Mine all get an apropriately sized rodent a week, on average(young youngs more often sometimes), unless they are too small for rodents, then they get fed worm pieces or slugs or guppies about every 5 days. I skip a week here and there with adults that look nice and fat.
My babies dont grow as fast as those that are fed every 3 days, but they still grow up to be nice healthy looking adults.
If they get too fat, feed them less, and let them complain. :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

i feed mine 3 fuzzies once a week and the babies till they are fat twice a week:D

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I stuff my baby garters like little sausages :D

I stuff my adult garters like... big sausages :rolleyes:

[Elliot]

i'm glad this topic came up because i have a related question. can you put a garter on a weight-loss diet? i think all of my adults are overweight and i wonder if the "big" snakes i have lost in the past didn't die of fatty liver. so i've tried to restrict the food intake. i still feed once a week, but instead of all-you-can-eat i feed a cartain number of pinkies. sounds good, right? problem is, they kill me with the "are you sure that's all there is?" behavior. so now they always act like they're starving and i can't take it.
any alternatives?

You could feed fuzzies, they are lower in fat than pinkies. Fish is also probably lower in fat than pinkies.

[garterchick]

yeah, i'll do all that, thanks for the advice, everyone

[garterchick]

what's the opinion about see food. i can find frozen bags of mixed chunks of unproscessed squid, mussel, shrimp, and crab relatively inexpensive. and it's already bite-sized, so that would be another advantage.

[GartersRock]

Shrimp has an exoskeleton and is akin to feeding insects. Don't know about the others... Don't see how those could hurt?

[ssssnakeluvr]

they aren't a normal part of their diet....not too many garters can catch squid, shrimp, mussels, and crabs...

[GartersRock]

That to. ;)

[Garter_Gertie]

they aren't a normal part of their diet....not too many garters can catch squid, shrimp, mussels, and crabs...

Thank gods. My hankering after that stuff is way too xpensive. If P & J went after it too, I'd have to put them on diet o'catfish!

[bio6464]

Fish scraps can sometimes be gotten from processing places for free...I wouldn't mess with the seafood though.
Jerry

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

i feed babies salmon strips every other day just untill they get about 12 inches then i switch them to 2-3 times a week with 1-2 appropriatly sized rodents per feeding

[drache]

I've cut way down on feeding, since my vet's lecture on obesity being the number one causative factor of disease in captive animals
so after they've been through their first winter, once a week is the most often they'll get fed - and then not always as much as they want
babies get fed every 2-3 days - as much as they want

[Snake lover 3-25]

man!!! i'm going through 16 worms and 6 mice a week!!!! and one of the four adults isn't eating!!!!!:eek: i'm feeding my 2 20" ish adults 3 mice once a week and my very underweight 28" female 4 worms 3 times a week!!!:eek: and i'm giving her 22 babies 2 worms 2 times a week..... it amazes me.... i'm used to having 2 adults who go through a total of 7 mice a week...... this is insane!!!!!!

[GartersRock]

Hahaha.... I am going through a whole lot more then that with my 60 snakes. lol!
Thank God for RodentPro!!!

[Zephyr]

Meh, I generally go through 10-20 mice a week, depending on who wants to eat or not.
If I ever run out of the main supply there's an emergency supply in the freezer; Altogether, I've got around 10 pounds of fish, 10 pounds of mice and 3 pounds of other junk in my freezer. XD

[Hornets23]

Do you find that using rodent pro is worth the shipping? I was curious how that would work out cost wise.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

it is for me if i calculate in gas and time it takes to go get them

Do you find that using rodent pro is worth the shipping? I was curious how that would work out cost wise.

[GartersRock]

Yes. Very worth it. But only if you use alot. Comparing to petco frozen prices in those little containers and the local pet store live I was saving like $500 in 6 months. Rofl!!!

[Garter_Gertie]

Hahaha.... I am going through a whole lot more then that with my 60 snakes. lol!
Thank God for RodentPro!!!

60 snakes? That must be one HELL of a bedroom you've got there, 'Rockster!

[GartersRock]

The only think in my bedroom that isn't somehow helping to make room for snakes is a twin size bed. Rofl!! I had to move everything else out.

Good thing dogs don't complain about that kind of stuff.

[garterchick]

how do you find time to care for all of those snakes? not to mention the money?

[GartersRock]

Time comes from them basically being my life. lol!
Money comes from being an artist... This is my "field". lol!
Equine Resin Directory (http://www.equineresindirectory.com)

[Scott E.]

My female can eat 5-6 large pinkys every three or four days. Is this too much? (I only fed her that many because the male had gone off food due to a molting and I had them defrosted already) The male seems to be content with a couple every 3-4 days. How much should they be eating? Both are about 19" long, but the female is definitely bigger arround.

[Snake lover 3-25]

for an adult i'd say that that is WAY to much.... i think 2 large pinks/fuzzies once a week is enough......

[Lori P]

That's what Mrs. Mordecai eats... about 5-6 large pinks and a couple of pieces of fish twice a week. I guess it depends on each snake... as long as she is looking good, I let her eat what she wants. About every other month she skips a week or two, so I think she is regulating herself...

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol really???? i was told by a bunch of people that 4 pinkies 1 time a week was too much....:confused: and meadow only eats 5-6 months out of the year?????? (march-aug)

[Lori P]

I guess just base it on your own snake... Mrs. M is also a very active snake. If she laid around all day, she'd probably be getting fat. She trolls around the tank a LOT.

[Snake lover 3-25]

o.... lol meadow is a lazy butt!!!!!:D:p

[stitch]

I just got a baby garter (he's about 10-12" long) and I fed him a small pinky about 2 days ago. I thought that once a week would be ok, but should I feed him again sooner than that? Like maybe every 3 days instead?
I'm new to this, so I just want to make sure I'm feeding him enough.