Canned Cat Food for a Garter..?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Also i wanted to commend you on choosing to educate yourself about what you feed your pet. I read the ingredients... not a bad food at all! Obviously the best diet possible is the raw fed... but not everyone is willing to go that far. i work in the pet supply industry and I try to educate my customers on a daily basis why friskies, 9 lives, meow mix, fancy feast... etc etc is just no darned good! And you wouldn't believe how many herpers, who worry about EVERY wee detail of their herps care and feeding, do not do the same for their dogs and cats and feed them grocery brand food. For all those that are reading, I encourage you to read the ingredients in your pet's food. Read the labels... is it made by purina? it's no good. Do you see by-product, corn, glutens, flour, or other fillers? It's no good. What goes into our pets is so important to their health... so many people feed their animals low grade foods, and then spend tons of money on vet visits, creams and pills because their pet has dry, flaking, itching skin, excess shedding, they smell, they get ear infections, they develope sudden allergies after years of eating the same stuff, they become diabetic....the list goes on! Customers come to me looking for a quick fix, and I always ask what they are feeding first. And then I tell them if you switch food, you can kill all these problems at their roots. Applying topical treatments does not fix the source of the problem. Dogs do not naturally smell. A healthy dog eating a good diet, does not have an odor. Dogs stink if they are eating low grade processed foods because all that junk is being excreted through their skin, and it is affecting their metabolism negatively. Sorry for the ramble, but this is something I feel really strongly about!

[zooplan]

Hey Shanon, wow, do you want to win a debating contest with this?
Please use some more paragraphs (for me), so it´ll be easier to follow

It´s my opinion that you are too shy!
You shall have more trust in the guts of snakes.
There´re lots of fed the can digest for their benefit.
I remember of a photo (from Don?) of a Garter Snake feding on a half rotten wing at a roadside.
Cat food is better than dog food.

But I agree: This should be no principal food!

[gregmonsta]

Here's a link that was posted before - Merck Veterinary Manual

At any rate you won't be able to rely on if the cat-food manufacturer will check the suitability of new additives for reptiles either.

[Ryachanira]

I will add freshly killed fish to the list of ideas - so far we have only tried live fish with him.

Thanks for the comments about the cat & dog food - I couldn't agree more with you, people have no idea what they are feeding their pets! I got into a huge arguement about it with my sister and brother in law over Christmas, heh. The breeder we got our kitties from fed them Iams, but as soon as we got them they were on Innova from Natura Pet, another really great company. When my baby boy Leo started dropping weight for no reason at the age of 2, we switched him to Natura's California Natural and now they are on California Natural Grain free and eating the Tiki Cat canned every day, and he is picking up weight again (yay)! But I really wish people would read about that commercial pet food. =\

Also that link to the Merck vet manual looks really interesting, I will have to read it over later today when I run out of things to do in the lab.

[ssssnakeluvr]

have you tried worms?? I have had a few nonfeeders take off when fed worms.

[Ryachanira]

I have tried worms (both live and cut up, and chopped up with pinkie parts), pinkies (both whole and cut up) and fish (in water dish and flopping in a small bit of water). I've tried leaving him in the feeding box overnight, tried tongs, different times of feeding. So far no luck, but I haven't given up on him eating on his own quite yet!

[guidofatherof5]

Have you tried taking a larger guppy and starting it down his throat? Or a piece of fish or worm on a toothpick. With that mouth already agape it should be easier.
Just an idea.
Keep us posted.

[Ryachanira]

I have tried to get a worm chunk in his mouth before, but he really seems to hate it. Of course, he might be scarred by the tube feeding on that front, usually when I am sticking something down his throat it is the cat catheter and its going all the way down. He usually pulls his head away really fast if I try to put food in his mouth.

Would I be able to like.. hold his head (like I do when I tube feed him) and get it to open his mouth a bit more somehow and shove the worm in a bit further and see if he will swallow? I have never tried that, only tried kind of placing food in his mouth, hoping he would take it from there and he never does. I don't want to traumatize (or worse, hurt) him.

[guidofatherof5]

With all he's been through I wouldn't worry about it. He's had plenty of healing time so I don't think you are going to run the risk of re-injuring him.
I like to hold the head and put the rest of the body on a towel. That keeps them from flailing around.

[ConcinusMan]

It's always tough when it comes down to this. It's hard on the snakes and it's hard on us. I can't count the number of times I had to restrain a snake for whatever reason, in spite of it's violent protests. The goal is to get the job done without injuring the snake. Set aside the trauma for now (Yours and the snakes) if something needs to be done. Steve's advice is sound. If you must restrain a snake, especially by the head area, it's best to keep the rest of the snake from twisting, flailing, etc. to reduce stress on the spine. Sometimes what must be done must be done. Sometimes they aren't going to like it, and you're not going to like it. What's left is getting it done with minimal risk of injury.

I cringe and grit my teeth anytime I have to forcefully restrain a snake. I don't like doing it, and I'm sure they don't like it. But when it's for the better (treating an injury and/or possibly saving their life) it's worth the effort and worth doing it right.

I can tell you I've done it. Force feeding, medicating injuries in awkward places, etc. Sometimes, just sometimes, it results in saving a snakes life. That makes it all worth while. Sometimes, in spite of the effort, the results aren't good. Sometimes you just have to try where doing nothing looks like it will end badly.