Neonate Food???

[OregonHerpaholic]

HI ALL.. I am to adopt a freshly caught, Northwestern Garter neonate..(solid black in color) And I need to know, other than feeder guppies, what can I feed it??? I have in the past, successfully raised a baby on just guppies, but I would like to give a better diet.. I know red-wigglers are bad news, but what about natural earthworms?? Anything else???

Any Advice??

Billie

[rwgsnakes]

rosie red minnows, earthworms are good, if you are harvesting them yourself make sure the area you are taking them from has never been fertilized-ones from a bait shop work great to-, small salamanders, possibly pinkies, depending on how small it is...any other questions please ask:D :cool:

[rwgsnakes]

Just wondering, if you dont mind answering, did you catch it? if not who did? because i am looking into getting a mel

[GarterGuy]

Regular "earthworms" and not composting worms or red wigglers will do fine. You can also try pinky parts.....legs and such that have been scented with fish to see if they'll go over to eating pinks. Also Northwesterns (T.ordinoides) are well known slug eaters, so you might want to try them or try the canned snails that various reptile food manufacturers are selling. You can also try finely diced fish, like trout or another thiaminase free fish, so you don't have to be running out getting guppies all the time. If you do use diced fish, it's best to supplement it as well. Some times though, there's nothing like a flopping guppy to get a problem garter to eat.

Good luck....Roy

PS...You'll have to post some pics when you get it.:cool:

[Cazador]

Hi Billie,

Looks like you've gotten some good advise. I just wanted to add that those Northwesterns are awesome little snakes with a lot of personality. Congratulations and enjoy your new addition :).

Rick

[abcat1993]

Or, you could try using meat. Mine ate that very easily (except that the first one was wet and stuck to the substrate, so I went and got another one, thawed it, and dried it off) and he/she loved it, and it wasn't even scented. Plus it's pretty cheap when it's on sale.

[rwgsnakes]

what kind of meat?

some people will use fish fillets

[OregonHerpaholic]

Just wondering, if you dont mind answering, did you catch it? if not who did? because i am looking into getting a mel

No, sorry, I did not catch it. I have a neurotic herp friend that keeps catching all these babies.. most of them end up with a ringneck snake.. the odd looking ones are keepers, but this :rolleyes: Idiot:rolleyes: (that's a nice word) can't keep new babies alive.. so I will head start it, and if he does not want it after the colors start to show.. I will KEEP THE BUGGER...

The little guy is said to be nearly patternless.. pure black with just a hint of dorsal stripe.. I should be getting it this week. will post a pic pc willing..

Billie

[adamanteus]

I'll look forward to seeing that pic Billie.

[Cazador]

Hi Justin,

Just about any meat would do. I primarily feed mine strips of caribou meat, but beef works just as well. I'd stay away from hamburger, and be sure to trim as much fat off the strips as possible, particularily if you're using beef. There's plenty of fat within the tissues (intracellular lipids). You'll also need to add calcium and vitamin supplements once in a while (about every three weeks for a non-gravid adult). No matter which diet you choose, it's always good to offer a bit of variety because different species offer different amounts of vitamins and minerals, and food from a single source could be deficient in a particular nutrient, which would lead to long-term problems.

Rick

[ClosedCasket88]

hey oregonherpaholic , does yours look like mine , its my avator .if so i would pay good money for a decent sized female .regardles of how faraway you live, next day air would work .i acquired this male a few months back and i cant find anything like him .hes beautiful. im trying to keep him pure as possible .i was going to cross him with a oregon red sided, they both have black stomachs , bright yellow line . and i figured the blue tint is the northweastern would bring out some kool colors mixed with the red of the oregon red sided. but ide like to see what he could bring me with the ones you speak of.
also, my northwestern is starting to get whiteish specles . that mixed with the oregon red would look mighty fine but he can also prove to me what would happen if mixed with your type :D
try n se if u can get a pictuer of him/her up or something , thatd b great

[abcat1993]

Recipies? Umm, OK. Can you make it a little more clear.

[OregonHerpaholic]

hey oregonherpaholic , does yours look like mine , its my avator .if so i would pay good money for a decent sized

Sorry, have not gotten the little snake yet. So, have no clue.. that, and it is said to be new baby.. will take a year or so for the full color effect..and i just might keep it if it is that cool... or trade, or whatever.. i think i have gotten the garter snake bug...a great thing to have!!!

[OregonHerpaholic]

No offense, but we occasionally get spammed on this website.

This is SPAM.. and not the lunch meat...lol

This same message was posted on a reptile forum I moderate.. And I was hoping for a good herp recipe or two(slug stew, EarthSpaghetti...)..

Billie

Twisted am I??

[Cazador]

Thanks Billie. I'll delete it and give the member an infraction. I suspected as much, but thought there was a slight possibility that they were talking about Dr. Bob Riches' ABIDEC recipe or something like what Dr. Phillip Blaise feeds his snakes (with geletin, fish chunks, & vitamins).

Rick

[OregonHerpaholic]

Ok, I finally got the little Northwest Garter.. and a true, March baby it is. Very tiny. Very calm for such a young snake.

It has a faded stripe, no real color to it, a Black head(could be dark grey at this point). But its color is very grey right now. I do see small spots, so not patternless. And a very semi-solid WHITE belly. I am sure things will change as it ages, and goes through a few sheds..

As soon as I find someone with a digital camera.. and magnifying glass:D .. I will get a photo upload...

Now the fun part of finding food small enough. I will go for feeder guppies and canned snails for now.. slugs and worms will follow if it is stubborn(hopefully not)..

Cheers,

Billie

[Cazador]

Very cool, Billie. I'm eager to hear how the canned snails work out. I know Roy had great success with his Oregon red spots, but they'd eat a shoe if someone left it in a cage for long enough :D. Cheers,

Rick

[Snaky]

I offered some unscented canned snails last week to all my garters ( concinnus, cyrtopsis, marcianus ). None of them ate of them, so not really a succes here...

[GarterGuy]

Very cool, Billie. I'm eager to hear how the canned snails work out. I know Roy had great success with his Oregon red spots, but they'd eat a shoe if someone left it in a cage for long enough :D. Cheers,

Rick


LOL....good one Rick. I don't know if it makes a difference with the snails, but I don't actually offer them right out of the can. Because you get soo many and I don't use a lot each "serving", I actually freeze mine and then thaw them out in hot water. I wonder if this process "cleans" them up some, to the point where they're just another piece of meat to the garters.
Roy

[adamanteus]

they'd eat a shoe if someone left it in a cage for long enough :D. Cheers,

Rick

Should we add shoes to the Food Type Care Sheet? I can see I have much to learn!;)

[KITKAT]

Only Nikes... because the swoosh looks like a fish.:rolleyes:

[RedSided]

haha.......