Mice make garters bigger then on worms?

[Philminator]

wow that would be something to see. I hear the florida blue gets 4 ft then there is that thamnophis gigas I heard of but never seen other then a few pics doing google search

[ssssnakeluvr]

worms don't have much in them...mostly water, however ordinoides specialize in eating them. mice won't necessarily make them bigger, but provide more nourishment in a smaller package...they grow faster on mice. a lot of the species will grow over 2 feet, mainly the females. radix, wanderings, easterns, red sided, valleys.... i have a melanistic eastern that's about 43" and a florida blue around 36"

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I am going to post my reply to your pm in here for everyone! saves me some typing

I would say that while a garter fed mice might grow faster depending on how often you feed it, it probably won't grow larger than one that is well fed with worms/fish, I just caught a 3 foot eastern 2 weeks ago by a lake where she's probably never eaten a mouse in her life! There are so many darned frogs and tadpoles and minnows there.... I have had young garters grow at lightning speed eating fish fillets. It also depends on their genetics, some garters are just genetically built to grow bigger than others. My hypo eastern I have had for 2 years now, and she just doesn't seem like she is going to grow into a monster, and I noticed all of the garters from that area tend to be smaller, while the easterns by brady's lake are all enormous and put any male northern water snake to shame. A snake never will truly max out, reptiles never stop growing, they just slow down as the get bigger and older. Multiple mice every week would probably make an adult garter fat and shorten it's life span. I personally don't agree with an all rodent diet for garters just because it's not what they naturally would eat, I prefer to do rodents one meal, fish the next, and every so often throw in some worms. BUT I am not against those who choose to feed that way in any way. It's just my personal choice to vary the diet.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

also I would like to add that worms may be made up of 80% water... but so are people!!! and, I would imagine, pinkies too!!!! I think worms are very nutritional for garters, especially well fed worms. Worms seek out soil and decaying plant matter that is RICH in nutrients. So their stomach contents are full of vitamins and minerals and lots of good stuff, it's not just all dirt!