Experience with Garter Snakes?

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Arachnoprince
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Well, I now have a snake. My Dad found it on the round and nearly ran it over. Brought it home for me in a cardboard box. It's temporarly in the largest of the round Kritter Kages on a potting soil/sand mix with a water dish and hide. My Dad and I are going to see if we can make one of the aquariums we've stored snake-proof.

I went online and did a lot of reading on Garter snakes and there was a variety of things hobbyists have fed them. One of which was cat food of fish. I put a little on a large cap but he dumped it over.

Does anyone have experience with Garter snakes? I'm starting to think at this point I should order some earthworms or pinkies if he doesn't eat.
 

sarraceniashawn

Arachnopeon
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Mar 19, 2008
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Well first off, dont feed it cat/dog food. Try pinkies or earthworms or feeder gold fish. Keep it in a large enough cage with a hide, coco bark and a large water dish.

The best thing to do however would be to let it go, wild caught snakes tend to not do well in captivity and it may not eat. Let it go somewhere safe near where you found it.
 

Galapoheros

ArachnoGod
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I've kept them now and then, fed them big tadpoles, small frogs and minnows. What species is it?
 

ZergFront

Arachnoprince
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Looks like Thamnophis sirtalis.

I might just let it go in a safe place and maybe someday, get a captive bred snake(not a big one though). My brother relocated a bunch from near the warehouse he worked to our neighborhood. He was mowing the grass over at that warehouse and noticed there was snakes a little too late for some of them. Yeah, he felt bad. :(

Every once in a while, I still see a Garter snake sunning itself on one of the patio rocks in the garden.

Thanks for the pointers.
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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Well first off, dont feed it cat/dog food. Try pinkies or earthworms or feeder gold fish. Keep it in a large enough cage with a hide, coco bark and a large water dish.

The best thing to do however would be to let it go, wild caught snakes tend to not do well in captivity and it may not eat. Let it go somewhere safe near where you found it.
You should NEVER, ever, ever feed goldfish to a snake! Goldfish are a BIG "no-no", as they contain an enzyme called Thiaminaise which prevents the snake from absorbing vital nutrients, especially Vitamin B, and this will kill the snake. There are few safe feeder fish that are commercially available and small enough to feed to a Garter Snake, though I've yet to see a Garter that would not take strips of fresh Tilapia or Salmon, two safe fish species, from the supermarket. I keep Garters and Water Snakes, which are closely related and have the same dietary and other requirements, by the way. Stay away from goldfish, catfish and "rosy reds", by all means. Small Garters will readily take earthworms, and most bait shops sell large worms that will feed a bigger snake, but snakes fed on worms tend to have really messy poop, so the best thing to do is to "train" the snake to eat fish-scented frozen-thawed pinkie or other appropriately-sized mice. This is fortunately quite easy to accomplish.

Garter Snakes need a dry, easy-to-clean environment, and for a small snake, Aspen chips are good, but you have to remove the snake for feeding because any wood shavings tend to stick to food items and get ingested, and will cause intestinal blockages. I prefer plain old clean newspaper; it's easy to get, easy to clean up and can be cut or folded to size. It might not be pretty to look at, but I've got around 30 snakes at this point, so it is also very practical. Garters and Water Snakes cannot tolerate a damp enclosure and will quickly succumb to "scale rot", a necrotic skin infection, if they aren't kept dry. You wouldn't think that would be the case, since they eat fish and amphibians, but they have to be able to get completely out of the water and dampness.

pitbulllady
 

Brad Ramsey

Arachnoknight
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The most recent issue of Reptiles magazine has an article on keeping garter snakes.

-Brad
 

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Arachnoprince
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Garter Snakes need a dry, easy-to-clean environment, and for a small snake, Aspen chips are good, but you have to remove the snake for feeding because any wood shavings tend to stick to food items and get ingested, and will cause intestinal blockages. I prefer plain old clean newspaper; it's easy to get, easy to clean up and can be cut or folded to size. It might not be pretty to look at, but I've got around 30 snakes at this point, so it is also very practical. Garters and Water Snakes cannot tolerate a damp enclosure and will quickly succumb to "scale rot", a necrotic skin infection, if they aren't kept dry. You wouldn't think that would be the case, since they eat fish and amphibians, but they have to be able to get completely out of the water and dampness.

pitbulllady
So do your snakes feed ok when they are out of their enclosure; don't get stressed? I will get pinkies and even earthworms, my Mom's the one that would not mess with pinkies but I'm ok with it.

We'll be re-screening one of our old aquariums lids since the old lid has a cut hole for air tubes and such. Is a dry sand/soil substrate ok? I'll do newpaper if not.
 

funguy@heart

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Now you need a centipede

Besides being a pain to feed, they are always ready to musk. Get something bigger and watch it feed on you Garter. I have seen an 8" centipede eat a Garter and can't wait to see it again.
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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So do your snakes feed ok when they are out of their enclosure; don't get stressed? I will get pinkies and even earthworms, my Mom's the one that would not mess with pinkies but I'm ok with it.

We'll be re-screening one of our old aquariums lids since the old lid has a cut hole for air tubes and such. Is a dry sand/soil substrate ok? I'll do newpaper if not.
My Garters and Water Snakes would probably feed if they were dropped in boiling water(NOT that I would do that, lol); these things are HOGS! They love to eat, and getting them to eat is not the problem. Avoiding overfeeding them is. Dry sand or soil is NOT a good substrate for most snakes, with the exception of the Sand Boas, which can live in sand that is specially made for burrowing desert reptiles. NEVER use dirt/sand/soil out of the yard, since it's bound to be loaded with all sorts of nasties like nematodes, small ticks and fungi that can really proliferate in an enclosure and make your snake very sick. It's difficult to control moisture in such a substrate, too, and that's a good way to loose the snake to scale rot.

pitbulllady
 

ZergFront

Arachnoprince
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Well, I decided it was in the snake's best interest to be released. Wasn't going to eat anything but at least he was still lively before I let him go. Put him in a part of the yard that gets the most sun during the day and the same place I spotted the other snake a couple times. I'm hoping I'm right on my guess of my snake being a male. This other one was a bit bigger. ;){D

Bye-bye buddy. You were a cool little snake.
 

H. laoticus

Arachnoprince
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My Garters and Water Snakes would probably feed if they were dropped in boiling water(NOT that I would do that, lol); these things are HOGS! They love to eat, and getting them to eat is not the problem. Avoiding overfeeding them is. Dry sand or soil is NOT a good substrate for most snakes, with the exception of the Sand Boas, which can live in sand that is specially made for burrowing desert reptiles. NEVER use dirt/sand/soil out of the yard, since it's bound to be loaded with all sorts of nasties like nematodes, small ticks and fungi that can really proliferate in an enclosure and make your snake very sick. It's difficult to control moisture in such a substrate, too, and that's a good way to loose the snake to scale rot.

pitbulllady
what would you suggest using? and what would be a good humidity to keep them in?
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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what would you suggest using? and what would be a good humidity to keep them in?
Normal room humidity is fine for Garters. I use newspaper as substrate myself, and while it might not be that attractive, it's very practical, but then, like I said, I've got over 30 snakes. If not newspaper, then you can use a commercial bedding that's made of shredded and pelleted recycled newspaper, or aspen chips/shavings, but like I said, most loose-particle substrates will stick to prey items and the snake can ingest them, which will cause an impaction, so you'll have to remove the snake to feed it. My Water Snakes will actually eat while I'm holding them.

pitbulllady
 

RoachGirlRen

Arachnoangel
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You are SO right about feeding. I have a young garter and he eats non-stop. He gets mostly nightcrawlers and (safe) fish. I've tried to get him to eat pinky mice rubbed in dead fish but he is afraid of them; tries to "run" away in the opposite direction. Any tips on getting him to eat an occasional pink? Should I cut open the fish then rub it on the pink instead of just rubbing the fish's body on it? I know they eat tadpoles/frogs in the wild; are tadpoles from an LPS an acceptable treat?
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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You are SO right about feeding. I have a young garter and he eats non-stop. He gets mostly nightcrawlers and (safe) fish. I've tried to get him to eat pinky mice rubbed in dead fish but he is afraid of them; tries to "run" away in the opposite direction. Any tips on getting him to eat an occasional pink? Should I cut open the fish then rub it on the pink instead of just rubbing the fish's body on it? I know they eat tadpoles/frogs in the wild; are tadpoles from an LPS an acceptable treat?
Here's what I do to switch them over to pinkies. Get some pinkies, and some fish, either live minnows or fresh salmon, etc. from the supermarket. Put the fish and the pinkies in a zip-lock bag and freeze them, together. When you get ready to feed the snake, take the whole bag out, and let it thaw, with the fish and the pinkies still together in the bag, so that the oils and scent from the fish will have thoroughly covered the pinkies and masked their odor. Using forceps, take out a pinkie by the tail and flop it around in front of the snake. If that doesn't work, take out a small piece of fish and let the snake grab it first, to get the snake in "feeding frenzy mode", THEN offer it a pinkie. I've never known that not to work!

pitbulllady
 

bitzy1

Arachnosquire
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
58
Well, I now have a snake. My Dad found it on the round and nearly ran it over. Brought it home for me in a cardboard box. It's temporarly in the largest of the round Kritter Kages on a potting soil/sand mix with a water dish and hide. My Dad and I are going to see if we can make one of the aquariums we've stored snake-proof.

I went online and did a lot of reading on Garter snakes and there was a variety of things hobbyists have fed them. One of which was cat food of fish. I put a little on a large cap but he dumped it over.

Does anyone have experience with Garter snakes? I'm starting to think at this point I should order some earthworms or pinkies if he doesn't eat.
any wild snake is a pain to feed especialy the babies. if you are going to feed it anything, your first resource SHOULD be a pinkie. NOT goldfish! hopefully this will help
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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any wild snake is a pain to feed especialy the babies. if you are going to feed it anything, your first resource SHOULD be a pinkie. NOT goldfish! hopefully this will help
Bitzy1, the snake in question(which has since been released, according to the OP) was a Garter Snake, genus Thamnophis, which do NOT normally feed on rodents, period. They can be conditioned to do so in captivity, but there is some work involved since it entails pursuading the snake to do something which is not natural for it to do. Garters and their very close cousins, the Water Snakes, normally feed only upon aquatic animals-fish and amphibians-and in the case of small or young specimens, earthworms. Yes, goldfish are bad news, especially for younger snakes, due to the Thiaminaise issue I mentioned earlier, but you aren't going to get a Garter to scarf down a pinkie or any other rodent simply by offering it, as you would to a Corn or Rat Snake. There has to be some trickery involved to make the snake think it's eating a frog or a fish first.

pitbulllady
 

H. laoticus

Arachnoprince
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another question
-sorry if it's already asked

What size enclosure (in gallons) would you guys suggest for a garter snake? Height or length preferred? For instance, for a snake that's ~1.5 feet.

Thanks
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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another question
-sorry if it's already asked

What size enclosure (in gallons) would you guys suggest for a garter snake? Height or length preferred? For instance, for a snake that's ~1.5 feet.

Thanks
Most Garters should be able to live comfortably in a 10-gallon tank. They aren't arboreal snakes, so height is not a big deal. Some larger females would require a larger tank, like a 20-gallon, but all the specimens I've seen that big had been "power-fed", which is bad for the snake.

pitbulllady
 
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