Minnows

[Aundrea]

Ohhh ok "whew" I do plan on feeding him different stuff. Im gonna try to feed him the minnows with a pinky in the water and see if he will eat the pinky also. If he starts eating pinkies also how often do I feed him pinkies?

[reptile3]

Gertie, OMG!!! The petco guy didn't know what they were?? & he works there? LOL that is just too hilarious!!

And sooo who is in Grant's tomb?? JUST KIDDING

I gotta laugh! Before I found them at TCR, I asked the Fish Department Dufus-Bobo-Head at Petco if they had feeder guppies and the FDDBH said, "I've never heard of them. What are they?" I bet he would have answered, "I don't know," to "Who's buried in Grant's tomb?"

But if one did buy xpensive guppies and they breed like, well... Like guppies! The cost should be minimal.

Maybe one can only get feeder guppies at reptile kind'a places???????????

[Lori P]

I keep mine in a 10 gallon with a very good filter system, because they are overcrowded. I also do water changes (10%) twice a week. You want your feeder fish to be as healthy as possible, right, in order to be feeding your garters as healthy as possible... so in my opinion, don't skimp on their tank. Keep in mind, too, if it's a new tank you need a couple of weeks for it to cycle.

[Zephyr]

It should be noted that rosy reds, AS WELL AS goldfish are fine for garters; As long as they are part of a varied diet.

And ALL cyprinids, which includes all minnows and most other common baitfish, contain thiaminase.

If you want to be really anal about keeping thiaminase out of your snakes, tilapia, salmon, and trout are supposedly thiaminase free; but then again, seeing as these are available primarily in filet form, your garter misses out on the nutrients it would be receiving from fish guts, eyes, stomach content, etc.

[Stefan-A]

It should be noted that rosy reds, AS WELL AS goldfish are fine for garters; As long as they are part of a varied diet.

Not even then.

If you want to be really anal about keeping thiaminase out of your snakes,

i.e. alive.

[Zephyr]

I am wondering where everyone keeps their minnows in? What size tank and do i have to buy a pump and filter for them? Im thinking of buying 20 Minnows.

From my experience with rosey reds, (minnows, tuffies, etc)
these guys need a lot of oxygen turnover.
If you intend on breeding, go with a 20 gallon long.
If it's just for temporary housing, a 10 gallon minimally equipped.
Either tank should have some sort of filter (sponge filters work good here) AND an aerator that has at least 1/3 of the surface of the tank being overturned/bubbled.

[Zephyr]

Not even then.


i.e. alive.

I can report no problems from feeding adult snakes live rosy reds/goldfish when scented pinkies weren't accepted.
No stunted growth, no jerky movements, and no abnormalities in litters. In fact, my female eastern who was fed primarily on tilapia/salmon chunks dusted with calcium carbonate/reptocal had the largest number of casualties in her litter.

[Lori P]

Good point Kyle-- I meant to point that out-- I had to add an aerator, was loosing them at a high rate till I did.

[Stefan-A]

I can report no problems from feeding adult snakes live rosy reds/goldfish when scented pinkies weren't accepted.
No stunted growth, no jerky movements, and no abnormalities in litters.

Well, consider yourself lucky. It is still a well-known risk.

As far as your personal experiences go, you need a lot more samples to be able to say anything regarding the correlation between the particular diet and mortality rate. Especially long-term effects. Thiaminase, on the other hand, is well known.

[Zephyr]

Well, consider yourself lucky. It is still a well-known risk.

As far as your personal experiences go, you need a lot more samples to be able to say anything regarding the correlation between the particular diet and mortality rate. Especially long-term effects. Thiaminase, on the other hand, is well known.

We have one video account of a snake experiencing a "thiaminase seizure."
We also have about 20x more written accounts of snakes, fed on sans live fish diets, dying for no apparent reason.
Also, I have yet to see one nutritional analysis of rosy reds/goldfish proving their "high" thiaminase levels.