Hello! :)

[snakems]

im kind of excited because today i'm going to try feeding snakems some tilapia :)
I tried earlier JUST to see if she would eat it unscented and she ALMOST did! but not quite... she seemed to be "nomming" on it for a maximum of about 3 seconds which I thought was really interesting considering I didnt even expect her to attempt eating it, much less to get more than a strike out of her. she's crazy when it comes to eating I love it lol she seems to always have an appetite.
any suggestions on scenting from anyone?
and also for those of you who feed your snakes worms, what kind of worms do YOU feed YOUR snake out of curiosity :)

thanks!

[adamanteus]

Sayra, you shouldn't need to scent the tilapia with anything else to make Snakems accept it. I'm not even sure what you might use that could mask the scent of fish. Normally we would use fish to scent pinkies etc. If she won't take the tilapia, trout is a safe bet.
On the question of worms.... regular earthworms are what you need to be using. Avoid those which you Americans call 'red wrigglers', they're toxic.

[snakems]

Sayra, you shouldn't need to scent the tilapia with anything else to make Snakems accept it. I'm not even sure what you might use that could mask the scent of fish. Normally we would use fish to scent pinkies etc. If she won't take the tilapia, trout is a safe bet.
On the question of worms.... regular earthworms are what you need to be using. Avoid those which you Americans call 'red wrigglers', they're toxic.

oh yes I had read about that early on & I know to stay away from them (RW's)! :eek: lol

I was just asking because I didnt know about the SIZE of them. When it was warmer out I was just getting worms from the compost pile and feeding her those. Now Ive been buying them from a bate shop but it seems she could handle something larger.
One of the worms I found in the pile months ago was pretty huge and she went STRAIGHT for that one IMMEDIATELY without hesitation because of the movement.
I didnt really think Id have to scent the tilapia because it's fish but possibly because she was just so used to eating the worms?
I was thinking maybe she wouldnt welcome the change :confused:
so scenting will do nothing?

[adamanteus]

Of course you could try covering the tilapia with 'worm juice', if necessary... it might work. Another way around it is to give her a worm and then gently 'post' a strip of the fish into her mouth just as the worm is disappearing down her gullet, the swallowing reflex should just continue and she should take the fish.

[snakems]

Of course you could try covering the tilapia with 'worm juice', if necessary... it might work. Another way around it is to give her a worm and then gently 'post' a strip of the fish into her mouth just as the worm is disappearing down her gullet, the swallowing reflex should just continue and she should take the fish.

thanks! I may try it if she decides to be picky again this time.
no... I will def try it.
Because I hate that I have to use that powder stuff and so does she. Its always getting on her when the worm goes crazy and she despises it lol
its cute to see her trying to wipe it off of her face though :)

[jitami]

You could feed some tilapia and worms together. Often they'll take a piece of their favorite and then come back for seconds and thirds and... :)

Too slow in posting... had to re-direct the dog :)

[snakems]

You could feed some tilapia and worms together. Often they'll take a piece of their favorite and then come back for seconds and thirds and... :)

Too slow in posting... had to re-direct the dog :)

I LOVE your avatar!! :D

[jitami]

Thanks! that's my first snake, Sly :) He's the old man here and the reason I've fallen for garter snakes and gotten to know all these lovely people :)

[snakems]

Thanks! that's my first snake, Sly :) He's the old man here and the reason I've fallen for garter snakes and gotten to know all these lovely people :)

you should post that picture in this thread! lol i cant really see it well but its sooooo cute! haha... I love them from that angle. They look like theyre saying "ello!" haha

[jitami]

Here's the original of that pic... not as clear as I would like... and below is a link to more pics of him and my other snakes :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/jitami/Sly/DSC01190.jpg

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/general-talk/4091-tamis-kids.html#post77817

[snakems]

oh yes! hehheh! I remember seeing this thread and loving them! lol
I get the feeling that snakems is old too. I really dont have any way of knowing i guess because I just recently took her in but since ive had her she doesnt seem to be growing at all (though I guess tech she is, just not noticably so) and the number of scars she came with made me wonder how long she had been fending for herself in the wild. Like ive said though, she could have just had lots of adventures, and bad luck with predators lol.... or should I say good luck considering she lived through them!:)

[jitami]

hehe... good luck it is :)

Sly had to be a yearling when the kids caught him. He was smaller than my two captive bred yearlings are now and it was only March, so really couldn't have been born that year(2002). So, we've had him almost 7 years and I'm assuming he's almost 8 years old :) I just checked on him today... he thinks he's brumating(hibernating)... and he looks wonderful, so crisp and clear and colorful :) I just love him!