coaxing a wild caught garter to feed

[PitGirl89]

I caught a little Garter at my parents place and I am trying to coax it to feed. So far I have tried worms and little fish (live and dead). The fish I've put in the water and out of water and the snake doesn't seem interested. I went as far as coating some of the worms in fish food and still the snake wasn't interested. I think its a little female, shes just over a foot long and was probably born in the late spring/early summer. I found her on a garden trail where there are ponds and rivers close by and also lots of fallen foliage, so I'm sure it probably had quite an array of things to choose from. I've had the snake for a few days now and it hasn't shown any signs of wanting to eat. Does anyone have any suggestions?!

[Mommy2many]

You just may have to wait a few days or so. The snake may need adjustment to being caught. It is not uncommon for a snake to go a couple of weeks without feeding.

You have tried live/dead fish. Try nightcrawlers. Another one is salmon from the fish dept. or a pinkie.

My two garters are wild caught and have both eaten live fish, night crawlers, pinkies and salmon. They are quite piggies. Sometimes (and I know it can be hard) patience is required.

[MasSalvaje]

I would hold off offering it anything for about another week. Let it acclimate a bit first and start to feel a little hungry before you offer. Sometimes it takes awhile so be patient, sometimes in our haste to get them feeding we end up causing them more stress which often pushes their feeding response back even farther.

Keep plenty of water available and watch for any signs of less than a healthy specimen. Although Garters have a higher metabolism than Boids and many of the Colubrids, they will still on occasion go through periods of fasts with no problems at all so I wouldn't start to get too nervous about not eating until about the 2 week mark.

-Thomas

(Just follow what Le Ann said she beat me to it)

[PitGirl89]

Okay, thats good news. I was beginning to worry that the snake wouldn't eat in captivity, in which case I will release it, but I would ideally like to keep it, its got quite a neat personality. I will wait another week before I get too worried, is it best if i don't handle the snake while I'm waiting for it to begin eating?

[Mommy2many]

I haven't handled mine too much before eating. I want to get over one hurdle at a time.

[MasSalvaje]

It all depends on the snake, some individuals will handle being held, some will not. It is up to you if that is what you want to do, but to be on the safe side most people say to limit handling during the acclimation stage.

-Thomas

Again Le Ann beat me! I am going to start calling you "Billy the Kid"!

[Mommy2many]

Good job, Tom. I agree whole heartedly.

[guidofatherof5]

Some do take longer than others. Make sure it has a heat source,hide and water. A hide on the heat and off the heat. After it adjusts and is comfortable with you the cool side hide might not be necessary. Very few of mine have a cool side hide. When they need to cool down they just laydown out in the open. I've had to wake some of them up to get them out of the way when I do cleaning. They look up at me with surprize. They are so relaxed they don't even know I'm there.

[ssssnakeluvr]

it can take several weeks before a wild caught snake can adjust to captivity and eat. if she goes for a month or more, then you should consider releasing her.

[PitGirl89]

Thanks for all of the sound advice guys.
I'm going to stop handling her for a while, which could be difficult as shes really awesome. She doesn't even shy away when I pick her up and shes very laid back and mellow (but I've had her for almost a week now and shes probably just gotten used to it). She does have a few hides in her tank with her, but I need to do some revamping, which I am going to try to make the least stressful as possible on her.

[GarterGeek]

Since your snake is wild-caught, I recommend to start feeding her with salamanders. Wait a week or so, if she's still not eating offer her a couple salamaners. I have never seen a snake turn down a wriggling sally. Good luck!

[PitGirl89]

Hmm.. I don't even know where I could find a salamander :s the only ones that I've seen around here are pretty big to... and shes still pretty dainty and I'm not entirely sure that she could handle a salamander yet. I could be wrong though. I'll have to contact the local pet stores to see.

[GarterGeek]

I don't think you can get salamanders at a pet-store. I generally catch them under rocks near creeks or under rotten logs. I've found them near ponds and lakes too. They like to be in very moist hidden places, although they generally don't like to be totally submerged in water. In a single outing I come back with around 10 sallys.

I've found some very small salamanders that a dainty snake could eat. I generally just use the salamanders to start a snake eating or as special treats for variety. Small frogs are good too.

You could also try wild-caught worms...I think that the bait-shop worms smell differently to the garters.

[Lovok]

I caught a little Garter at my parents place and I am trying to coax it to feed. So far I have tried worms and little fish (live and dead). The fish I've put in the water and out of water and the snake doesn't seem interested. I went as far as coating some of the worms in fish food and still the snake wasn't interested. I think its a little female, shes just over a foot long and was probably born in the late spring/early summer. I found her on a garden trail where there are ponds and rivers close by and also lots of fallen foliage, so I'm sure it probably had quite an array of things to choose from. I've had the snake for a few days now and it hasn't shown any signs of wanting to eat. Does anyone have any suggestions?!

I'm a bit in the same situation, but I got mine to eat. I figured that it would be a few days for her to get used to the tank, the "toys" I put in for her (slabs of bark, tree branches to crawl on, part of a broken cinder block, water pan), so I didn't really offer anything to her for three days. what do you mean by "a few days"?

Since young ones want food a LOT, I used that to be sure she was GOOD & hungry. But like in your case, mine didn't respond right away. Did you rinse the worms off before putting them in the tank? For some reason mine LOVES them cleaned off.

I'd go along the lines you're already exploring; look around the immediate area where you found it/her, and take some guesses from the list of things you know garters eat. Sounds like you might want to try small tiger slugs or smaller sized earthworms.

I found mine in a wood pile, and as far as I know, there aren't any water sources around there, so I haven't tried many varieties of fish, or tadpoles, small amphibs, etc. At least not yet....;)
How much have you tried to handle it? Does it like being handled?

[charles parenteau]

verre de terre capotte pas !!!

[PitGirl89]

J'ai essayer les vers de terres mais elle les voulaits pas. Je vais la donner plus apres midi.

She doesn't seem to mind being handled at all. Shes very mellow and just likes to sit on your hand, if you let her, she'll gladly run through your fingers, shes not darting from side to side, or slithering quickly to get away, she doesn't appear to be stressed, but whether or not she actually likes being handled is another thing.

Slugs are something I haven't tried, they could probably work to. I'll have to go out later and catch a bunch of little slimies to offer her, I'm hoping she'll eat, its been about a week now.

[charles parenteau]

laisse lui le temps plus ten fait moins ca va marcher
.les verres juste les vers!!si a mange pas des vers a mangera rien d'autre...des petits vers pas plus gros que la tete.le 1/4 de ca longueur. si ya full grenouilles ou tu la poigner attrappes des grenouille au pc .des petites!!

YA pas une couleuvrte qui s»'Adapte pas!!1 un pieds c'est au moin ca 3 eme été donc ca peut etre plus dur!!prend ton temps .le meilleur conseil arrete de demander tout sorte d'info tu va tout compliquer....
trop d'info c'est comme pas assez...

ds quoi tu la mise???

[PitGirl89]

jai mis la couleuvre dans une aquarium d'environ 20 gallons, et jai mis les vers dans une bol fait pour les reptiles.

J'espere qu'elle va manger bien tot.

[mustang]

I caught a little Garter at my parents place and I am trying to coax it to feed. So far I have tried worms and little fish (live and dead). The fish I've put in the water and out of water and the snake doesn't seem interested. I went as far as coating some of the worms in fish food and still the snake wasn't interested. I think its a little female, shes just over a foot long and was probably born in the late spring/early summer. I found her on a garden trail where there are ponds and rivers close by and also lots of fallen foliage, so I'm sure it probably had quite an array of things to choose from. I've had the snake for a few days now and it hasn't shown any signs of wanting to eat. Does anyone have any suggestions?!
dont put food in its cage... get somthn like a bin and put food and snake in that then hell associate the bin with food

[PitGirl89]

dont put food in its cage... get somthn like a bin and put food and snake in that then hell associate the bin with food

I saw that on youtube actually. I will start doing that... Good news though...

NO FEET ATE TONIGHT!!!! :D:D:D

I had to catch a frog though, it was a tiny little bugger because it rained tonight so it was easy to find. I'm going to try salmon chunks next time and I'll put her in the bin for that trial.

When should I feed her again? I think it should be in about a week if I'm not mistaken?

[Mommy2many]

How big is your snake? And what did it eat tonight, a small frog? If that is it, you could try again with salmon like on Friday. My piggies will eat almost everyday if I let them. I try and go every other day or every three days.

[PitGirl89]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii284/renay89/IMG_1648.jpg

Heres a picture of her from the day I caught her. Shes over a foot long but shes very skinny... The frog was a small one, but I was still worried that it may have been too big once she grabbed it. She got it down easily though, much to my surprise. Poor little frog gave a squeak when she grabbed it and I came close to wigging out (still not 100% sold on feeding live animals lol) but, feeding No Feet was worth it in the end. I'm just glad she ate.

I do think this picture makes her look larger than she is... My hands are very small.

[Mommy2many]

I love the name! You will probably want to try more food maybe Friday. They can go a little bit without but she sounds young and I think they eat more often. Try the salmon cut up or nightcrawler. They usually love that stuff!

Good luck and keep the pictures coming!:cool:

[PitGirl89]

I think she may be picky, shes really not attracted to the worms at all. I've tried night crawlers, earth worms, worms from outside, bait shops, coated in fish food, washed, everything, and she just lets them be. The frog was snatched up within a matter of seconds though, and I have to say I was thrilled because I was beginning to get antsy. I'll try her again Friday, but I think I'll try salmon, I'm hoping she'll take to it. I don't doubt now though that she'd go for pinky mice, but I'm thinking they'd have to be alive.

Heres a few more pictures of her:
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii284/renay89/IMG_1661.jpg

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii284/renay89/IMG_1623-1.jpg
(Shes not kinked, just moving her muscles awkwardly to climb against my arm)

[k2l3d4]

What kind of frogs did you feed her? I would like to add more variety to my checkered diet.....

[PitGirl89]

I'm not entirely sure the species of frog, but I know its not an aquatic frog, its a ground dwelling species that I've seen the wild snakes eat. It was a cute little bugger lol.

[Didymus20X6]

http://i26.tinypic.com/w7ydso.png

[charles parenteau]

NIce she have orange on her side!.D'Apres moi c'est ca 3eme été possiblement née en aout 2006.Elle a du potentiel en tout cas.
Si elle est ds un aquarium avec une lumiere sun-glo quelque chose du genre ca devrait faire.
le moins de stress possible lors du repas donc essaye de pas trop bouger,prend la pas pour le fun non plus.
essayer des petits vers,essaye de pas les acheter car ceux commercial deviennent toxic.
Les crapauds surtout!!des petits et les grenouille pas trop grosse.

C'est pas sorcier yen a pas du saumon dans le champs donc inutile d'en acheter c'est pas ca qu'a mangeait dans la nature...perd pas ton temps a trouver des salamandres a moins que t'aie du temps de lousse.
keep basic ,vers ,crapaud,grenouille en petit format c'est ca thats it.
Si jamais ca perdure et puis qu'elle s'affaiblie relache la exactement la ou tu la prise question de mettre les chance sur ton bord.CAa M'étonnerais que ca arrive mais bon.SI jamais ca arriverais j'Ai encore des petits avec du potentiel qui mangent ,pas des rouge ou orange vif mais orangé et jaune vif ...sinon je les relachent d'ici septembre.

ps;tu peux essayer le poisson si tu veux mais ca vas etre de quoi qua connait pas ,si a mange pas si nourriture normal bien je crois que du saumon c'est du cash perdu.

[PitGirl89]

Charles je vais t'envoyer un PM jai des questions a te poser.

No lol, it was definately not kermit... Although the gulping noise he makes when Miss Piggy attacks him is sorta similar to the squeak that this little frog made...

Must've been his cousin.