Milk?

[NickeyV]

I just thought of something and wanted to ask can garter snakes drink milk like you know for calcium and all that stuff? Has anyone ever tried it before?

[EasternGirl]

I have never heard of a garter snake drinking milk...garters get their calcium from the bones they ingest in pinkies. If you feel that the snake is not getting enough calcium from pinkies there are supplements you can use...why do you feel that the snake needs calcium?

[NickeyV]

I have never heard of a garter snake drinking milk...garters get their calcium from the bones they ingest in pinkies. If you feel that the snake is not getting enough calcium from pinkies there are supplements you can use...why do you feel that the snake needs calcium?

Mine is fine on pinkies. I was just wondering and it just came to mind.

[chris-uk]

Milk wouldn't be a part of any garters diet, so I wouldn't give it to any of mine.
Someone could argue that most garters don't eat pinkies in the wild, but I think garters are opportunistic and if they came across a mouse nest with suitable sized prey they wouldn't turn down the meal. I couldn't see a garter ever drinking milk, they couldn't milk the cow (no opposable thumbs you see).

[PINJOHN]

, they couldn't milk the cow (no opposable thumbs you see).

as opposed to calf's which do have opposable thumbs

[chris-uk]

as opposed to calf's which do have opposable thumbs

Touché John. I see that my throwaway witisism had a significant flaw in the logic.

[ConcinusMan]

I wouldn't try it. They might lack the necessary enzymes to digest lactose. (milk sugar) Pinkies and/or whole fish, even if given infrequently, should provide enough calcium. Even earthworms are rich enough in calcium if they are "gut loaded", that is, full of what they eat.

[MasSalvaje]

I wouldn't try it. They might lack the necessary enzymes to digest lactose. (milk sugar) Pinkies and/or whole fish, even if given infrequently, should provide enough calcium. Even earthworms are rich enough in calcium if they are "gut loaded", that is, full of what they eat.

Good call Richard. The primary enzyme is lactase. Humans from a pastoral lineage have just recently (relatively speaking of course) evolved the ability to produce lactase as adults. In the majority of the worlds population humans stop producing lactase about the time they hit puberty. Other mammals also quit producing lactase at about the time they become sexually mature. If a Garter (or any animal that doesn't produce lactase) were to drink milk they wouldn't be able to break down the lactose and it would ferment in the gut causing major problems. Sorry for the bit of trivial info.

-Thomas

[RedSidedSPR]

That's a new one.

[infernalis]

Whole fish have calcium in the skeletons as well.

Pinkies have a belly full of mouse milk, I would not risk giving cows milk.