Ground Beef?

[adamanteus]

I have also used beef heart in the past. I know Cazador uses caribou flesh. Personally I would avoid anything 'processed' as you can't be really sure of the content. As Udo says, fat is often added to increase the weight for sale.

[abcat1993]

OK, so from what I've read from this is you shouldn't only use steak for garter food. And my question was answered and I don't think I'll be feeding him ground beef just in case. Would a diet of just steak, worms and occasionally fish work?

[CrazyHedgehog]

I have used 'minced beef' before I got my mouse breeding up and running and when there was a lack of trout in the supermarket, .
Here it comes with full ingredients: just beef.
it is in small lines where it has gone through the mincer. tried each tank with a few loose lines of it. A few of my snakes wolfed it down, others kept well away.

I think not as a main diet, but in the absence of anything more suitable, (its better than them starving right?) the odd meal should not hurt. I had no problems, but chose not to use it as a main food item because it wasn't a natural food.

[sschind]

plus I have yet to find a garter big enough to eat a cow in the wild..not a normal part of their diet...

That may be true but we as humans force a lot of unnatural foods on our captive. Just because they don't eat it in the wild doesn't mean it is bad for them. My guess is that a lot of the garters we switch over to mice would never encounter one in the wild.

[Lori P]

I was also wondering... would they eat carrion in the wild? Like if they come across a large dead animal-- a deer, say-- will they crawl in and feast??

[sschind]

I have heard of instances of snakes eating road kill? cant point any out right off the top of my head but it has been known to happen.

[Stefan-A]

I've seen a picture on this forum of a garter eating a roadkill bird and I've heard many stories about them eating roadkill frogs.

[Lori P]

But not large animals... of course, maybe they are just never seen...

[adamanteus]

I doubt they ever feed off larger road-kill animals. They just don't have the appropriate dentition for biting pieces off!

[Lori P]

Ooooooh good point James. Thanks!! Hadn't thought it through obviously!