Puget Sound babies - favorite foods?

[DrKate]

Hey everyone, I'm about to take in a couple of problem feeder newborn Pugets and I'm wondering if anyone out there has suggestions for prey items. I've read a lot of general tips on getting reluctant newborns to eat - baby guppies in shallow water, earthworms in dirt, strips of fish fillet, etc. But in some other threads folks have suggested favorite prey items for particular species or subspecies of garter (slugs, e.g.).

If you've got experience with baby Pugets and have a "secret recipe," please post it here! Thanks!

-Kate

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome to the forum, Kate.
Sorry for neglecting to do that on your first post.
Good luck with your baby Pugets.
Hope to see some photos in the near future.

[bkhuff1s]

I have a finicky adult male puget. The only thing that seems to work for him is to put the feeder fish in a plastic shoe box without water and him. The fish jump around and drives him wild. I use this method with a thawed pinky to get him to eat that as well.

[ssssnakeluvr]

feeder guppies in a shallow clear water dish works good, also very small worms works well with some problem snakes. most garters take worms, fish, amphibians, and rodents....another possiblility is to get some frogs or salamanders, get some pinkie mice, (frozen, thawed) and cut the legs off, then rub the legs on the sallies or frogs to make them smell like them and put them in the cage.

[MasSalvaje]

I had a baby Valley Garter that I couldn't get to eat anything but Chorus Frogs. I raised the tadpoles to froglets to avoid some of the parasites that might come with using adult specimens. After it was eating those, it easily took live guppies from shallow dish and then on to fish from forceps and fillets. Keep us posted on your progress and what you find out.

-Thomas

[ssssnakeluvr]

do you find valleys very often???? they are frog specialists....although the adult male I have eats anything I throw in his cage

[MasSalvaje]

That is actually the only one I have seen from the wild and I din't even catch it. Somebody brought it to me because they couldn't get it to eat, I got it started and through the first winter and then gave it back to them.

-Thomas

[Quibble]

Welcome, Kate!

You have a good question, I would also like to know what kinds of foods baby pugets like. Im going to a reptile show in Ohio and im planning on getting a pair from a breeder I've been in contact with.

I was planning on feeding guppies, pinkies and worms. Also, I wanted to give the famous 'jello' a try!

[ssssnakeluvr]

guppies, pinkies, worms....fish jello...all are good for them. would bbe a decent diet

[jitami]

Welcome Kate. Please keep us posted on how the babies are doing. There are a few of us not too far from you who could help out if need be.

[DrKate]

Thanks Tami, that's very kind. I haven't got the babies yet, I'll probably get them this weekend (and post pics, I promise!). By any chance do you (or anyone else in N. CA) know a source for *baby* guppies (or other feeder fish)? The only feeders I can find are goldfish, which is kind of surprising, and they're all at least 3/4 inch long which might be too big.

I got some adult guppies from the pet store today so hopefully I'll have fry before too long, but it would be great if I could get some ready-to-eat size sooner than that.

-Kate

[jitami]

Kate, I'm up near Sacramento, but had absolutely NO luck finding commercially available guppies here. I eventually picked up some adults from an individual who wanted to thin her group down. Fry do come fairly quickly, but take some time to get big enough to feed. Couldn't hurt to try Craigslist.

Goldfish aren't good choice, especially for babies, because of thiaminise issue.

How old are the babies now? Have they eaten anything at all yet?

[Snake lover 3-25]

welcome to the forum!:D

[skysnake]

no expert here, um push tails not working. I have to 5/6 yr old alb somethings first year hardly ate a thing. just trying to breed on their own now. do you know who sells and ships puget sounds?

um brad , would like to hear what works

good luck

[DrKate]

I just picked up the Puget babies today! Here's a pic of one of them (his brother headed directly for the humid hide box so I decided not to bother him). About five weeks old at this point. I got some free guppy fry from Petsmart ("not in the system yet" and likely to just get eaten, so they don't charge for them). AND one of my female guppies was preggo when I got her. So I've got plenty of guppies as soon as these guys get settled in and hungry.
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/puget_closeup.jpg

[DrKate]

Quick follow-up for anyone who might be searching in the future... These boys went right for inch-long worm pieces and for 1/2" to 3/4" guppies in just a few drops of water in a small dish. One of them did successfully hunt a few guppies from a dish with deeper water. They showed no interest whatsoever in some mouse pinky legs and tails, even scented.

BUT, here's the surprising thing... After they were eating 1" guppies or so, I tried a pinky cut in quarters lengthwise (i.e. into long strips), scented with worm slime. I wasn't optimistic that they'd take pre-killed prey, but they went right for them. Next time I tried unscented pinky quarters, and they were just as enthusiastic. They seemed especially interested in the exposed guts. Maybe it's just because they're babies and haven't developed preferences yet, or maybe Pugets frequently take mice in the wild, but they definitely knew it was food.

So, to the list of baby Pugets' favorite foods, I'd add... unscented cut-up pinky mice!

[drache]

congrats
you never know what they'll go for