Crushed babies?

[Bear-Cat]

They could have not eaten because they where put off by calcium powder.My snake hates the stuff.

Yeah, I have only dusted their food once so far, and the same 5-6 ate it down with no second thoughts.

[Bear-Cat]

That could be it, right there. ... maybe.

Well she's really healthy and active now, moves around like fierce lightning. But yeah, her being wild probably has a lot to do with it.

[EasternGirl]

Wayne told me about a trick to getting babies to eat...he makes this stuff called Garter Goulash...you can make it like he does or do a variation on it. At the pet store...they should have something called Reptamin...they are little tiny sticks of food for turtles...now Wayne dices up pieces of fish and pinky and mixes it all together and then grounds up a couple of the reptamin sticks into a powder and mixes that in with it until you have a sort of mush...and feeds his babies with it. For my babies...I sometimes crush up the reptamin...just one or two of the little sticks, and mix it in with worms...or fish...or pinkies...chopped up into little tiny pieces. Garters seem to really love the taste of reptamin and it has vitamins in it. It works well for my picky eaters to get them started...I don't use it every feeding. Calcium powder turns off some of my snakes too. And as others have said, worms are good to start with...I mainly feed my babies worms...although they will eat fish and pinky too. Also...as others have said...some babies just don't make it. I have a very thin baby that I am desperately trying to get to eat...don't know if she will make it or not. She is pretty floppy and docile too.

Really sorry to hear about the little ones that you lost.

[paulh]

So our snake gave birth on August 9th, we have looked up boatloads of care guides on them. They are feeding on fresh farm raised tilapia that we buy from the grocery store with no additives, no nothing, just straight up fish. ...

Sorry to hear about the lost babies.

Can't help with the nonfeeders except to suggest small worms fresh from the garden, if possible. I also wondered about the tilapia. Is it the whole fish or just meat without any bones or internal organs like stomach, liver, kidneys, etc? The liver, bones, etc. are needed for a balanced diet. The babies that are feeding now will only last a few months on muscle meat alone before deficiencies get them.

[EasternGirl]

Good point...I never feed garters a fish only diet. Not using fillets anyway. I would be especially careful with babies to vary the diet if you are feeding fish fillet. Get some worms in there.

[Bear-Cat]

Sorry to hear about the lost babies.

Can't help with the nonfeeders except to suggest small worms fresh from the garden, if possible. I also wondered about the tilapia. Is it the whole fish or just meat without any bones or internal organs like stomach, liver, kidneys, etc? The liver, bones, etc. are needed for a balanced diet. The babies that are feeding now will only last a few months on muscle meat alone before deficiencies get them.

It's just the meat, I tried the reptimin ground up on the little pieces of meat, and I only had one eat it.

[Bear-Cat]

Good point...I never feed garters a fish only diet. Not using fillets anyway. I would be especially careful with babies to vary the diet if you are feeding fish fillet. Get some worms in there.

I was thinking of worms from the garden, but didn't know what kind they were and didn't want to kill them harder.
Later on down their lives we are going to mix pinkies into their diet. Cutting up these huge night crawlers isn't really an option - it isn't a matter of I feel disgusted by it, it's their bowels get everywhere all over everything. The worms in our flowerbed are much more manageable, if they are safe that is.

They don't have red bands around their bodies and look like regular earthworms.

[paulh]

The description sounds like regular earthworms.

[guidofatherof5]

If they are a pale colored worms it is probably some type of earthworm which is safe.

The bowels and everything is just worm gravy to the snakes. It will hep carry the scent to the snakes and help stimulate a feeding responses.
I have snakes that will drink that up. Plenty of nutrients in it.

[Bear-Cat]

I had better luck cutting up night crawlers this time. No gushing disgusting mess, just straight up slicing. Helps having a good knife! They are eating the same night crawlers that their mother eats like candy, DMF from Walmart. Still only getting those same babies eating, and the count is now up to 4 gone.
The babies are getting really antsy and jumpy. I'm thinking about separating the bigger babies from the tiny ones.