Feeder Guppies?

[Bart]

And they won't, because they normally do not eat rodents. They eat frogs and fish and worms. Just scent frozen pinks and there you go - rodent eaters. And remember, that garters do like moving prey, but we are talking about movement IN WATER!!!

[RedSidedSPR]

No, they eat them in wild. IF they come across a suitable sized one.

I prefer live feeding. But I wont pay 1.00 for ever pinkie, because it would get expensive FAST.

[Bart]

I never said they don't eat them - I said they don't eat them NORMALLY. In my expirience, gartes rely on their smell sense first when locating their prey and then with their eyesight. Thus (wild garters) locate fish or frogs or worms with their smelling sense and then, eventually, use their eyesight. I mean, garters expect to see movement in the water, not the dry land. Of course there are some which tasted birds or rodents and are attracted to their movement - but in my opinion they are exeptions.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yeah... your right. But there's nothing that keeps then from eating rodents, birds, or anything that's not typically mentioned.

[Bart]

Yes, but still I can't see any benefits from feeding garters with live pinkies.

[RedSidedSPR]

Not live, but there are benefits to pinkies.

When I say I prefer live, that doesnt include mice. They just pee on the bedding when the snake attacks

[Didymus20X6]

First of all, your theory about garters and water would work great, if garters were always found near bodies of water, or if they were semi-aquatic snakes. What about garters that live in areas where there isn't a readily available body of water to house such prey items (like my back yard)? I can only surmise that, in such circumstances, garters' hunting instincts are not limited by the availability of water or water-bound prey.

The benefit that I specifically listed of feeding a live pinkie to a garter would be if I had a picky eater who won't touch dead pinkies (like Little Dude and Scarlett), but who might be enticed to eat if the prey was moving.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yup. And than, that should get them eaten dead ones.

[jitami]

There will always be debate about feeding live and I do encourage people to switch to frozen/thawed as soon as possible, but my 2 wild caught garters prefer mice to ANYTHING else. They'll take mice over fish and especially worms. Neither cares for worms. I have no doubt that they ate rodents in their 'previous lives'. On the other hand, my captive bred kids will eat just about anything... which is one of the reasons I often suggest captive bred pets

[Bart]

Whoa! Hold your horses! I'm feeding my snakes with mice myself! I'm not talking about not feeding them with mice at all, I'm talking about not feeding them with live pinks!

First of all, your theory about garters and water would work great, if garters were always found near bodies of water, or if they were semi-aquatic snakes. What about garters that live in areas where there isn't a readily available body of water to house such prey items (like my back yard)? I can only surmise that, in such circumstances, garters' hunting instincts are not limited by the availability of water or water-bound prey.

The benefit that I specifically listed of feeding a live pinkie to a garter would be if I had a picky eater who won't touch dead pinkies (like Little Dude and Scarlett), but who might be enticed to eat if the prey was moving.

Yes - it still works great, even for garters that live on the wasteland without any water. Such food as pinkies are found under ground, where eyes aren't used so much, because there is no light and is dark. Like I said, garters locate their prey thanks to smelling sense and that's how they find pinks. No movement is needed. In the other hand, when they hunt fish, they use their eyes and that's why they are attracted to movement in water. I mean, look at the fising garter. You can clearly see how he's following fish with his eyes. In the other hand, when I feed with pinkies, my snakes do eat them on sight without any hesitation (after locating them of course with their tongue) - OR when they are in water and are moving (I move them with tongs). No anything between.