Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in NJ, and I was in the pine barrens yesterday finding frogs for our backyard pond. I also got very lucky and caught a small ribbon snake. I had owned snakes (i believe they were ribbons, also) many years ago, so I figured I would take it home as a pet. The problem is, I am having trouble getting it to eat earthworms, which are the easiest food to find for him. I am going to buy some small fish and crickets, but for now Id rather be able to feed him worms because they are so easy to find. I have tried feeding him several ways, including dangling the worms, putting them in a dry dish, and putting them in a water bowl. He seems curious, and stares at the worms, but in the end he seems to be more interested in escaping the tank than eating the worms. Should I just be more patient?

Btw, he is definetely too small for pinkies.

Ribbon snakes apparently do not like worms they way Garter snakes do. Every keeper or author I have seen address the topic states that Ribbons do not eat worms. My own attempts to feed a Ribbon snake earth worms also failed. The best food is probably fish until he gets a little bigger. My Ribbon snake eats fish scented pinkies and he is thriving. It is also recommended to use supplements when using fish. If you are not entirely sure what you have I recommend using a field guide and other resources to get a positive ID on your new pet. The more you know about your specific animal the more enjoyable and successful things will be for both the keeper and the kept. Use a good field guide like Conant’s and also use the internet to look up the various species/subspecies it could possibly be. Most important of all? KEEP THE LID ON TIGHT LOL.

Good luck with your pet and post a pic if you can.

Randy Hallman

Alright, heres a pic I just took. Enjoy

np

Good catch! NJ law does not allow the capture of any reptiles and amphibians. Its against NJ law. The only thing your allowed to go out with is a camera. But N e way, cool catch! You can feed it worms and feeder fish in a bowl. I believe ribbons will eat large crickets also. You can try pieces of fish. As said in a previous post, make sure everything is almost if not air tight! except the small air holes. They are extreme escape artists. Good Luck, have fun!

Lu

Ive given up on worms and I bought some feeder fish, which he loves. He ate three of them this morning (one of which was already dead).

Btw, I read somewhere that it is not illegal to capture individual reptiles, but only to hunt them as game. The exception of course, would be the endangered species (i.e. pine barrens treefrog). Im probably wrong about that though. Ive done my part in helping, anyway. Last year I brought home a bunch of tiny tadpoles and I had no idea what type they were. After a few weeks, I had about 2 dozen pine barrens treefrogs. I fed them for about a week and then released them where I had found them as tadpoles

Just be aware....

The most common feeder fish contain an enzyme that destroys the vitamin thiamine (it's called thiaminase).
Feeding these fish long-term will result in deficiency disease with neurologic symptoms, and eventually death.
Among the "bad" fish are goldfish and rosy-reds.

So, either acquire fish that don't contain thiaminase (there are now a few lists of these on the web, though sorry I don't have the url), or scent your snake over to feeding on mouse pinks asap.

Hey, Here is a link to a thread in the NJHS forum a while back about field collecting. Take a look at it and see whats up. I'm only looking out for fellow herpers in in NJ. NJ is a B**** I tell you that and if you need to go herping with a bag and bucket, best bet is to go out of state or not get caught.

Pine Barren tree frogs are finally making a come-back! Its soo great to hear about them in the paper! I was truely amazed when I read about them, I believe it was last summer. N e way take a look here: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/njregs.htm#other all the permits and laws are there.

and here for the thread: http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=29667,29667
Thread

wow, I never realized the capturing laws were so strict in NJ. It seems a bit ridiculous, considering that the species I take are incredibly abundant (i.e. green frogs, carpenter frogs), and I only take a few. The state should really just set collection limits, rather than complete restriction. Ill make sure to be more careful next time I go out to the woods, though.

I'm not sure what species my feeder fish are, I just asked for feeder fish for a small ribbon snake when I bought them. They are a dull orange color on the top half and white on the bottom. Are those the rosies that you were referring to?

Yea, NJ is kinda wierd....thats why I only go out with a camera in hand...lol

Yes those sound like Rosy red minnows.....they are high in Thiamese (sp?)

Trout is a good fish and also Smelt. Smelt can be purchased in your local food store. They come individually frozen and are easy to feed. The highest consentration of Thiamese (sp?) is in the head, tail area I believe. The smelt are already cleaned. Smelt has an scent to it that is like a magnet for garters...Im not too sure about ribbons. You can give it a try, its only a few bucks....no more than 4.00

Lu