Garter Snake won't eat. Help!

[CamillaMarie]

My son found a garter snake on the road on his way home from school about 10 days ago. It had an injured eye. There was blood all around the eye. The bleeding stopped, but the eye appears black and swollen. We decided to keep him and take care of him. He seems active and flicks his tongue regularly (which I have heard is a good sign). We put him in a 10 gallon tank with bedding, a rock, and water. Over the next 10 days we attempted to feed him a frozen baby mouse (thawed and warmed), as well as placing a bowl of live baby goldfish in his tank. He has not eaten anything the whole ten days we have had him. How long can he go without eating? Why won't he eat? Should we try to feed him something else? My son put some grasshoppers in the tank today, in hopes that he would eat those, but no luck so far. This is our first time caring for/owning a snake. We don't know much about it. I would really appreciate any advice. Also, is it okay to hold and handle him? Will it hurt or scare him? Thanks in advance.
Camilla

[katach]

So sorry this has gone unseen. First can you post some pictures of the injured eye. Also, goldfish are very high in an enzyme called thiaminase, which destroys the snakes B1. It can cause serious problems. They won't eat insects as they lack the ability to digest the exoskeleton. The care sheet is a great source of information, the link is below. Garters this time of year are prepared for brumation so it could be that your snake has it in it's mind it's time to sleep for the winter and may take some coaxing to eat anything. Worms (earthworm or nightcrawlers), frozen thawed fish from the safe list in the care sheet, pinkie mice (also frozen/thawed) are good to try. They also love live guppies. Those are usually available in any pet store that sells fish. If you would like to know if you have a boy or a girl you can post some pictures of the under side of the tail where the vent is. Again I'm sorry your questions did not get seen until now. I hope your little one is doing well, and please feel free to post any questions you have. This forum is full of wonderful and knowledgeable people. eager and ready to help. Welcome to the forum family!
Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets
(http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet)http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/breeding/5069-sexing-pics.html

[kibakiba]

I'd hold off on the handling, you'll stress it out and make it worse. They normally go off feed around this time, and go into a hibernation state.

[chris-uk]

Welcome to the forum, it looks like your post has been delayed since you posted it a while back.
On top of the advice Kat and Chantel have given, you don't mention whether you have hides in the tank? They need somewhere small and dark to hide, anything from a small box with an opening slightly larger than the snake, to specifically designed hides. Our snakes like kitchen roll tubes.