Reptilinks Micro (Frog)

[Ambaryerno]

So I'm reaching crisis mode on feeding my Cali Red. The ONLY store I've been able to find livebearers sold as feeders is out, may not have them back in again for several WEEKS, and may end up dropping them altogether.

I STILL can't get her to take a pinky. Even scented she just won't go for them if they're not moving, (most recently I but a pinky piece in the same bowl as my last live Endler's filled with water to get it good and scented. She ate the Endler's but left the pinky) but I can't get her to tease feed because she's so shy. My breeder tank is ready and I've got a breeding trio of guppies, but it's going to be at LEAST two months before I have anything for her to actually eat. Right now I've got two smaller guppies I got for relatively cheap to get her through the week. After that...?

I went to a local reptile show this weekend and was recommended to try Reptilinks. Looking into it further it seems people have had good luck getting garters to take the micro and mini frog links without having to tease (and since infernalis feed extensively on frogs it would be as close to the natural diet as I can get without ACTUALLY feeding her a live frog). But yet again I'm running into availability problems; the Micro links that would be the right size are out of stock, and she's still too small for a Mini (they're about the size of a whole pinky). They were supposed to be back yesterday or today, but so far they're still showing as out on the direct order website. Does anyone know of a 3rd party vendor that might have them?

[guidofatherof5]

Will she take nightcrawlers?

[Ambaryerno]

Will she take nightcrawlers?

Oddly enough, ever since the breeder switched her to guppies, no. However the smallest ones I could get were still nearly as big as her, so I had to cut one in two so it was small enough. It stopped moving after that so I won't rule out that she wasn't taking it because it wasn't moving, and as I mentioned before her response to trying to tease feed her is to bolt in the opposite direction.

[guidofatherof5]

You could fish scent the worms.

[Ambaryerno]

You could fish scent the worms.

Well, I don't think it's a scent thing. I think it's an "If it's not moving I don't want it" thing combined with a "Why are you having that in my face? Get away from me!" thing.

I'm HOPING if I can get the Reptilinks, giving her something that smells like a frog will outweigh the former.

[guidofatherof5]

Cut the worm into a couple of pieces, scent it with fish. Put it in a small dish or lid and place it under the snakes hide.

[Ambaryerno]

Cut the worm into a couple of pieces, scent it with fish. Put it in a small dish or lid and place it under the snakes hide.

I'm going to reiterate:

IF IT DOESN'T MOVE SHE WON'T TAKE IT. I've tried chopped up crawlers. By the time they're chopped small enough for her to eat, they stop moving.

I've tried feeding her bits of salmon. She won't take that either.

If I try to tease-feed her she bolts, ans when I DO have a live guppy or platy for her, she won't go near the bowl if I'm anywhere nearby. I was hoping the shyness would be something she'd grow out of with handling, but even with a couple minutes every day since she arrived she's just as skittish as day 1 (she even freaks out when I mist the enclosure in the morning to water the plants!)

[Eddie]

I would not try holding her at all. Garters do not like to be held. In fact they hate it. I would cut the night crawlers in pieces that are big enough to keep them moving for a while. You would be surprised how big of a piece they can take down

[Ambaryerno]

I would not try holding her at all. Garters do not like to be held. In fact they hate it.

Now see, I've been told the opposite by others and to keep working with her. At any rate, I'm not going to be able to transition her to pinks or even the reptilinks if she's going to spook when I try to feed her.