Reptile & Amphibian Forums

a few days ago my cat brought home a new born baby garter snake. I obviously kept it to make sure it received no internal injuries, it is showing no signs of external injury. Now let me get this straight... a baby snake will eat chopped up earthworms from a bowl??? They don't need to be alive and moving??? Mine hasn't eaten yet cause it was in shock no doubt but i have put in 6 small crickets and 2 small earthworms in damp dirt. I wasn't sure how it was gonna eat those worms but i never imagined it would eat chopped up worms. Can a new born eat new born mice ? or would they still be a little too big?
thank you.

Get rid of the crickets right away, please. Garter snakes will not eat crickets, but the crickets can attack the poor snake.

Do you have the ability to post a photo??

The 2 best things to try are small earthworms, I cut them in half. (if you dampen a old hunk of cloth and lay it in your yard for a day or two, there will be some tiny little earthworms under it, or if available any debris or big flat rocks already there could yield a small worm or two.

The other is try placing some small guppies in with the snake.

Some (most) of my babies will respond to the little fish right off, others respond to the worms, then give them a small fish right away, once they start feeding they tend to want more.

Teasing the snake by jiggling food in front of its face with tongs/tweezers/hemostats will often trigger a feeding response.

Good luck, and keep us posted please

Dances With Reptiles

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey

1.0.0 Ball Python - Python regius "Cane" Rescue
0.1.9 Eastern MilkSnake WC "Carmella" adult super sweet temperment (Eggs all hatched!)
1.3.13 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, Sharon & Kids
2.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters
0.0.1 Thamnophis HybridAlbino Checkered Normal eastern
2.0.0 Thamnophis sirtalis - eastern Garters (xtreme orange phase)
1.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - Snow Hets
0.1.0 Thamnophis RADIX - Christmas Albino
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - Red Phase Eastern Garter red and white stripes
0.0.1 Thamnophis butleriButler's Garter Snake
0.0.4 Thamnophis proximus orariusCoastal Ribbons
0.0.16 Thamnophis sirtalis - newborn Eastern Garter babies 7/11/08
0.0.17 Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis HET Anerythristic Scott Felzer stock.
0.1.0 Thamnophis sirtalis Eastern Snow "Snowflake"
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis California Red Sided (R.I.P. little guy)
1.2.0 Thamnophis pickeringi - Puget Sound Garter "Sky" (adult, Sky blue) 2 females recently aquired.
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua" adult WC
0.1.0 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snake (Her children were raised & released)
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Sub-adult CB
1.0.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major"Limon"
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" Growing fast!
1.1.3. Green Anole "Crystal" & "Chris" WC dropping eggs fast!
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
0.2.0. Feline"Felix"(R.I.P. 4/27/08) "Kaja" & "Silver"
2.1.0. calico RATS
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

If you think a newborn has the ability to eat newborn mice than this snake is probally not a newborn.Newborn are not even big enough to eat a large earthworm let alone mice or pinkies.If it has internal injuries there nothing you are going to be able to do about it.You should either let it go or decide to keep it.Keeping it and letting it go later will serve no benefit to the snake.You will just screw up its natural cycle.If you decide to keep it good luck and keep asking questions everybody here will help you.

you should probably release it back outside unless you plan to keep it long term and are really committed to caring for it, if it didn't die after a day or two and is moving around well, it will likely fully recover and be fine on it's own. If you really want to keep a garter as a pet, there are plenty of captive born available, and that would be a better way to aquire one IMHO, of course now that I think about what I just wrote I realized that I am a little biased at this point as a breeder myself Oh well, youre going to take my advice and anyone elses for that matter with a grain of salt and make your own decision anyway; as you should.lol
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Jeff Benfer
1.0 cinnamon pastel Python regius
1.0 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.3 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
2.0 66% het snow Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 butter p.h. stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 carmel stripe p.h. amel Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 amelanistic p.h. carmel,stripe Pantherophis guttatus

I was just asking about baby mice. There is no way this snake could eat a newborn mouse. After about a day of sitting in a coil no doubt in shock it came around. So far it has eaten 2 redworms (cut in half) and 2 very very small rosy reds. Seeing as how i haven't had it that long as soon as i get a day off work i intend to take it to take it to an area that i have seen garters in before and release it. I really didn't expect it to live but it seems my cat didn't do any lasting damage. Maybe i'll consider getting one as a pet. i currently own kingsnakes and cornsnakes. thank you for all your advice.

Sounds like a happy ending to me
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Jeff Benfer
1.0 cinnamon pastel Python regius
1.0 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.3 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
2.0 66% het snow Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 butter p.h. stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 carmel stripe p.h. amel Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 amelanistic p.h. carmel,stripe Pantherophis guttatus

do you have a web site where u display your snakes for sale?

Try the Classifieds section of kingsnake.com

Oh I'm sorry was that directed to me? If it was, I do not have a web site (yet ) I am just a small time hobbiest, but I did sell some garter babies on kingsnake classified this spring, and I will likely again next spring, you are more than welcome to email me any time if you have a particular interest though.
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Jeff Benfer
1.0 cinnamon pastel Python regius
1.0 pastel Python regius
1.1 mojave Python regius
0.1 normal Python regius
1.3 Terrapene carolina thriunguis
2.3 Terrapene carolina carolina
4.1 Kinosternon baurii
1.1 Malaclemys terrapin terrapin
2.2 double het albino and anerythristicThamnophis sirtalis parietalis
1.0 anerythristic Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
2.3 Iowa snow Thamnophis radix
0.2 het Christmas albino Thamnophis radix
1.1 double het cherry erythristic, albino Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 melanistic Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
2.0 66% het snow Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
1.1 triple heterozygous for amelanistic,carmel, and stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 anerythristic motley Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 butter p.h. stripe Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 carmel stripe p.h. amel Pantherophis guttatus
0.1 amelanistic p.h. carmel,stripe Pantherophis guttatus