Where to get worms to feed Garter.

[GRT]

Hello there,

I've recently acquired a common Garter Snake and am trying to get it to eat. From what I researched, they seem to start well on worms (this is a young snake, around 10 inches) so I bought a small box of night crawlers from petco.

Well, the boxes are sealed so I couldn't look inside...it was advertised as being live, but they said they keep them in the fridge? They say they are "hibernating", so anyway, I got the box and decided to give feeding a go. Opened the box up and none of the worms look anyway remotely close to live...in fact many of them are smashed up/squashed. I picked out the best looking one out of the box, offered it to the snake, zero interest.

Any ideas?

I have no past history on the animal so I cant tell you what it has been eating before.

Any help greatly appreciated,

[Odie]

Get them from your yard and some slugs too :D

[infernalis]

If you have a grassy area look around for big flat rocks, landscaping bricks, old logs, anything, and flip it over, gather all the small worms up under there.

Small feeder fish like guppies placed in the water bowl.

Don't be surprised if it has no interest in slugs, although I have heard of some people feeding slugs, I have never seen a garter eat one yet.

[Lori P]

I just had this happen with a container of nightcrawlers-- they were all dead, and when I went back to the store to exchange them, I stood there and opened every single container to find them ALL dead. Something must have happened to the shipment. Anyway, I wouldn't try to feed any remaining live ones from that conatainer... who knows why they died.

So, yes, go dig up smaller worms, or next time you get nightcrawlers, chop them up for your snake. (I use scissors, personally)

None of mine touch slugs, either. And you might try some healthy, live feeder fish like guppies or very small minnows (no goldfish, and don't let the store talk you into goldfish!!!!). Put them in a shallow bowl and see if their motion interests your snake.

If you send pics of your snake, the Experts here can id it for you!! :-)

[infernalis]

Last edited by Lori P : Today at 07:47 AM. Reason: Ooops, Wayne mentioned live fishies already! Sorry!

That's cool, positive reinforcement is always helpful.

[Lori P]

Wayne, you're looking very handsome today, and your posts have an extra elegance to them.

How's that for positive reinforcement?! :D:D Or wait, is that brown nosing.... :D

[jitami]

Looks like your questions were well covered, but wanted to say welcome :)

[Zephyr]

On the Petco worm issue... You can safely assume that most of the worm containers found in their fridges were purchased MANY months before you found them. :P
Fish specialist stores generally have nightcrawlers for sale, cheap, by the pound.

[ssssnakeluvr]

I buy them at walmart..... also if you just got the snake he needs a week or 2 to adjust to his new home. he could also be going off feed for the winter...

[GRT]

Do they go off feed for the winter even if they are not hibernating? How would I know if it's just off-feed and not having a health problem due to not eating? How long can they go w/out eating?

Thanks for the questions you've answered so far, very informative. I'm giving it the rest of the week to settle in and then will try again with different worms.

[Zephyr]

Do they go off feed for the winter even if they are not hibernating? How would I know if it's just off-feed and not having a health problem due to not eating? How long can they go w/out eating?

Thanks for the questions you've answered so far, very informative. I'm giving it the rest of the week to settle in and then will try again with different worms.
They can go off feed due to environmental cues, mainly hours of light, but temperature and pressure could have something to do with it also.
If the snake is still active, "bright-eyed," and there aren't any other signs of health problems (mucus near the mouth/nose, crusty eyes, cuts or wounds, etc) I'd say that the snake has gone off feed due to the upcoming winter.
Garters can go surprisingly long without food; I had one go for 2 months through blistering summer heat and then suddenly she ate again.
It all depends on the temperature, the age of the snake, and how much water they have available. (Without water the snake would die sooner due to dehydration.)

[Scott E.]

Also, be sure to avoid "Red Wigglers" They are sold under various names in stores, trout worms, red worms, etc. but the important part is that they might be toxic to the snake and apparently they don't taste very good to them. check out this thread for pictures http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/3715-earthworms-red-wigglers.html

Scott E.