A tale of many snakes

[guidofatherof5]

Too much food isn't good.
Be sure they don't eat any of that bedding. Looks like aspen.

[Skulexander]

How often should he feed her?

EDIT: And I think it is aspen.

[d_virginiana]

Depends on the snake and what you're feeding. For my adult Eastern (about 25-26 inches) he gets a couple of mice about once a week with some minnows or worms as snacks whenever we feed the baby snake. Minnows and worms are more quickly digested than pinkie mice, so they can be fed more often, like two or three times a week as long as you don't go overboard. With an only mouse diet, you'd want to probably only feed once a week.

Also, depends on your snake's activity level. My adult male gets fed that often because he NEVER stops moving. The younger one is much more sedentary, so she won't get fed that often as she gets older.

They enjoy variety too; have you ever tried fish fillets or mice?

[Stefan-A]

They won't drink the milk, but on occasions when my family members and neighbors have had wild snakes in their houses, they will put out a dish of something sweet like warm milk, and the snakes will end up going to investigate the new smell. It's just a folk remedy sort of thing, but when you're trying to find a lost pet, you might was well try everything.

It still sounds like a BS remedy.

[kibakiba]

I gotta agree with you there Stefan. I doubt milk does anything other than make you think the snake will come out.

[d_virginiana]

It still sounds like a BS remedy.

Well, it is a backwoods folk remedy. That's why I only mentioned it AFTER telling him to put out water, a heat mat, and a hide

I have seen it work, but every time I've heard people use it, they mention using warm foods, so that's probably why it attracts them, since most people don't have heat mats available if they don't already keep reptiles. A freshly baked pie sitting in a corner would probably seem like a pretty inviting heat source in a cool house. I never really gave much thought as to WHY it works before, since I've just grown up hearing it, but I do think that explanation makes sense.
But I guess when you're talking to people that actually have heat mats and stuff, it's not really very practical as a heat source now that I really think about it. Also not entirely sanitary.

Now I kind of want to do an experiment next time I go home to see how curious my snakes would be to investigate non-edible things like fruit/milk/ect. Like, to see if a sudden strong smell like that makes them curious, spooks them, or if they even care at all.

[Skulexander]

I'd be too uncomfortable feeding the snake mice. That's why we don't have big snakes. I'll try fish fillets sometime though.

I'll get rid of the milk, but I'll keep trying the water, heat source, and hiding place. I'll put them in different areas of the house now and then, and hopefully I'll eventually find the snake.

[d_virginiana]

Make sure you check out the caresheets and stuff on what fish is okay to feed and how you need to freeze it to avoid parasites and stuff. Certain types of fish contain an enzyme that is harmful to garters if fed over a long term. Tilapia seems to be a hit with a lot of snakes

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husb...fish-list.html

[Skulexander]

Thanks!