Getting off Pinks

[guidofatherof5]

I can't get mine to eat anything but nightcrawlers at this time. I have been trying to get them to eat pinkies. Now I read about getting them off pinkies! I am very confused!

Don't be confused. Personal preference is a big part of keeping them.

[d_virginiana]

Don't be confused. Personal preference is a big part of keeping them.

You mean the snakes' personal preference?

Mine decide what they want to eat and hunger strike till I figure out what it is they're craving at the moment. lol I think they know that if they wait long enough they'll eventually get whatever they were begging for. They consistently outsmart me.

[guidofatherof5]

You mean the snakes' personal preference?

Mine decide what they want to eat and hunger strike till I figure out what it is they're craving at the moment. lol I think they know that if they wait long enough they'll eventually get whatever they were begging for. They consistently outsmart me.

So true, so true.

[Didymus20X6]

I think in both cases, it's about trying to get them to eat a balanced diet. It's not that pinkies or worms in and of themselves are bad, but rather that each is missing something that the other provides. Pinkies, for example, provide calcium, and worms have all sorts of biotics that are supposed to be good for garter snake digestive systems. Combine that with fish (preferably a non-thiaminase-rich one), and you've got a well-balanced diet that's all around better for the snakies.

[kibakiba]

i think chorus frogs might be perfect, let me know how the froglets do once they morph out...im curious big they will be

My female is still a little bit too young to breed I believe. She's pretty much just interested in eating

[stevenrudge]

All my snakes go nuts for fresh garden worms. Store worms are pale substitutes. All, including the Butlers relish rodents, whole or chopped, but they seem to me to be more prone to overeating and becoming fat. (Very rich food compared to fish amphibians worms and leeches, I suspect.)
Both my eastern and marcianus became overweight last fall on a predominantly rodent diet with occasional breaks of silversides and worms.

For those who do offer rodent as part of a mixed diet, how often or in what percentage do you offer rodents?
I am moving towards less than 50%, but I am not sure how far below I should go.

No more then 4-1 ,l only give mine rodents once a month,l'd be careful with amphib's as well not because theres anything wrong with feeding them,more on the supply side, with the snakes really liking them and then not being able to get them

[EasternGirl]

I went looking for nightcrawlers in my yard yesterday...hoping there would be some due to the warm weather we have been having and thinking they would be popping out because it was raining. Nothing! Guess I'm going to have to take a trip to the marine store.

[stevenrudge]

I went looking for nightcrawlers in my yard yesterday...hoping there would be some due to the warm weather we have been having and thinking they would be popping out because it was raining. Nothing! Guess I'm going to have to take a trip to the marine store.

l just put something flat on the ground over soil or grass,a small slab,then if l ever need any winter or summer l just lift the slab and pick up all the worms l need,they tend to gather at the surface of the ground next to the slab

[EasternGirl]

Yes...that is a good idea. I have noticed they gather under logs and such. Perhaps I will try to find something flat to put over a spot the soil in my backyard. Thanks for the idea.

[ConcinusMan]

Quite often people come to the forum with concerns that their snake hasn't eaten in a long time. I think that much of the time it isn't because the snake doesn't want to eat. It just doesn't want to eat what is being offered. Quite of few of my snakes will relish one food or another for a period of time, then suddenly refuse to eat. Usually if I switch foods they'll eat.

It's so dang wet around here I don't have to set "traps" for worms. They're all over the ground! and so are tadpoles, salamanders, chorus frogs, etc. Garter food everywhere right now, right outside the door.