Three week vacation

[AntTheDestroyer]

Hello all,
I will be going on a three week vacation next month and wanted some advice from the experts. My friend will be coming over a few times to monitor and make sure the snakes have fresh water. I posted on another reptile forum and they tended to agree that I should not worry about feeding the other snakes for this period. This seems reasonable for my other snakes, but I am a little worried about my two small garter snakes. They both are around six to eight inches long for a size reference. Do you think they would be alright for this period of time. I would have my buddy attempt a feeding but I would hate to not be around if something didn't go well. As they are cohabitating they could potentially be the most tricky feeding situation. I was wondering if I shouldn't lower their temps for a few weeks to slow down their metabolism, like a mini brumation. What is you all's take on this?

[guidofatherof5]

More than likely they will all be fine and lowering temps are okay if it's not near brumation temps. Is there a chance your friend could come over and learn how to feed the smaller of the group?

[AntTheDestroyer]

Yeah I was thinking I would drop the warm side a bit, not really a true brumation. Sorry for the confusion. I could try to teach him, but as he has never owned a snake I just worry it might be too much stress for all involved. They will not feed from my hand or tongs so the only way to feed the smaller one is remove him and put him in a separate container. Heaven forbid if he were to get away during the process. If the right thing to do is teach my friend, but I just want to do what is right for all involved. I really need to make some snake friends in the area, but that is seemingly not easy to do. I have looked into a local shop watching them, but none of them even sell garters and I am not particulary impressed with the condition of their wards.

[Rushthezeppelin]

At least have him over and see how he does with a feeding. One tip for feeding when cohabed is to cut stuff up into small enough chunks to where they can get it down their gullets in a few seconds. This will greatly lessen the chance of a food fight breaking out.

[AntTheDestroyer]

That is useful information on feeding. The larger one will not eat worms where the smaller one will, so I may just have him put in some worms for the smaller one and a pinky for the larger.

[d_virginiana]

If you have your friend do that, make sure he knows to stay and watch until all the food is gone (will they eat with you in the room?). I just wouldn't feel safe leaving food unattended in a tank with multiple snakes.

[AntTheDestroyer]

No they will not eat with me in the room. It takes them quite awhile of me leaving them alone for any eating to happen. What would your suggestion be?

[d_virginiana]

Hmm... I have a couple males that live together, but they can be hard to handle and get super excited around food, so I wouldn't want anyone else moving them or trying to feed them while they're in the same tank. If they were younger and needed food on a vacation, I'd probably move the calmer one to one of my temporary enclosures (basically a clear tupperware bin with airholes and bedding/hide/water dish). That way my pet-sitter could just feed them both without worrying.

[AntTheDestroyer]

Duh, I didn't even think of that. Thanks for the advice.