Newborn feeding strategy

[adamanteus]

It smells of fish so the Garters will go for it, but ditto what Stefan said. Better to use a small piece of fresh, 'safe' fish for scenting.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I wouldn't use anything that's got salt in it... as Stefan said. If you checkered is pregnant, the good news is that checkereds are one of the easiest garters to get feeding, and they often will take pinky parts unscented without any scenting needed. As babies, for first meals I always offer cut up worms. Then then next meal I offer cut up fish. Then I start mixing the two and mixing in pinky parts. Eventually they will eat anything you throw at them!!!

[k2l3d4]

what kind of fish? I buy the live feeder fish and hudina and little dude will eat those. Neither one of my snakes take to worms.

[drache]

cut up pieces of trout or salmon work pretty well, and also the fish gel mix referred to in this thread http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/encl...t-mixture.html

[guidofatherof5]

I tried another new strategy with one of my slow eating groups. This is my group of 18 born to my girl Spot. They are 15 days old. The first thing I did was turn the heat up on them. I'm hoping a little more heat will stimulate more activity. I then collected a large group of earthworms(small pale colored worms). I put the worm in a small bowl with some of the dirt from where they were collected.
I put the bowl in the enclosure and made sure there was easy access, making the bowl level with the substrate.
Now comes the most important part. Patients! I spent at least an hour watching this group. What I observed was this. The aggressive eaters were first to hit the bowl and start seaching for food. This digging/searching seemed to cause a great interest from the others, who gathered around to watch or search on their own. This is a much different behavior from before when I only placed cut-up worms inside for them. The aggressive eaters didn't have to search. The food was right there. The difference seems to be the amount of digging in the dirt that occurs.
I saw aggressive snake find a worm, grab it and pull out of the bowl. Only to be met by a smaller snake who had been watching the proceedure. The smaller one grabbed the worm and the fight was on. Instead of breaking the fight up I let it happen, only watching to make sure no one gets bit.
I think this natural approach, letting them search and find their own food in dirt. Letting their aggressive/competitive eating habits happen. Letting them eat at their own speed(not mine) is a more relaxed, more natural time for them. Hence, less stress.
I'm finding more of my slow eaters participating or at least showing interest. The slow eaters won't go in for a meal but don't seem to have a problem stealing one from someone else. There seem to be more of a balance in the enclosure. I don't know if it's just the make-up of the group or it this is a good proceedure. I don't have anymore babies due for a while but I plan on introducing this as a feeding strategy with all my baby groups.
I think there are many great strategies for feeding and I just wanted to share what I observed with this one.

[drache]

it sounds good
how did fights resolve?

[guidofatherof5]

it sounds good
how did fights resolve?

The worm broke or one of them would let go.
I also noticed that the fights over the worm stimulated a lot of interest and some feeding responces with the others.

[Snake lover 3-25]

wow very neat again!!! great thinking steve!!

[DrKate]

Steve, I hope this isn't a totally brainless question, but... The worms must have dirt stuck all over them when the snakes swallow them; are you OK with that? I mean, "in the wild" worms are pretty much going to be covered in dirt, so it seems like the snakes should be able to deal. BUT, we worry so much about accidental swallowing of other substrates, it feels wrong to say it's OK to let them eat dirt.

I'm about to adopt a couple of three-week-old Puget Sound problem feeders (have neither shed nor eaten since birth) and have been digging through this forum looking for ideas on getting them started. I can get nice fat earthworms from my back yard so this seems like a good method to put on the list of things to try.

-Kate

[guidofatherof5]

Steve, I hope this isn't a totally brainless question, but... The worms must have dirt stuck all over them when the snakes swallow them; are you OK with that? I mean, "in the wild" worms are pretty much going to be covered in dirt, so it seems like the snakes should be able to deal. BUT, we worry so much about accidental swallowing of other substrates, it feels wrong to say it's OK to let them eat dirt.

I'm about to adopt a couple of three-week-old Puget Sound problem feeders (have neither shed nor eaten since birth) and have been digging through this forum looking for ideas on getting them started. I can get nice fat earthworms from my back yard so this seems like a good method to put on the list of things to try.

-Kate

Remember, my experience is with radix. I'm sure someone on the forum has had first hand experience with baby pugets.

I don't think the dirt is a problem, if you know the area you collect your worms from is safe.
Guppies in a shallow bowl, very little water. This causes the fish to slash around and can be a real magnet to the hungry little scrubs.
Sometimes you'll run across a shy eater. In that case, vacate the room and leave them alone. Even a couple of hours if possible(this takes great self-control)

If the substrate is an issue, cover the substrate with paper towels or a hand towel. Anything so that you feel safe in them not eating it.

On a side note. I've seen newborns that are very wary about grabbing large worms. Make sure you put plenty of small even tiny worms in your mix.
Hope this helps.