feeding time

[mustang]

my garter has been eating pinkys for months now and hasnt gottn bigger! should i be feeding it a mix of different foods? if possable include something like a feeding schedual it would really help....hes a little over a foot long

[guidofatherof5]

I think a varied diet would be the best. Each food(pinkies,worms and safe fish) have something good to offer and I think give the best in nutrition.
Keeping a schedule helps reduce overfeeding.
My garters all seem to grow at different rates. Some slow and some fast. As long as he's eating I wouldn't worry too much about the amount of growth.

[SNAKEKEEPER]

I aggre. As long as they are eating they will grow.

[Charis]

Based on my corns, snakes go through several growth spurts, will grow really really fast for awhile & then slow down to where it doesn't look like they are even growing. Tavi just came out of a growth spurt like that, you could actually see her getting bigger day by day & now she's slowed back down. Do have to remember that most snakes take 2 or 3 years to reach their adult size, so it would make sense that it would taper off.

[mustang]

ok so night crawlers pinkys and fish now could anyone make a schedual or an idea of a how much to feed him caus i dont want to over feed him but i dont want to underfeed him

[guidofatherof5]

ok so night crawlers pinkys and fish now could anyone make a schedual or an idea of a how much to feed him caus i dont want to over feed him but i dont want to underfeed him

For my babies I stop them when it looks like they are about to blow:D

Seriously, you'll have to judge how much by how big the food is and how they look after eating. It also depends on the size of your snake.
Watching them at each meal will let you know what is right for your snake. Some of this is just trial and error. I think most Garters will stuff themselve if aloud to. Feast or famine mentality.

[mustang]

i feed mine 2 pinkys a week now how much/many earth worms and or fish should that equal to....are baitshop night crawlers ok?

[Mommy2many]

I have the luxury of hunting down my own worms but also buy them at Walmart. I feed my adult snakes every other day or so. My babies are once a day but they don't always eat. I usually save the pinkies (cause they are more expensive) for a time when I pretty much know they will eat. Also, I will get live fish every 2 weeks as a treat. I don't trust the live fish but everyone but Stewie, Midnight and Connor snake loves them! We went through 20 fish last night.