New to garters need help

[vanillacokeit]

Okay so I have kept different kind of snakes and I really liked the way garters looked to I went on kingsnake.com and got some. Unfortunately the guy was out of the ones he had advertised and sent me four babies only a day or two after they were born. So I have four t. s. sirtalis in a tank together and I'm freaking out. I was really paranoid to feed them in the same tank because I didn't want food fights and I wanted to make sure they all ate. So I put one seperate and offered pinky pieces, tilapia pieces and finally live guppy. They didn't eat. I have only had them for a few days so maybe they are just stressed? They sure seem fearful of me. They are super fast. I was going to try and put them each in their own kritter keeper container and put the guppy in a bowl of water and let them have time to feel safe and eat it. The only problem is that I'm on a tight budget suddenly and I would like to wait until the reptile show this weekend to buy the containers for cheaper. I don't want them to go that long without food.

I'm also really scared about feeding them guppies and worms because of parasites, I really want to get them to eat the tilapia or pinky pieces. All my other snakes ate rodents and the breeder I got these from said they would switch to pinkies easily.

Also any tips on how to make them less fearful of me. I try to hold them and they are so dang quick I'm afraid they will dive out of my hand and get lost somewhere in my room.

Is there any way they will eat mealworms? Those are easy to obtain and usually well cared for (so less likelihood of parasites).

Thank you for any help I'm really freaked out and feel like I took on too much with these little ones.

[Stefan-A]

Early on it might be best to just leave food in with them and just keep an eye on them. Some snakes won't eat when you've moved them. You might want to try feeding them worms as well. Not mealworms, though. No other insects, either.

For now, the highest priority is to get them eating. Once they're doing that, it's safe to start "bothering" them.

[guidofatherof5]

Nice to have you on the forum, welcome.
Here's a link to the care sheet that will answer a lot of questions you might have.
Worms are a good idea. Some babies go weeks without eating so don't be too concerned at this point.
Garter Snake Care Sheet - Caresheets

[kibakiba]

You need to give them time to get used to their surroundings. I'm sure you can feed them in the same tank if you use tweezers or something to individually feed them, putting a dish in the enclosure would be more likely to cause a food fight. I feed my 4 babies worm pieces with tweezers. Also, I doubt your snake would get parasites from eating worms, I don't think they eat mealworms. Another member could tell you that. Before you start holding them a lot give them about a week to get used to where they are and then what I do is hold my hand in the tank for 10-15 minutes (it does get tiring but its worth it) and let them see that I'm not going to hurt them. Don't wiggle your fingers or move a lot if you do because it'll scare them. They will eventually learn to trust you if you continue to change their water, feed them and keep their enclosure clean. They will get used to you on their own time, it's hard when you want to hold them and all but you really need to let them come to trust you more if you're scared of them diving out of your hand. You're a huge scary monster to them pretty much.

[vanillacokeit]

I'm afraid to leave the fish in with them because I don't want them to grab the same one and accidentally swallow each other. I can't feed them individually with tweezers because they get scared and run away. They won't take food from me that way.

Does anyone know where I can get the right kind of worms at the right size that haven't been caught from the wild? Online they only come in packs of 500 and I don't have enough snakes for that. My local reptile store sells night crawlers but I think they would be too large. I know I could cut them up but how long do I want to leave cut up worms in the tank for?

[guidofatherof5]

You can just cut the worms into chunks.
Walmart sells Canadian night crawlers. Don't buy the Pan Fish worms as they are toxic to garter snakes.

[Stefan-A]

I'm afraid to leave the fish in with them because I don't want them to grab the same one and accidentally swallow each other. I can't feed them individually with tweezers because they get scared and run away. They won't take food from me that way.

That's why I suggested keeping an eye on them.

You could give each its own enclosure instead.

[ConcinusMan]

I'm afraid to leave the fish in with them because I don't want them to grab the same one and accidentally swallow each other. I can't feed them individually with tweezers because they get scared and run away. They won't take food from me that way.

Does anyone know where I can get the right kind of worms at the right size that haven't been caught from the wild? Online they only come in packs of 500 and I don't have enough snakes for that. My local reptile store sells night crawlers but I think they would be too large. I know I could cut them up but how long do I want to leave cut up worms in the tank for?

Good foresight on your part to take ask those questions.
Even for my largest garters, I cut large night crawlers into thirds so they can swallow them quickly, and of course, I watch them in case I have to intervene.

I feed even the biggest night crawlers to the smallest newborn snakes. It's a bit more work since I have to dice them up into tiny pieces but it works.

There are methods for getting your snakes to trust you and one of those methods is to get them to associate you or your hand as a source of food. It's not as hard as you might think, but the details of that should be left to another thread.

I suggest you go ahead and get the night crawlers where they are available. They probably are too big so you'll have to mince them up and place them in a shallow dish or tray and back off, sit still. watch closely for any fights that might occur. Raising baby concinnus together, fights are an inevitable part of group feedings and I've grown accustomed to it. Pretty soon you'll get good at seeing a fight in the works, and at breaking one up in progress. If one snake bites another, I can usually get them to let go by pressing firmly, yet gently, on the top of the biters head.

I always feel like I took on too much with a big group of little ones. Be persistent and observant, and don't give up. It does work out in the end.

Good luck

[vanillacokeit]

I went to home depot got some plastic storage containers about the size of a shoe box. I made a climb for each snake out of pvc pipe (which also acts as hides since its big enough for them to fit in and bought a flower pot saucer as a water bowl. I also have a deeper sauce bowl for another water source and I put the fish in the deeper one. I put paper towels down for substrate for now. So now they will have a chance to feel safe and eat on their own time. I will buy the night crawlers as soon as the reptile shop gets a new shipment and put pieces in a bottle cap in their enclosure. Hopefully I will get them to eat something. I didn't think they would eat while I was watching them because they go and hide when anyone is near the enclosure and won't come out until they leave. I wouldn't have had the chance to stop any fights that way. Hopefully this works, I will definitely leave them alone as much as possible until they eat a few times.

[ConcinusMan]

It was pretty irresponsible for the guy to sell baby snakes that haven't taken a meal I might add. A couple of weeks without eating is no big deal for a snake so keep trying but don't worry yourself to death over it. My baby Oregon red spotted garters always refuse food until they are 7-10 days old, some take two weeks to start eating.