will garters eat frogs?

[brandon0133]

im wanting to brodin my snakes food source,,,wanted to try some green tree frogs which i can get for about 1.25$ a piece or some anoles for 1.25$ which are lizards,,,will my garters eat these? i have two full grown adult garters ,, dont know if they will eat stuff like this,,,would be fun for them to hunt down,,what do u guys think?

[KITKAT]

Originally Posted by brandon0133

im wanting to brodin my snakes food source,,,wanted to try some green tree frogs which i can get for about 1.25$ a piece or some anoles for 1.25$ which are lizards,,,will my garters eat these? i have two full grown adult garters ,, dont know if they will eat stuff like this,,,would be fun for them to hunt down,,what do u guys think?

Most garters will eat appropriately sized frogs. But a better question to ask is SHOULD captive garters eat frogs?

Most garterphiles answer "no" because of the huge burden of parasitism in frogs and toads. In a captive garter, this food source can infect them with the parasites, leading to illness and death, since a captive environment tends to increase the parasite load due to the limited space in which the snake is eating and defecating.

However, if you simply MUST try this food source, I advise you to freeze the frogs for a period of no less than 14 days (30 is much better) at the lowest temperature that is available. THen thaw the frog meal in warm water, just as we do with frozen mice or fish, and feed at room temperature.

If your snake refuses frozen/thawed frogs, I would just forget about it...

[brandon0133]

man,,,its a wonder snakes survive outside,,,,thanks for the info,,maybe i will steer away from that,,dont want my snakes getting sick,

[Stefan-A]

Many of them don't survive outside for various reasons (not just predators), but as KitKat pointed out, captivity does provide a nice environment for the parasites.

[Sid]

All advice already posted, is sound. I know from experience. Early into keeping Garters I was very willing to feed frogs and toads. As a result there was a high mortality rate.

[brandon0133]

ok no frogs for me,,,lol,,,what all can i feed them? just worms,pinkies,,fuzzies and minnows? theres got to be other things

[Stefan-A]

You mean that's not enough? OK, strips of meat (low fat), chicken, salmon and a few dozen other kinds of fish.

[Elliot]

You can feed them lots of different things, but it's better to stick to the more "regular" things I guess you could say.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

i would say stick to frozen items pinkies, fish strips, and u can even freeze the worms and rosies, but if you use fish strips use a vitamin supplement and some calcium powder once in a while
i like feeding them frozen items because it eliminates things that can kill or get the snake sick

[RZL36]

Rosy red minnows work really well to you can get them onto pinkie mice. In a snake's case, food variety is rarely the spice of life. Besides they make up for it when it comes to mating. I try to keep things as simple as possible, b/c I hate wasting food. How big are the snakes?