Frozen Rodents?

[guidofatherof5]

[Light of Dae]

If you need more convincing that live feeding isn't a good thing take a look at the first post in this thread over on RFUK :
And this is why feeding live is oft frowned upon. - Reptile Forums

There's nothing natural about a snake in a tank, and unless it's a huge tank you aren't going to see any natural hunting behaviour, so why would anyone risk injuring their snake? I'd be gutted if anything happened to any of my snakes, and don't know anyone over here that would consider feeding a live rodent - maybe that has something to do with us Europeans having to pay good money for our garters rather than picking one up in the garden?

I just looked n read the first page of that link... Holy Crap that is a 6 1/2 foot yellow ratsnake!

I agree. Frozen mouse or no mouse. If you want to 'witness' natural hunting behavior you have two options. 1.) Feed a safe live fish like Guppies n Platys. or 2.) Watch Animal Planet. That is what it is for.

A pet is a pet, It shouldn't be allowed to stay wild if wild caught, it would never be happy, in a tank. That is why we tame them, and if they do not adjust we let them go.

[EasternGirl]

In the wild, snakes come across many situations that end up getting them injured or killed. The life span of a garter in the wild is going to be considerably shortened as compared to the life span of a garter in a captive situation, if, and I stress this "if" strongly, if we can give them an optimal living environment...which should be our goal. Our goal in keeping an animal in captivity should be to diminish risks and problems that the animal will run across in the wild. In the wild...a garter will come across live food that will be riddled with parasites, and also, the garter may be attacked and injured while trying to eat live prey. The chances of the garter being attacked and injured by live prey increases if you put live prey in a tank with the garter...an enclosed space...in which the snake has no means to escape. For these reasons, we always feed garters frozen/thawed mice.

[mikem]

Live food can and will injure your snake. Not worth the risk.

[Didymus20X6]

[Jeff B]

Thanks to all for the replies. I would rather use live food because part of reason to have a snake is to watch what happens in nature. Isn't that why we watch "Animal Planet"?

No we watch animal planet to laugh at people who think every twig snap or howl is a bigfoot.

[mb90078]

I'm quite sure that many garters would almost never eat a rodent in the wild to begin with. Some exceptions of course, but if you're looking to replicate the wild perfectly, depending on what species you have, probably (or at least possibly) not feeding rodents at all would be the best immitation of wild.

[d_virginiana]

Best explanation I ever heard for this was when we were talking to our vet about why he thought it was a bad idea to give dogs bones, since wild canines ate them all the time. He just deadpanned us and said "No one has ever brought me a wild coyote that choked on a bone. Not that it doesn't happen, it's just that people don't usually spend a lot of time watching wild coyotes".

Well-balanced is a lot better than 'natural' for anything living in a tank. I've got one really old garter that eats chopped pinkies from a dish (garter geriatric diet?). Not natural, but definitely what's best for him.

No we watch animal planet to laugh at people who think every twig snap or howl is a bigfoot.

"I do believe there's a squatch in these woods!"
Best. Show. Ever.

[brain]

If that's the case, you better dump in some parasites, add a few predators that eat snakes and give yourself that well rounded "natural" experience.

There is nothing "natural" about keeping a wild animal in a cage.

Grinning, Well pointed Wayne. Love it

[Gregavi]

My local "pet store guy" recommended live feeder goldfish for my garter. I put a few in a shallow dish as he recommended and the snake has not eaten any (or anything) in days. I guess I'll try frozen/thawed pinkies.