pinkies

[maverick]

I am currently feeding my snakes rosy red feeder fish. In september I plan to start them on pinkies. We have a reptile show coming to this area and I can buy a years worth of frozen pinkies real cheap, but back to the point, has anyone of you had trouble feeding pinkies for the first time?

[StoneSour]

If you have any trouble getting the garters to eat pinkies, try scenting them with fish or earthworms.

[Daniel]

Hi Maverick,

if you will have any troubles in feeding your garter snakes pinkys depends on what kind of garter snakes you have. If you have T. sauritus ssp. or T. proximus ssp. it could be difficult.

Best wishes,

Daniel

PS: Sorry, I haven´t seen your post with the list of snakes you are keeping in the other thread. Thamnophis radix doesn´t make any troubles in eating pinkys.

[wyldkardde]

I've been considering the switch over to pinkies. I have one snake that is of proper size now, so I'm definitely interested. Any advise for a total pinkie noob? How would you initially offer a pinkie to a snake who has never seen one?

[ssssnakeluvr]

you need to scent the pink with fish or worms...I use fish a lot, but if I have one that's partial to worms I will scent it with worms. It works fairly well, occasionally you will have one finicky one...my anery red sider will pick all around the pinkie parts and eat the fish.....

[Boots]

Changing the scent can help the snake realize that the pinky is food. I once tried to feed a red-tail boa a chick, but it did not seem interested. I thought the chick was a goner when it hopped on the snakes head, but nothing. The snake just sat there. After about half an hour of watching the chick hop around, I dropped a mouse figuring that I would be able to remove the chick when the snake went for the mouse. I seemed to work, since the second I dropped the mouse, he was ready to strike. The only problem is that the chicken saw the mouse at the same time, and went to peck at it. Not sure why them the chick would peck the mouse, but when the snake saw the chick attack the mouse, he decided that if the mouse was food, that the chicken must also be food. He ended up eating both, and I never had a problem feeding him chicken after that. Guess the mouse tasted like chicken or vise versa.

Jason

[CrazyHedgehog]

Are we talking from newly born? if so I have found a mix of chopped pinkies and a little chopped trout will usually be enough for any baby garter to start with, as they grow (very rapidly) go to half pinkies then full, eventiually dropping the fish all together, or giving as alternative food.

If I have difficult eaters, I give them the same chopped mix, but add a few small worms (or cut worm pieces), the writhing of the worm usually sparks interest, once it starts to eat the worm, it generally just carries on eating!

If you are trying to change over food, I have found adding a pinkie to the fish, well rubbed so that all the food smells fishy, gradually more pinkies, less fish, until you need no fish at all.

[a.l.e.x]

I've read that pinlies aren't very good because they don't have lots of proteins and those things. I would better give them frogs, which I've heard are good for them.

[ssssnakeluvr]

Pinkies are the most nutritious food for them. They provide all the nutrition they need. Frogs are a normal part of their diet inthe wild, however, they can transmit parasites to your snakes. If fed pinks, they don't have to be fed as often as with other foods.

[a.l.e.x]

Well, where I read it is a page in spanish, but they said they weren't so good for corn snakes and ball pithons. Maybe for garter snakes they are good.