Ok Help!!!

[Charlet_2007]

I have to feed my garter but im out of toads.. he wont eat pinky mice ive tryed to sent it with a toad but toads is all hell eat what am i suppose to do? He just runs from the pinky..

[adamanteus]

Have you tried any type of fish, Natalie?

[Charlet_2007]

yeah minnows.. but nothing i ended up with a bunch of dead minnows

[adamanteus]

You could try a bit of trout or salmon, if he takes that it's easier to get him onto scented pinks.

[Charlet_2007]

ok ill try that.. thanks.. you can get that a the store right?

[adamanteus]

Yeah, just regular 'human consumption' trout or salmon.
It can be quite hard to get Garters to take alternative foods once they've had a regular amphibian diet. I've had the same trouble with Grass Snakes (Natrix natrix helvetica) in the past. You need to let them get pretty hungry then bring on the fish!

[Sid]

Natalie, I have had Garters that refused to eat anything except frogs and toads. The easiest solution for me was a short burmation. Once out of burmation they will eat almost anything. Then they no longer get toads from me for fear of them reverting to accepting only frogs again.
Just a suggestion if all else fails.

[Loren]

Hi, when you scent the pinkies, do you wash them first? I always wash the pinkies under luke warm water very thoroughly(no soap)- lightly scrubbing them with my fingers- and then wash my hands good too, then very thoroughly scent them. Tree frogs have always worked well for me.
Another trick- if you can procure some more frogs or toads- start scenting the tail end of the frog with a pinky and hand the frog to the snake head first- this way the last taste in their mouth is of pinky. It may help get them to associate that taste with food. Then move on to scented pinks after a while.
My sierra garter was the most difficult, it took ALOT of attemps over the coarse of a year or so before he finally took pinks without scenting. Now he pounds live peach fuzzies.
You may need to go on a field herping trip to find some feeders. Sounds like a good excuse to have fun. Show us pics of what you find.
If you get a rainy night, and you live near some country roads- get out there and drive slowly looking for them on the roads. Consentrate on areas near canals,ditches, streams, ponds... Make sure you know your local herp collecting laws.
If worried about parasites in wild food- you can freeze them for a few weeks first. Helps anyways.
Worst case- you can probably order feeder frogs online somewhere-go to kingsnake.com classifieds and search "tree frogs" in the search bar. Again, I would freeze them first if it will take frozen thawed.

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

kingsnake.com Classifieds

Originally Posted by Loren

Hi, when you scent the pinkies, do you wash them first? I always wash the pinkies under luke warm water very thoroughly(no soap)- lightly scrubbing them with my fingers- and then wash my hands good too, then very thoroughly scent them. Tree frogs have always worked well for me.
Another trick- if you can procure some more frogs or toads- start scenting the tail end of the frog with a pinky and hand the frog to the snake head first- this way the last taste in their mouth is of pinky. It may help get them to associate that taste with food. Then move on to scented pinks after a while.
My sierra garter was the most difficult, it took ALOT of attemps over the coarse of a year or so before he finally took pinks without scenting. Now he pounds live peach fuzzies.
You may need to go on a field herping trip to find some feeders. Sounds like a good excuse to have fun. Show us pics of what you find.
If you get a rainy night, and you live near some country roads- get out there and drive slowly looking for them on the roads. Consentrate on areas near canals,ditches, streams, ponds... Make sure you know your local herp collecting laws.
If worried about parasites in wild food- you can freeze them for a few weeks first. Helps anyways.
Worst case- you can probably order feeder frogs online somewhere-go to kingsnake.com classifieds and search "tree frogs" in the search bar. Again, I would freeze them first if it will take frozen thawed.