Pinky head for young snake?

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So I keep getting worried that I'm doing something wrong with my new baby garter.. it's really confusing because I've kept snakes before, and the general rules of thumb usually apply to most snake species... except I keep reading on here about how a lot of people keep garters so much differently than other species.

Most of my experience has been with corn snakes, but I decided to branch out and get rid of some of my corns. Anyway, my albino checkered girl just shed yesterday so I decided to offer her first meal at her new home, a F/T pinky head. She took it very quickly and at first I was worried it was too big for her but after a few minutes she managed to get it down. It's left a fairly sizable lump in her belly but she seemed content enough to climb out of her own dixie cup (what I use as a feeding container to avoid ingesting substrate) and crawled around a bit before retiring to one of her hides...

A little while later I read something about not feeding baby garters meals bigger than their heads ??? The pinky head was probably about 1.5x larger than her head, just a little larger than the widest part of her body..

Also, every other snake I've ever had has only eaten once a week at the most, and generally tend to live longer and maintain healthier weights if fed about once every other week. But it seems like a lot of people here feed their snakes much more often, and regularly provide "snacks" between meals. Isn't it unhealthy for a snake's stomach to contain food at all times? I'm just beyond confused at this point lol

I really really would like to keep my snake on a primarily mouse diet. It's easier and I have a lot of F/T mice, plus that's what she was started on.

I would be willing to maybe alternate meals of pinky heads and earth worms, but I really don't want to have to start buying $3 live fish as the only guppies and such I can find around here are fancy guppies and they are expensive lol

Could someone just give me a general run down of feeding for garter snakes, from neonates to adults?

thanks!

[kibakiba]

For newborns, no bigger than their heads, preferably smaller meals more often to help them gain muscle in their digestion tract areas. Yearlings (depending on size and species) can usually have at least a pinkie head, its okay for it to be a little bit bigger than their heads. Same with older snakes. If she had trouble getting it down, simply cut the head in half and feed it like that.

[Didymus20X6]

Snakes are perfectly capable not only of swallowing things bigger than their heads, but digesting them as well. The "no larger than their head" is more or less a guideline, not a hard and fast rule. My Little Dude has eaten frogs a great bit larger than her own head. 1.5X isn't terribly larger. 2X or bigger might be a problem for a baby, though.

From what I understand, garters tend to be more active than other types of snakes, and as such, need more nutrition for their size.

Garters like nightcrawlers, which are easy to obtain and contain lots of good stuff for growing garters. They make a great addition to a fish and/or mouse diet for them.

[guidofatherof5]

If you are concerned about the pinky head size you could crush the head slightly. This will make it easier to swallow.

Garter snakes have a much higher metabolism and are more active then most other snakes. This requires more fuel.

Once my babies start eating they get fed at 3 to 4 times a week. I've even fed some groups everyday.
At about 6 months I cut them back to 3 times a week.
Adults get fed twice a week with snacks once in awhile.
Mice digest slower then worms and fish so depending on the amount of each you feed your scheduled feeding times may vary.

I feed a worm/mice diet to most of my snakes. Fish once in awhile.

Please remember each keeper has their own system and way of keeping their snakes.
Hope this helps.

[RedSidedSPR]

I feed my babies almost every day, but very little peices, and not much food. I give them a slight bulge.

I'd only do this if they're active, burning off the food quick, or if you barely stuff them. Otherwise you be overfeeding them.

Maybe better to stick with one of the above suggestions at least until you have a feel for feeding babies.

[mb90078]

I would be willing to maybe alternate meals of pinky heads and earth worms, but I really don't want to have to start buying $3 live fish as the only guppies and such I can find around here are fancy guppies and they are expensive lol

thanks!

Have you looked into frozen silversides at petsmart? They are a good alternative to expensive/live fish.

[d_virginiana]

I feed my baby a decent sized meal every other day. My adult gets one good sized meal a week, and acts as a garbage disposal for the baby's leftovers and the occasional nightcrawler in between. Mice take longer to digest than other food items like fish or worms, but babies still need to eat pretty often.

If you can, you should get some DMF nightcrawlers from Walmart. They're really cheap, and you can just store them in your refrigerator. Plus you can just cut of one or two chunks from the tail end and put the rest of the worm back in the container for later and it'll stay alive. Really great way to give babies snacks without wasting food Plus garters really appreciate a varied diet, and I think they eat better in the long run if they occasionally get different options.

[ConcinusMan]

I echo that.^^^

Have you looked into frozen silversides at petsmart? They are a good alternative to expensive/live fish.

And that ^^^

You just can't go wrong with these food items. The key is to not heavily rely on any single one of them for an extended period of time and I still highly recommend rotating rodents in as part of the feeding routine from time to time, if at all possible.

Of course, there's probably nothing wrong with an all-rodent diet too. I don't want to discount their value or to dispute the opinion of some of our other very experienced members who feed just rodents. Just saying that an all rodent diet is definitely not necessary. I prefer to give the varied diet of a few choice high quality foods such as night crawlers, silversides, and even slugs and tilapia and I try not to feed just any one thing for more than a month or 4-6 meals in a row.

Do what you can to keep it varied for snakes that will accept all this stuff. I do realize some snakes are picky and I also realize that you must use what is available in your area. Just do the best you can in those cases and continue to try to get them to eat more variety. Any snake that is stuck on just rodents however, is not a problem. By all means, give them rodents.

A little while later I read something about not feeding baby garters meals bigger than their heads ??? I really really would like to keep my snake on a primarily mouse diet. It's easier and I have a lot of F/T mice, plus that's what she was started on.

I personally don't offer pieces bigger than their heads for two reasons. I tong feed and they swallow it faster greatly reducing the chances of group feeding fights, and it keeps them from swallowing substrate.

I would be willing to maybe alternate meals of pinky heads and earth worms, but I really don't want to have to start buying $3 live fishl

Then don't. If your snakes will eat rodents and you have plenty, then stick with that. Howerver, sometimes my snakes will start refusing food and switching to something else gets them eating again. As far as babies are concerned, I'm talking very young snakes less than 6 mos old or 14 inches, I find that many cases of "sudden unexplained death" happen after a very large meal. This seems to not happen if I feed small meals often instead of big meals less often.

[ConcinusMan]

Babies are born with little or no "gut flora" They get the gut flora from food and it takes time to build a healthy colony of gut flora (microorganisms that aid in digestion). Starting out with worms, or giving your babies reptile/bird probiotics from the start helps. Without proper gut flora, any large pieces of food will be hard to digest and may begin to ferment causing potentially fatal gas build up or vomiting. Snakes can't burp like we do!

You've probably heard about pythons eating a rat which later causes them to split open and die. It's not caused by the rat breaking out. It's caused by too big a meal and gas buildup which essentially pops the snake open like an overinflated balloon. Swallow whole, a pack of mentos on an empty stomach and then drink a carbonated soda and you'll see what I mean. (don't do that)



Anyway, all of this is related to why I feed babies less than 6 mos and/or 14 inches, moderate or small meals, and small pieces, favoring small meals often instead of big meals less often. Gas pressure or buildup can put too much strain on their still delicate and developing bodies. If you look at snake anatomy, or have ever looked at blood flowing through a baby "snow" garter, you would see that too much pressure, or an oversized meal, can actually cut off blood supply to the lower half of a snake and/or many internal organs. If their main arteries are not yet strong enough to resist the pressure, then back pressure results and can give them a heart attack!

[Stefan-A]

You've probably heard about pythons eating a rat which later causes them to split open and die. It's not caused by the rat breaking out. It's caused by too big a meal and gas buildup which essentially pops the snake open like an overinflated balloon. Swallow whole, a pack of mentos on an empty stomach and then drink a carbonated soda and you'll see what I mean. (don't do that)

I think you need to watch the whole episode.