Hello from Northern Utah

[Mommy2many]

Welcome from Connecticut. I use a dish to feed. I know they are all hungry when they are congragating around the food dish!

[Charis]

Hello & welcome from Idaho!

[ConcinusMan]

also....valley garters are primarily frog eaters in the wild, but I usually can get them to take fish pretty easily.

Valley garters can be seen feasting on small fish about 30 miles east of my location in the Columbia River Gorge so given the opportunity, they will definitely go for fish. In drier climates like eastern OR and WA, they seem to rely more on rodents since amphibians and fish may be in short supply much of the year.

[Hollis_Steed]

I finally picked out one each of the wanderer and the valley snakes that I caught last week. I let the other two back in to the wild near where I caught them. The wanderer ate two small f/t pinkies but wouldn't touch the night crawlers. The valley LOVES night crawlers but won't touch the pinkies! At least they both have eaten now, it helps me relax a bit and start enjoying them! From the pictures I've seen online about visually identifying the sex, I think I have two males. I have them in separate tanks and they seem to be doing fine. The "valley boy" seems to be a bit more skittish and doesn't seem to like being handled. The "wanderer" on the other hand doesn't seem to mind at all being handled. He is very curious and seems to want to climb up, up, up everything. I assumed he would be content on the ground but he seems to be a real climber. Neither of them seem to use their "hides" that I have provided. They seem to want to be out where they can watch what's going on. Thanks again to everyone for all of the good advice!