Worms

[JodiLeigh]

Hi,

I have just bought some worms from the pet shop and when I got home and checked them (which I should have done in the shop DOH!) it looks like they are the red wrigglers! Which I read in the care sheet that they secrete a toxin that is harmful to snakes.

SO! My questions is do they secrete this toxin from anywhere on their body or is it just from a gland on a specific part of the body?

Because I don't want to waste them and was thinking if they secrete this toxin from just a gland on say the tail of the body or just one place can't I just wash it then cut off that part of the body and then feed it to my snake Manny?

[guidofatherof5]

I think it is secreted through the skin and not just one specific location.
I would say don't feed them. Not worth the risk.

[JodiLeigh]

I think it is secreted through the skin and not just one specific location.
I would say don't feed them. Not worth the risk.

Yeah that's what I thought.

I will just have to give them to my brother-in-law as he uses worms for fishing

I still have half a frozen pinkie in the freezer so will just feed him with that and get to a different pet shop soon and this time I'll check them in the shop!

Can reptiles other then garter snakes eat them? I would assume so as they wouldn't sell them in a reptile shop.

If they don't have any at this other pet shop then I can go to the bait shop which isn't too far.

I know I feed Manny pinkies but just wanted to give him a variety, you know? Also wanted to scent the pinkies with the worms because he still seems a little uninterested

Do you feed yours worms?

[angrygamer]

I think certain turtles eat can eat them, if I'm not mistaken.

I feed Glyph pinkies and the occasional worm.

[JodiLeigh]

I think certain turtles eat can eat them, if I'm not mistaken.

I feed Glyph pinkies and the occasional worm.

Does he/she take both with out any trouble?

And have you ever fed him/her fish?

[angrygamer]

Does he/she take both with out any trouble?

And have you ever fed him/her fish?

I've had Glyph since the beginning of last October. He was eating rosy minnows and guppies in October and November.

I switched to worms and pinkies in the same week at the beginning of December. It took him a couple of hours to eat the pinky the first time, but since then I've had no trouble getting him to eat whole pinkies right away with tongs.

Worms took two or three times, I think. Also, I was cutting them up because they kept squirming out of the hemostats. Finally I just decided to try feeding them to him live by hand and he takes them with no trouble at all. I was a little worried about getting bit but they are long enough that my hand is a fair distance from his mouth, I just have to hold them by the other end!

I bought him from the pet store and I think all they fed him were goldfish...which you don't want to do. But that's what they recommended I feed him.

[guidofatherof5]

I've had Glyph since the beginning of last October. He was eating rosy minnows and guppies in October and November.

I switched to worms and pinkies in the same week at the beginning of December. It took him a couple of hours to eat the pinky the first time, but since then I've had no trouble getting him to eat whole pinkies right away with tongs.

Worms took two or three times, I think. Also, I was cutting them up because they kept squirming out of the hemostats. Finally I just decided to try feeding them to him live by hand and he takes them with no trouble at all. I was a little worried about getting bit but they are long enough that my hand is a fair distance from his mouth, I just have to hold them by the other end!

I bought him from the pet store and I think all they fed him were goldfish...which you don't want to do. But that's what they recommended I feed him.

I think it was a good decision to phase the rosies out.

[angrygamer]

I think it was a good decision to phase the rosies out.

When I was first reading up on diet, the first couple places places I read said that they were fine. It wasn't until later on that I found out that they weren't good for Garters.

[guidofatherof5]

A bait shop will probably be a better place to find the appropriate worm.
Buy night crawlers, not pan fish worms. Pan fish worms are redworms/red wriggles/compost worms-all bad for garters.
Most bait shops sell Canadian Night Crawlers.
If you are in the U.K. they may also be called lob worms or dew worms. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[EasternGirl]

Yes...I would think you would have better luck at a bait shop...don't know how it is in the U.K., but in the U.S. they don't sell them in pet stores. Yep...you want to look for nightcrawlers specifically. I'm not sure about the lob worms or dew worms...Chris or John could answer that....