Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone switched banded watersnakes over to eating mice?Was it very difficult? Thanks!, Jeff

My albino water eats ft mice... I find the easiest way to switch them is to keep live goldfish or a few frozen in your house... Thaw out your mouse, and then get a goldfish... hold the goldfish in your hand or flat on a table and with a razor blade slice off (get goldfish with the biggest flowing tail fins) push straight down with a razor blade onto the clear (no pain no damage) fin section on the tail.. put the goldfish back... now take the fin wich is pretty much a see though piece f skin and spread it out.. like a blanket drape it over the mouses hear and push it doen so it sticks thoroughly... put it in the cage... usually works with no other problems.. just keep making the piece smaller and sooner or later they just take the mice.. you may have to offer a small fich first to get them in feed mode til they are use to the mice then it's not necessary.. good luck, let me know how it wrks...

I try to work pinkies into my banded and broad banded water snakes' diet but I'd be reticent about feeding your banded pinkies 100% of the time. They are water snakes and their natural diet consists mostly of fish and amphibians, not mice. Granted, water snakes are opportunistic and will eat rodents, but it's not a 100% of the time thing.

It is a lot easier to feed pinkies though, I'll admit. However, I'd use the pinkies as a supplement to a diet, i.e. once a month, with fish being the main part of their diet. As for difficulty of feeding, my broad banded water snake, who happens to be a lot more aggressive and a great deal smarter that the other one, has absolutely no problem with eating pinkies. My banded, on the other hand, absolutely refuses to eat pinkies, even after I put the pinkie in a partially gutted out goldfish. It depends on how aggressive your snake is, really.

My banded watersnake female was started on pinky parts when I got her from her breeder, and she has been eating pinky parts ever since and is very vigorous and healthy.

I haven't read of any health problems in captive snakes that were caused by feeding frozen/thawed mice. However Ive read of many problems or possible problems with feeding fish/amphibians etc.

What is your opinion that water snakes shouldn't be exclusively fed mice, based upon? if there is some kind of recorded health problems caused by feeding frozen-thawed mice to watersnakes, I would like to read it. Thanks

im sorry, but i think you have this backwards... they get far more nutrition feeding on mice then on fish... they mostly feed on fish because they cant constrict and kill mice... fish should be a treat while mice should be the main diet... no question about it... there is also no need for vitamin suppliments if feeding a rodent diet.... but with fish it is necessary as in the wild they would have a varied diet like frogs salamanders etc... just fish would lead to malnutrition