Question about worm born parasites.

[GaiusIuliusTabernarius]

In the expectation of my checkered albino arriving soon I was wondering how best to prepare garden earth worms, I already know to watch out for the red wigglers which are toxic, what I'm concerned about are parasites. Would pre freezing them before feeding them to the snake be sufficient, or should I take a different approach altogether? Also if I do freeze them, should I thaw them out or just toss them right in the water dish? Not sure whether it would matter or not.

Also any first time feeding tips you could offer would be great. I remember when I was young I could never get wild caught snakes to eat so I don't want to take any chances.

[guidofatherof5]

I don't think freezing will work very well.
You'll end-up with a pile of un-usable goo.
Parasites in earthworms and night crawlers are less of a risk than many other food sources.

If your feeding the small earthworms you can probably feed whole worms.
If you're using night crawlers you'll need to cut them into small chunks.
I use a very sharp pair of scissors to do the job.

I've found that all garters like to hunt for worms. I put a small dish of dirt and worms in for them. This way they can search/find and eat their meal.

[GaiusIuliusTabernarius]

I'm less clear on the distinctions between large and small earth worms. The ones I used to dig up for fishing purposes were about the size of my index finger. Though thinner. since I get them from my my garden it shouldn't be that dangerous I just wanted to make sure. I don't want my snake to get worms from eating worms.

[ConcinusMan]

I don't want my snake to get worms from eating worms.

Not all that likely to happen. Also, the most harmful parasites wouldn't come from worms or the dirt. They would come from live fish or amphibians which in turn, got them from swallowing eggs that were left in water.

[guidofatherof5]

I don't think it's possible to guarantee your snakes won't get parasites from a wild food source.
It's just less of a risk than some other foods.

[Mommy2many]

I'm sure your snakes will be fine. Many of us go out and hunt our own worms and slugs. Most importantly, get them from an area free of pesticides and contaminates. That is deadlier to them.

[GaiusIuliusTabernarius]

My yard should be fine then. I also occasionally find slugs and a lot of snails. And soon I'll be going quahogging and I'm told they can eat clams as well. Since I eat those raw I doubt the snake will have a problem with them.

I'll probably get some pictures of the snake and the worms that I find when it arrives.

[Mommy2many]

Snakes eat clams? Never heard that one. Anyone else have any info on that? I was about to get us some clams today but the store only had 1 small bag. Just curious.

[GaiusIuliusTabernarius]

I read that somewhere.. I've been reading all sorts of things over the past week in preparation. I seriously doubt they naturally eat them since they'd never be able to get the shell open and would probably get eaten by seagulls in the process but they are a kind of mollusk like snails and slugs and they fairly nutritious and safe to eat raw if properly harvested and fresh. My grandmother lives on the cape and she usually has me and my father go out to get a whole bucket of them when we visit. We usually end up having so many that we freeze some of them for chowder.

Certainly something I intend to try even if my source was bad.

[ssssnakeluvr]

clams aren't a natural source of food for garters.... wouldn't feed them myself...probably won't take them they don't eat snails eaither due to the shells.