[ask] does garters know when to stop?

[kenn777]

hi guys..
i fed my albino checkered garter a pinky last week (every week always one pinky, i've fed him/her 3times since i got him/her, once every week).. today (the 4th time), i fed him/her with 3 pinkies (1 has fur already, but still a pinky) and 3 little goldfishes.. i know that he/she shouldn't eat too much goldfishes cause of the thiaminese but i think that if only abit than ok.. even after all that meal, he/she still looking for some food.. my question is does he/she know when to stop eating? is the food just enough or too much? he/she is a juvenile and around 40cm long.. is it ok to give hime/her a small amount of goldfish once in a while? thx b4.. and sorry for the long post...

[adamanteus]

Hi Lionel, don't worry about long posts, that's fine!
It sounds like you could maybe increase the amount of food you are offering your snake. One pinky per week isn't much. I would strongly recommend that you avoid goldfish altogether, there are plenty of other 'safe' fish you can use, trout and salmon for example.

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[kenn777]

yes, i kno.. that's why today i fed him more.. but isn't it 2 much (2 newborn pikies and 1 w/ fur already)? or is it just fine? and 1 more thing, is catfish also bad for garters? can u suggest any fish that is okay to be consumed by garters? i live in Indonesia, where salmons and trouts are expensive to get... thx

[Elliot]

That might have been a little too much, but it depends on the girth of your snakes also. Do you guys have fish called rosy reds? They work well as a substitute for goldfish.

[GarterGuy]

That does sound like a bit much to be feeding. Since your garter is a young snake the increased feedings aren't quite as harmful, but garters do tend to over eat and this can lead to obesity and, espeically if being feed a fattier food like mice, problems with fatty liver and such. You definitely want to control how much you're feeding him and not let him just go hog wild. As far as the goldfish thing....I think the occasional goldfish won't really do any harm, but just make sure they don't become a dietary staple. As for the catfish, I think they are thiaminase free and should be ok for feeding.

Roy

[kenn777]

is 3 pinkies a week good?

[kenn777]

That might have been a little too much, but it depends on the girth of your snakes also. Do you guys have fish called rosy reds? They work well as a substitute for goldfish.

i dont think so..
never heard about it b4... thx for the ans..

[Lori P]

Then only thing I know about frogs is they carry a high parasite load. So if you feed them, run a fresh fecal to your vet every now and then and deworm appropriately. :-)

[kenn777]

Then only thing I know about frogs is they carry a high parasite load. So if you feed them, run a fresh fecal to your vet every now and then and deworm appropriately. :-)

thx for the ans... since there is nop reptile vet around, i dont think i'll feed em frogs...

[Lori P]

Your local small animal vet should be able to run the fecal, it's no different than a fecal on a dog or cat. But then they'd have to look up how to deworm, and they may or may not be willing to go thru the effort.

Don't forget we require pics of your snake!!! :-) :-)