Not eating again

[snickersnake]

She hasn't eaten in ages. I love her to death but maybe I should just let her go. She acts like she doesn't even know what to do with worms, and the guppies didn't work - she never has figured out what guppies are. She's way too small still to eat a pinky, but she could eat a piece of one - but if I can't get her to eat worms, how is anything else going to work? I'm still going to try before I release her to the wild. I don't want her to die.

[guidofatherof5]

It of course is you're call. You have to do what's best for you and her. I noticed in the last post you said she was swimming with the guppies. Get ride of the water and put her in with them. A small container that will force contact with the fish. Cover it up with a towel and leave it alone for an hour or more. Don't peek. The less distractions the better. Put it in a room where there won't be a lot of traffic. Hope this helps.

[mtolypetsupply]

Do you have pics of your baby? The reason I ask is that you said you caught it last August and think it's still too small to eat a whole pink. So... I'm wondering if you might have a dekayi not a garter. How big is your snake? Length? Weight?

You said you are using a heat mat, is that on a rheostat? They can heat up far too much for our garter babies. Instead of spending a bunch of money on a rheostat, if you don't have one already, you can get a "table top dimmer" at Home Depot/Lowes/etc. for much cheaper that will perform the same function. While you are there, go to the outdoor aisle and pick up an indoor/outdoor thermometer. It will have a probe you can move around the cage, and monitor the temps.

In my opinion, thermostats should not be used on lights. There's a theory that the on/off of the thermostat, therefore the on/off of the light, will stress out the snake. Instead, if you choose a thermostat ($40) or a table top dimmer ($8) or rheostat, use it with the heat mat.

You said the heat mat is at one end, and the lamp at the other. Again, just my opinion, but I would put the heat sources only at one end. That will provide a gradient, and the snake can choose what temperature it wants. With heat at both ends, I'd venture a guess that there's a pretty uniform temp across your tank.

Lastly, what wattage bulb are you using in your heat lamp? Do not assume that a higher wattage bulb produces more heat. We have experimented with them, and belive it or not, a 60 watt bulb puts out more heat than a 100. I'm running the air conditioning at 75 degrees and use a 40 watt in the light over the 40 gallon tank. It heats the surface to about 83 degrees.

I hope you get your baby eating again soon! Keep us posted on your progress!

[Mommy2many]

Stephi is right. If you have a Dekayi, she won't want anything but slugs. Try some baby slugs or even cut up some big ones. The Dekayi resemble the garters and look like they could be baby garters. Yours should have grown in the last year.

Post a picture; we would love to see your baby! Good luck with her.