[ask] does garters know when to stop?

[kenn777]

hi guys..
i fed my albino checkered garter a pinky last week (every week always one pinky, i've fed him/her 3times since i got him/her, once every week).. today (the 4th time), i fed him/her with 3 pinkies (1 has fur already, but still a pinky) and 3 little goldfishes.. i know that he/she shouldn't eat too much goldfishes cause of the thiaminese but i think that if only abit than ok.. even after all that meal, he/she still looking for some food.. my question is does he/she know when to stop eating? is the food just enough or too much? he/she is a juvenile and around 40cm long.. is it ok to give hime/her a small amount of goldfish once in a while? thx b4.. and sorry for the long post...

[adamanteus]

Hi Lionel, don't worry about long posts, that's fine!
It sounds like you could maybe increase the amount of food you are offering your snake. One pinky per week isn't much. I would strongly recommend that you avoid goldfish altogether, there are plenty of other 'safe' fish you can use, trout and salmon for example.

I see you have noticed that your posts don't appear immediately... this is only because you are a new member, so your posts go into a queue to be read by the moderators before they appear on the open forum. It's part of our anti-spam system, everyone goes through it. Once you have posted a couple more times, there will be no more delay.

[kenn777]

yes, i kno.. that's why today i fed him more.. but isn't it 2 much (2 newborn pikies and 1 w/ fur already)? or is it just fine? and 1 more thing, is catfish also bad for garters? can u suggest any fish that is okay to be consumed by garters? i live in Indonesia, where salmons and trouts are expensive to get... thx

[Elliot]

That might have been a little too much, but it depends on the girth of your snakes also. Do you guys have fish called rosy reds? They work well as a substitute for goldfish.

[GarterGuy]

That does sound like a bit much to be feeding. Since your garter is a young snake the increased feedings aren't quite as harmful, but garters do tend to over eat and this can lead to obesity and, espeically if being feed a fattier food like mice, problems with fatty liver and such. You definitely want to control how much you're feeding him and not let him just go hog wild. As far as the goldfish thing....I think the occasional goldfish won't really do any harm, but just make sure they don't become a dietary staple. As for the catfish, I think they are thiaminase free and should be ok for feeding.

Roy

[kenn777]

is 3 pinkies a week good?

[kenn777]

That might have been a little too much, but it depends on the girth of your snakes also. Do you guys have fish called rosy reds? They work well as a substitute for goldfish.

i dont think so..
never heard about it b4... thx for the ans..

[GarterGuy]

is 3 pinkies a week good?

Honestly at your snake's size......I wouldn't give him more then one or two. Pinkies (mice in general) have a lot more fat in them then other food items (fish, worms, amphibians) so you don't have to feed them quite as much. He would definitely eat three pinks a week, but that is a bit much. What I do with mine, is that I give them a small pink early in the week and then I give them a worm, snail or piece of fish later in the week to just hold them over. If all I have is larger pinks or fuzzies, then they just get one of these for the week. They seem to be doing really well on this feeding schedule....and this also gives them more variety.

Roy

[kenn777]

Honestly at your snake's size......I wouldn't give him more then one or two. Pinkies (mice in general) have a lot more fat in them then other food items (fish, worms, amphibians) so you don't have to feed them quite as much. He would definitely eat three pinks a week, but that is a bit much. What I do with mine, is that I give them a small pink early in the week and then I give them a worm, snail or piece of fish later in the week to just hold them over. If all I have is larger pinks or fuzzies, then they just get one of these for the week. They seem to be doing really well on this feeding schedule....and this also gives them more variety.

Roy

at my place, the only thing that i can get is mice,catfishes, and frogs.. wat about frogs? do you have any article stating that catfish is thiaminase free that i can read?

[Lori P]

Then only thing I know about frogs is they carry a high parasite load. So if you feed them, run a fresh fecal to your vet every now and then and deworm appropriately. :-)