feeding amounts

[seahn]

hello again, my newly found wild garter has been doing great, he (assumed he) has been eating well and i just had a question.

i have been feeding him every 3-4 days, 1 baby crawler each time (3-4 days meaning if he doesnt seem eager the 3rd day, i offer again on 4th day, and he has yet to refuse on that 4th day). this is my 3rd time feeding him with tweezers and this time right after he got it down, he became way more active in tasting the air, and i was wondering if he wasnt wanting more. he also opened his mouth a few times and it seemed like he was just setting his jaw, but once again, i was just wondering if he may be wanting a bit more to eat, i havnt offered him any more, i figured i would get some opinions on the matter before i did... he is about 10 inches long, and i feed him live crawlers that are anywhere from 3-4 inches long. ive read its pretty hard to overfeed a garter, so my only concern is under feeding him.

thanks

[ConcinusMan]

If this is a very small or young snake, you can't possibly overfeed them. More food is just put into faster growth if they are kept warm enough. You can over stuff them though, and possibly cause them to throw up.

I feed babies (garters under 12-14 inches) daily or nearly daily. Just feed your snake enough to give him a very noticeable bulge then stop. Worms digest fast. Feed again when the bulge is gone. This usually only takes about 24 hours. When feeding just worms, you should feed them very often and a little reptile vitamin supplement dusting on a worm once or twice a month can't hurt. Just don't overdo it. Calcium supplements have vitamin D and it's easy to overdose them on that.

[seahn]

If this is a very small or young snake, you can't possibly overfeed them. More food is just put into faster growth if they are kept warm enough. You can over stuff them though, and possibly cause them to throw up.

I feed babies (garters under 12-14 inches) daily or nearly daily. Just feed your snake enough to give him a very noticeable bulge then stop. Worms digest fast. Feed again when the bulge is gone. This usually only takes about 24 hours. When feeding just worms, you should feed them very often and a little reptile vitamin supplement dusting on a worm once or twice a month can't hurt. Just don't overdo it. Calcium supplements have vitamin D and it's easy to overdose them on that.

yeah Ive got a freind comming down for Christmas who is going to bring some reptile calcium supplement hes got...
thanks everyone

[kibakiba]

I personally feed my babies a day after their bulge goes away in their belly. Worms get digested fairly fast, I would feed yours enough to see a small bulge, give it a day or two to go down and then feed him again.

You can actually overfeed a garter pretty easily. Some of them will eat until they have no room left, and take even more the day after. Overfeeding them can be harmful to their health, but it doesn't seem that you are overfeeding yours.

[ConcinusMan]

If your snake takes pinkies or pinky parts, or whole fish then yes, you should wait a day or two after the bulge disappears. Those items take longer to go all the way through your snake and they are more dense in nutrients.

As far as obesity goes, that's usually only a problem if you feed adults too often. Especially if they are lazy snakes. Snakes are a bit like dogs. They dont know when to stop eating. They don't know when enough is enough so don't worry if your snake seems like he wants more. Just feed like we have suggested (making a bulge, then stop) and your snake should be fine.