Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Husband caught a garter snake last Saturday. It looks just like the picture on the top of this page. (Spotted/brown/yellow stripes on body) It is about 18 inches long. Pet store owner said it should eat 3 goldfish every 4 days; it's had 8 in a week and seems like it's looking for more. Should we give it more goldfish? Add something else to diet? Or do we only give it so much?

a few garters have a tendency to become obese, but generally you can feed them as much as you want. a lot of people feel a diet of only goldfish(or other oily fish like herring) can lead to thiamine deficiency. try some other foods. if your pet store sells frozen pinkies, shake one around with a goldfish to scent it, most garters will eat them. I feed small garters guppies, earthworms, and rosie reds; and big ones pinkies, goldfish, smelts, and strips of trout.

Congrats on your new snake. It's probably about a year old or so. I used to keep garters, and they love to eat!! They also can become very tame when handled often.

I got a bit sick of going to the store twice a week to feed goldfish, and I converted my checkered garters to eat fuzzy and hopper mice. The first time I had to rub the nose of the mouse (dead, and thawed out) on a fish, and by the 2nd or third feeding they would immediately take the mouse with no scenting at all!

Mice provide a solid diet with no deficiencies. It's still not a bad idea to feed fish and earthworms now and then, but mice are super easy to keep in bulk in the freezer. If you decide to switch, 2-3 mice a week will give your little guy lots of growth.

G'luck - Matt