Post any feeding tips (needed for WC adult)

[charles parenteau]

Frogs ,toad,worm ,fish are the only food for wild adult garter snake!!!rodent are not in their diet!...

[Stefan-A]

Frogs ,toad,worm ,fish are the only food for wild adult garter snake!!!rodent are not in their diet!...

They are, if we're talking about T. sirtalis and T. elegans, or some of the other generalists.

[Jeff B]

Yeah I would agree, many adults of many species/subspecies of garters will eat rodents if they happen across a nest of babies or youngsters in the wild, granted they aren't likely to subdue an adult mouse although I have heard of that happening as well with a captive radix I believe. Frogs, toads, fish, worms and other amphibians make up the majority of the diets but you can't completely discount mice as a natural prey item.

[guidofatherof5]

Yeah I would agree, many adults of many species/subspecies of garters will eat rodents if they happen across a nest of babies or youngsters in the wild, granted they aren't likely to subdue an adult mouse although I have heard of that happening as well with a captive radix I believe. Frogs, toads, fish, worms and other amphibians make up the majority of the diets but you can't completely discount mice as a natural prey item.

I know that my large females(radix) would take a live or dead mouse. The fight would be on.
I would never try a live one for fear one of my girls would get injured.

I would think that my suburban radixes have ample opportunities to get young mice. I've had wild caught radixes refuse fish but take pinkies in a heartbeat. No scenting, just pinkies.

[charles parenteau]

I know that eastern eat rodent sometime ....but I think the best way to start feeding adult especially if it wild caught ...you should star with their main diet...

When I was 12 ,I caught a huge female eastern 110cm(my biggest of all time)
I put the snake in a container with a smaller one,few minutes later beleive or not this snake was eating the other one,I tried to pull the snake out of her mouth ,she grab my thumb and ate it completly i was unable to do anything,didnt want to kill this snake.Finally she release me,I bleed for at least 2 hours and had scard for few years!!!I had 2 friend with me and they still remember it..
I kept the snake for a while and I never encounter a eastern garter like her...
I caught I mouse in my neighbour house,but the mouse alive in the vivarium,the snake jump on the mouse and eat it alive and crush it everywhere in the cage like Indigo snake do...it happen few time.When small bird knock out in the windows i give the bird to this garter and without any hesitation jump on the bird and ate it....insane

I put few red belly snake(storeria occipitomaculata o)in the cage and one by one she ate it just like they were worms!!!!!she ate a small garter snake also.
I though that it was normal for garter snake to act like this,but it never never happen to me again to experience things like that...(most of my friend still remember this snake it was over 18 years ago).
I think when garter snake reach this size it become more and more open to any food source they can overpower ....this is an old story but that make me love garter snake and honestly I will love them forever!!!

[ConcinusMan]

Frogs ,toad,worm ,fish are the only food for wild adult garter snake!!!rodent are not in their diet!...

I wouldn't quite go so far as to say that. I used to think the same thing not so long ago. I have a red stripe gravid female ordinoides, you know, the worm lovers. Now granted, she's been a very enthusiastic eater from the start and must have ate a dozen night crawlers in 10 days but after a 5 day fast, I took a frozen pinky, made a few cuts in it, then thawed it in a bag. I offered her this bloody pinky yesterday and she chowed, practically taking my finger with it, then she begged for more.

My male hypoery concinnus has also accepted pinkies, as well as silversides and night crawlers. Shannon reported to me that the anery concinnus pair I sent her, chowed down on fuzzies.

Bottom line is, when you have a wild snake that is refusing to eat, you need to offer many possible foods until you find one that it will take. A good place to start, is where the snake was found. Find food items from that area. You can always slowly wean them off of that food they take, and on to other foods. My Amy (radix) refused to eat pinky parts so I first scented them with fish, which she loves. Slowly but surely, I fed her more pinky parts. Now she chows on unscented pinky parts, no problem.