Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I have these garter snakes living in my backyard. Most times I have to pick them up and move them when I'm mowing the lawn.

A couple of weeks a go I found a pretty big one inside one of my mose cages. Yup, belly full. I think he ate two adult mice. the others were huddled together on the opposite end of the cage. he was so fat, he couldn't have gotten out. I picked him up and put him back in the garden.

Today, I found him halfway into another mouse cage eying his next meal. This time, I was able to get him out of there before he ate anything.

I had no idea garter snakes would go for adult mice. I almost wanted to watch him eat because i didn't think they were constrictors. I would ahve loved to see how he accomplished this. Anyone out there ever see a garter snake take on an adult mouse? How do they do it?
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Mike Lockwood
www.tooscaley.com

That is interesting, the he is probably actually a she, some of my larger females will take F/T adult mice with ease, but I've never tried live nor would I want to, could be dangerous, because garters aren't constrictors the just catch and overpower prey. That big girl in your garden must have figured out how to averpower adult mice quickly and swallow them without getting bitten or clawed too much, huh. Neat story thanks for sharing.
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Jeff Benfer
gartersnakemorph.com

If she was able to get the whole head in the mouth the mouse would quickly suffocate... I have seen it with constricting snakes who decide not to constrict... my young rat snakes that eat fuzzies tend to do just that... that's why I won't feed them live ones anymore! my big king rat snake, Ra would rather simply restrain a rat with a coil and start eating it alive, it was stunned first of course but he knew it was alive and wriggling and still chose to eat it without a kill... and once the rats head was in his mouth it quickly suffocated.....

she must be a pro at that.. mice are fast!!!

What kind of cage could a garter get into that mice could not escape from?

a wire one of some sort?

garters can squeeze thru small holes!!! wandering garters have the Duvornoy's gland and their saliva has a calming effect on rodents. wanderings also have been known to throw a coil around them, not really constricting, but holding them while they eat them. they grab their prey and eat it alive.