feeding worries

[GarterGuy]

Hey Jen, welcome to the forum. As far as your checkered not eating....there could be a ton of reasons why. What temp. are you keeping him at? Too cool temps. will slow them down and they usually won't feed.....too high temps. can also stress them with the same result. Has anything else changed with him? Less activity, change in caging or where the cage is set? Have you tried giving him other prey items, like fish? Sometimes the flopping movement of a fish will get a problematic feeder "in the mood". I'd use rosies or platies, not goldfish. For the most part, as long as he's got good weight, is active and has no other outward signs of any problems....snakes can go quite a while without eating. Three weeks is kind of long though for a garter. Hope this helps some.
Roy

[Cazador]

Hi Jennifer,

I definitely agree with Roy. I think your little garter isn't currently interested in pinks. Try offering worms or fish. The first goal is to find a scent that is irresistable and gets the garter eating again. Then you can get it back on rodents, if you choose to. Sometimes it makes a big difference if you offer live fish in shallow water, so that their back/fins disturb the water's surface when they swim. The smell and motion is often more than a garter can resist . Keep us posted, okay?

Rick

[bionicmomma]

Thank you SO much! I called the East Bay Vivarium today as well and they suggested that I should check my heat. I have one side of the tank that stays about 78-80 degrees and the other side is the cool side. He spends most of his time under the lamp so I'm going to try getting the heat on the one side up a little. Is it necessary to keep the heat up even at night? I'll be getting an under tank heater this weekend for sure. I guess I'll call it my mothers day present! lol.... Thanks again I'll keep you posted!
~Jenn

[GarterGuy]

Actually Jenn, it's really better to allow the garters to cool off at night. I'd put all the heaters on a timer, so that they all turn off at night. Yeh, your temps. do sound a bit low, and especially if your snake is constantly sitting on the heated side of the tank.....he's telling you he's cold. I usually try to have my "hot" temps. in the mid 80's or so, with the average tank temp. in the mid 70's or so. Also, you're going to want to make sure that your little guy has hiding places on both the cool side and warm side of the tank, so ha can choose where he feels most comfortable. Good luck with him!
Roy

[Nova89]

I used to just drop the flopping fish in front of the garter's face and he ate immediately. That really helps.

[bionicmomma]

Thank you so much guys. I am planning on working on the heating situation this week and my daughter and I are going to keep our hands off for a few days and see if the combination works. I am sure things will work out. I had a successful day of feeding snakes, toads, and leopard geckos today, so maybe it's a good sign!

[adamanteus]

Hi Jenn. Hopefully your checkered will eat was you get the heating sorted out. Let us know how it goes.

[Snaky]

Welcome here, I think everybody pretty much told everything, so indeed let us know how it turns out.

[bionicmomma]

YAHOOO!!!! I went and got a under tank heater and a timer for the light and the heater, let him stew for a few days with the new found warmth and he was MORE then happy to eat today!!!! YAY!!! I'm SO happy!! Thank you SO much for advice to a very worrisome mommy like me! *doin the happy dance*

~Jenn

[adamanteus]

Great news Jenn, I'm really pleased for you. well done.