Baby care?

[guidofatherof5]

Small guppies drive baby snakes crazy. Bought some last night and they are gone this morning.
Snakes are happy.

[infernalis]

First, I'm NOT worried about the getting him on pinkies..

I see the fastest growth spurts occur as soon as they take pinkies.

[kibakiba]

I see that too, Wayne. My new babies are about 3 months old, and are outgrowing my 10 month old babies, who used to eat only worms.

[ConcinusMan]

Raising Baby Garter Snakes: Some Personal Observations - gartersnake.info

The Seven Rules of Raising Baby Garter Snakes - gartersnake.info

I see the fastest growth spurts occur as soon as they take pinkies.

Ditto. This is not to say they should always eat just pinkies. I think it's a good idea to mix it up a bit and give them worms and safe fish too or other foods with high water content. Rodents only make up 1/3 to 1/2 of the diet of my snakes, but I tend to feed them often. If I give them a good stuffing of rodents, I will usually not feed them as often. Rodents are dense nutrition and take longer to digest. Worms and fish tend to go straight through them fast.

[infernalis]

Raising Baby Garter Snakes: Some Personal Observations - gartersnake.info

The Seven Rules of Raising Baby Garter Snakes - gartersnake.info



Ditto. This is not to say they should always eat just pinkies. I think it's a good idea to mix it up a bit and give them worms and safe fish too or other foods with high water content. Rodents only make up 1/3 to 1/2 of the diet of my snakes, but I tend to feed them often. If I give them a good stuffing of rodents, I will usually not feed them as often. Rodents are dense nutrition and take longer to digest. Worms and fish tend to go straight through them fast.

Since we are all in such cheery moods here as of late...

Please explain how mixing it up benefits the snake in any way??

Is it because we don't like the same dinner every night??

Once I get my snakes on mice and rats, I keep them on mice and rats.

They take longer to digest, your own words... so why sacrifice unnecessary time by feeding foods that blow right through the snake, when I can give them all the nutrition they need with mice and use the spare time I have on my hands for other things.

[brain]

Please explain how mixing it up benefits the snake in any way??

I'm listening.

Once I get my snakes on mice and rats, I keep them on mice and rats.

If I can get my blk neck on mice this would be great. All they want is fish. Do you think this source "blows right through"?

[ConcinusMan]

Since we are all in such cheery moods here as of late...

Please explain how mixing it up benefits the snake in any way??

Is it because we don't like the same dinner every night??

Once I get my snakes on mice and rats, I keep them on mice and rats.

They take longer to digest, your own words... so why sacrifice unnecessary time by feeding foods that blow right through the snake, when I can give them all the nutrition they need with mice and use the spare time I have on my hands for other things.

Well now that you mention it yeah, my snakes "don't like the same dinner every night" and will often stop feeding on one food but accept another, then back again. If I keep them on the same thing all the time they tire of it and stop eating. Even if your snakes do not do that, one food can have something to offer that the other does not. Then there is the different "flora" that live in and on different foods. I rarely supplement. That's a slippery slope that can throw things out of balance and actually cause deficiencies in spite of them receiving the nutrients. The best solution is a varied diet. At any rate, it's highly unlikely that one could sucussfully argue that the varied diet can possibly hurt in any way. However, It's certainly possible that it can benefit and besides, garters eat a wide variety of things naturally. They are not rodent specialists so who am I to force them to eat just rodents. I especially make sure my babies get plenty of juicy worms and well hydrated fish in addition to their rodents, to help keep them hydrated and help keep things moving along through their digestive system.


You're in luck if they eat fish, Michael. It may take some coaxing but I have found that most fish eaters will eventually take pinkies. Wash them in hot water after thawing and slime them up really good with the scent of their favorite fish. Give them a piece of fish, and when they're worked into a frenzy and all ready to bite again, slip them the scented pink. After they get used to eating these, you can usually back off on the scenting and eliminate that entirely and they will still continue to eat the pinks.

Another trick: Poking holes in the skull and letting a little brain matter ooze out sometimes entices a reluctant snake to take the pink. Or, try making a small incision on the body so that when it thaws, there's a lot of bleeding. Let it "marinate" in the juices, then offer the pink. Sometimes the smell of rodent isn't enough but the smell of blood drives them crazy.

[kibakiba]

My snakes will refuse food if I don't mix it up for them, usually giving them fish or worms when I have them. My new babies hate worms, but all my other snakes love them. They seem to eat more vigorously when I mix things up, too.

[RedSidedSPR]

My snake loves fish. LOVES. And worms, but he doesn't like 'em like fish.
I'd like to get 'em on pinkies. But I doubt my snake (the one i already had) would even eat them. It took 2 months to get him to eat WORMS. My problem in the past has been: THEY. ARE. EXPENSIVE. If i did start feeding pinkies it would be occasional. I can't afford to buy pinkies every week. Like i said, I can only get 'em at petsmart and petco, and they are $10 for 6 pinkies. Is that overpriced?

Thanks for the links, Richard. I had already read them, but thanks

[Mommy2many]

$10.00 for 6 pinkies is way over-priced. I was paying $5.00 for 6 pinkies and THAT was over-priced. If you can order on-line, in quantity, then the shipping will be worth it. It will bring the price per pinkie down tremendously. I pad $140.00 (no more) for 700 pinkies about 45 days ago. They will keep in the freezer. Half of that price was shipping. You could go for less but shipping won't change by much. Still, worth looking into.