Feeding issues

[untoucheclipse]

i have a question. My garter hasent ate anything for three weeks now, he shows interest at the flopping fish but he only strikes once then kinda does his own thing and ignores the fish. He wont eat dead fish either??
can anyone shed a little light on what i should be doing
thank you

[Selkielass]

Some people have said their snakes go off food for a while in late summer-others have snakes that eat like pigs until cool weather hits.
A lot seems to depend on the individual, and the type of garter it is.
It will probably help the experts if you let us know what type of garter you have, its size, history (Wild or captive bred.) and if it is acting otherwise normally.

[guidofatherof5]

Some people have said their snakes go off food for a while in late summer-others have snakes that eat like pigs until cool weather hits.
A lot seems to depend on the individual, and the type of garter it is.
It will probably help the experts if you let us know what type of garter you have, its size, history (Wild or captive bred.) and if it is acting otherwise normally.

Great reply.

[ConcinusMan]

Exactly.

I've never had any of my snakes routinely go off of food in the summer. Heck, most of them don't even go off of food when they're gravid until a few days before giving birth, and for about a week after.

[untoucheclipse]

sorry guys, im from british columbia canada i think its a Thamnophis sirtalis

[guidofatherof5]

sorry guys, im from british columbia canada i think its a Thamnophis sirtalis

If you are in a seasonal change that might explain it. Maybe your snake is coming into a shed.
It hasn't been off food very long so I wouldn't worry too much.
Keep offering food on a regular basis and he'll start eating again soon.
3 weeks isn't a very long time for him to go without food.
We usually panic when they do this but as long as he's acting normal and his weight isn't dropping of quickly I would just mark this time down and start tracking his eating habits.
He'll probably do the same thing next year at this time.
Best of luck.
Keep us informed.

[Mommy2many]

I have posted recently that all of my snakes have shown little or no interest in food for the past few weeks. It has alternated between being very hot & humid to nice and cool (right now). I know that my big girl did this last year, so I am not completely surprised. It can be alarming, especially to a new snake owner. Just continue to offer food every few days. They will eat when they want to.

[kibakiba]

I'm a newer snake owner, but being on the forum for a few months prepared me for it pretty much Snakey's off food now and Mama is eating a little bit. They went kind of off and on with food. Mama went off for 2-3 weeks and then ate, then went off for another 2 then ate again and Snakey did too.

[untoucheclipse]

so he ate a zebra danio today im thinking hes use to those

[ConcinusMan]

If we were talking about a newborn I'd worry about 3 weeks. But a well fed adult garter in good condition sometimes will refuse food until it's been 2-4 weeks, then just pig out. It's really not unusual. My anery girls seem to prefer rodents and they do that and yet are my "fattest" strongest garters. They routinely go 2-3 weeks between meals of fuzzy mice.