Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a month ago my 9yo son found a baby garter snake. It is very small--it was about 5 inches when we got it, and has grown to about 5.5 inches. We got a very secure cage for it, and it now lives in our kitchen. The cage is lined with about 2 layers of newspaper, and has several rocks as well as a bark hide away. It also had a water dish that it enjoys swimming in.

We have been feeding the snake earthworms, which it eats readily. I have been digging up worms out of my garden. It will eat a small worm (1 inch) about every day and larger worms (2-3 inches) every 2 or 3 days. The only problem we have had with the worms is that sometimes they get stuck to the paper. Even if the snake had the worm in its mouth it will refuse to eat it because it can't pull it loose. Any suggestions?

With colder weather here I am doubting that I will be able to collect worms from my garden. I will need to start purchasing food. The pet store sells a container of 50 worms. This would be more two months food for him. Can I keep the worms that long in the fridj? (I am the mom, so storing them in the fridg isn't an issue!)

Should I attempt to feed the snake any other types of foods? We know that he doesn't like crickets, spiders or slugs. If we try fish, what kind and how do we keep them from sticking to the newspaper?

Is there anything else that we should know about keeping a garter snake?

I am kind of new to this as well, and I have been caring for two juvenile eastern garters (born this past summer) and they have eaten worms, small (redback) salamanders, rosy red minnows, parts of frozen/thawed pinkies (newborn mice), and most recently strips of frozen/thawed cod from the grocery store. They went from about 5" to now over 11" and seem to be pretty happy and active.

The rosy red minnows (often sold as "tuffies" are available in pet stores, as are the pinkies. The latter can be bought in large quantities online also (I have not done this yet).

I have not had issues with food sticking to the substrate and I use brown paper bags cut to cage size or offer the food in the water bowl or more recently from plastic tongs.

I don't really know about worm shelf life in the fridge, I would have to pass on that one.

From what I have been reading, if you rely heavily on fish, make sure to mix in other food items and read up on thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency most likely caused by many fish that contain thiaminase, an enzyme that breaks down B1. I'm no expert on this, but it has been discussed a lot. Search for those keywords in these forums or Google and you'll find info on what fish to avoid.

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