Suitable Amphibians?

[tyflier]

I have a Sierra Garter. It's wild caught, and would normally thrive on a diet consisting solely of fish and amphibians. I would really like to be able to offer her a variety of foods, as I know guppies and Danios aren't going to be enough.

She will most likely not switch to pinkies, and that's fine by me. But I would like to offer her a variety of amphibians as a supplement to her diet. So...what would you recommend? What are some amphibians that I could feed to her without worrying about poisoning?

Thanks for any input!

[ssssnakeluvr]

preferrably none....can casue problems with parasites transferred to the snake. Lots of us switch them to pinkies with scenting. also, if she or he takes fish fine, you can buy trout or salmon, cut into amounts for each feeding, and freeze it. then thaw what you need for each feeding.

[infernalis]

Chris, With a little conditioning and scenting, switching to pinks should not be a problem.

Take a F/T pinky and rub it with a live minnow, heck even a goldfish (The snake is not going to eat the goldfish) get that fish slime all over the pinky and then try offering it with tongs.

Frog and salamander work great too.

Have confidence, the king of Colubrids can do it!

[Loren]

I raised mine up on guppies and pacific treefrogs for the first few years until I finally got it to take rodents. It was by far the most difficult snake out of my garter collection to get scented over to rodents. Now, for the last couple of years, she finally takes rat pinks and mice fuzzies without scenting.
Many people shy away from frogs for parasite reasons. I try not to feed them unless I have to either, but when I do, I generally freeze them for a few weeks first. Then just thaw and feed like you would with a rodent.
With scenting for picky snakes, make sure and wash the rodent good under warm water to remove its own scent before transfering the new scent onto it. After you get them to take rodents this way several times, then you can start leaving some rodent scent on it and decreasing the amount of scenting.
I always scent the head heavily, and then start leaving the back end more natural, so they will eat, but get the rodent taste left in their mouth last. But the first few might need to be totally scented.
Another thing I had with mine- she was so finicky, the only way I got her to even eat the first few scented pinks was by trying to take them away from her. She would bite it for a few seconds, then drop it. and again... So I would gently try to take it away from her while it was in her mouth, and then the jealousy factor kicked in, and she would eat. She didnt want me to have it.

[tyflier]

Thanks for the advice, Loren. Much appreciated. I'd like to get her converted if possible, but if not...I'm comfortable with feeding her a more natural diet...

And I have a TON of H. regilla in my backyard, so finding Pacific Treefrogs to supplement her guppy diet shouldn't be too difficult come spring...

[Loren]

Yeah, as said, frogs do have a higher chance of parasites, yet Couchii's do likely eat a lot of regilla's in the wild, so I wouldnt be too worried about it.
Cut up trout would be a good food item too. catch a nice one, cut it into small strips, and freeze them. If it makes up a large part of the diet I would supplement calcium, since you wil be cutting out the bones that would come in a complete meal.
I gave mine a chunk a while back and she loved it.

[ssssnakeluvr]

Yeah, as said, frogs do have a higher chance of parasites, yet Couchii's do likely eat a lot of regilla's in the wild, so I wouldnt be too worried about it.
.

well...yes, they do eat a lot of amphibians in the wild.....the parasite eggs are shed in the feces....in the wild, they aren't exposed to the feces like they are when in a cage and can't get away from the feces....can cause them to be exposed to more and more parasites and building up to a deadly level.

[Loren]

True, Don. Good point.

So I suppose if going the frog route, cage cleanliness would be more important.
Like I said, I personally avoid them as much as I can, and feed them frozen/thawed when I need to, like with my ca. nightsnake which still refuses rodents.