Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had this guy for a little less than a year. Here are some pics to show his growth. He never refuses a meal and usually gets almost 10 pinkies per week. I've been thinking of giving him a few goldfish occasionally but he has been doing great on a diet of only pinkies so far.

This is the same log as in the first picture.

Here's a few in my hand.

Another in my hand...

One more...

wow u got your nothern to take pinkies. i have had them for years and could never get them to eat eny thing but fish and frogs but i have seen some wild ones eat small painted turtles.
CrazyCody

I have got all of my waters that I have kept for any period of time on mice. It really doesn't take much work.
-----
Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

If you steal in hunger, I will kick you when you try. These stand for me. Name your god and bleed the freak. I'd like to see. How you all would bleed for me.-Alice In Chains

It is alot easier to get waters to take mice than racers. I tried for years and only recently got one to eat. All my waters will eat mice just about anyways.
Nice pics too.
-----
Justin

It didn't take any special techniques to get him on pinkies. They are thawed to boot. How many goldfish is too much? I have read several posts regarding the thiamin problem. I plan to only feed him fish occasionally for the entertainment value. What is the life expectancy for water snakes?

I would not use a whole lot of gold fish. The chemicls that gold fish hatcheries put in the water to keep algae away has been known to do bad things to the liver I think. A few shouldn't hurt it. If you are looking for entertainment value try using shiners or WC minnows from a stream or pond or something. I have found that rock bass(some hybrid bream work well, and they won't cause the thiamin deficiency, or they hav not over the 2 years I've kept waters. It is still a good idea to offer something else though, and be careful about the fins too. I sometimes remove the dorsal fins and anal fins, well any spikey fins.
-----
Justin

Thats a very healthy looking northern. I think you can feed goldfish without concern, but the pinks are easier and healthier for the snake. I feed my Nerodia bait minnows because they are cheaper. If I had them all eating pinks though, I wouldn't bother with the fish

You can order pinks and have them delivered pretty cheap. Fish are a bit of a hassle.

Joe