Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all....anywho to get to my question. A friend of mine spotted that a few kids down the street had caught garder snakes and were selling them *first thing I cant believe they took them out of the wild for a profit and that the parents actually ALLOWED this.* I went down the street seeing only five snakes. I yelled at the parents who pretty much told me in their words to "F off" so I payed for the snakes and released all of them cept one into the wild...the smallest one only appears to be a few weeks old and the poor snake isnt eating...I have sorta taking a liking to this little guy...I couldent release him at the time in the same area for fear that the others *about 1-2 feet in length* would eat him for chow. So my question is this...I have heard of people keeping garder snakes...yet do they eat pinkie mice or crickets?? Any help or care tips would highly be appreaciated...
Thanks
~Nkai~

Neither--they eat worms, frogs, and fish, primarily. Some species of garters will eat mice.

Try him with a nice earthworm of the right size, and do LOTS OF RESEARCH now. Look up "garter snake care sheet" on the web, and be sure that you CAN take care of this animal properly. They are not difficult, but you WILL have to spend some money on it, and you will have to make sure you can do it ALL, and not compromise. Otherwise, do not keep the animal any longer--let it go asap. The biggest issue with that one is going to be parasites--he must be vetted and cleared of them. The longer you keep him without doing so, the higher the risk to his health, until you cannot even release him and expect him to do well. Parasites build up to unnatural levels in captivity due to re-exposure of the animals to parasite eggs in feces.
If you cannot afford the vet trip to get him checked out and treated, do not keep him any longer.

My sons caught a Garter snake (going back about 3 years) and we kept it for 2 years. It would only eat earthworms. We would visit a bait shop in winter and get nightcrawlers to keep in the fridge. Are you planning on keeping the snake, or just making sure it is healthy enough to be released?

I caught one in Mills Co. Texas, along with a fence lizard. I wanted the lizard to use as a scenter for pinky mice to hopefully jumpstart my desert kingsnake that was at the time a problem feeder. I only had one bucket, and figured they would be alright till i got home. When i got home i found one very small garter snake with a very large lump in his middle. Needles to say it was a good while before he would eat again. But when he finaly did i went through pinkys, no go. Worms, no go. I did get him to eat minnows, just drop em in the water dish and leave them over night. Here in North Texas we have mediteranian geckos everywhere. At night they climb on the sides of houses, and ocasionaly come inside. I caught one in the house and remembered the lizard. Out of morbid curiosity i dropped it in. As soon as it started to move the snake tackled it and swollowed it alive. Kind of sad watching the strugle, but cool as heck too. I said all that to say maybe you could get you a lizard and try scenting pinkys and slowly get him to eat unscented. Or have you tried live pinkys? Movement seems to be the key to wild caught garters. I watched one on the side of a pond swimming along grabbing every frog that made the mistake of letting him get to close. They eat a whole bunch of different things. But try live. Good luck. Skinner

Okay heres a quick update...

Yesterday I made my weekly visit to the pet shop to get crickets and pinkies for my other reptiles (1 bd, 2 leos, 1 basilisk) and I got some worms and some pinkies knowing that if the snake (as of which I have named freddie...lol) dosent eat it then I will set him free and what not. I tried the worms, no go. I tried a VERY (i mean like teenie...it was puny...) pinkie mouse..and the moment it moved the little snake and grabbed it and swallowed it down. Sorta sad ya know..but DEAD awesome...I am just glad to see the little bugger eat. I am not sure if I am going to keep him as a pet yet but I am going to take him to the vet today and get him all checked out. I think I will...grown attached to the little bugger...lol Thank you all for your help it is GREATLY appreaciated. I will keep you updated on how this all turns out! Thanks,
~Nkai~

Absolutely excellent that he ate a pinky for you!! That will make things a LOT easier if you decide to keep him, he's already eating mice. (Safest prey item for snakes, cheap to get frozen, and so on).

Since you kept one for yourself I would apologise to your neighbors.....and then get your self some minnows and night crawlers for it to eat. The fish should be no larger than twice its girth. If you can not get minnows small goldfish will work. Just place a small dish of water in the cage with a couple small goldfish and it will eat them. All you need for a cage is a five gallon aquarium...some newspaper on the bottom..a heatpad under onethird of the aquarium...and a small water dish. I do it this way for almos all my snakes. Glass aquarium with "Reptile Top"....heat pad under 1/3 the aquarium,bare galss bottom with pieces of slate as a substrate,and a small bowl of water for drinking. East to clean.