Quote Originally Posted by SourceAll View Post
Awesome, thanks for posting that as I'm definitely interested in what experienced keepers are feeding their snakes.

You just reminded me of something I keep forgetting to bring up... You said some fish are parasite diminished not parasite free. So, when I got back into keeping herps about 5 years ago I purchased a Woma python from a top breeder and he told me to only feed frozen rodents as live can have parasites. I haven't heard anyone mention parasites in mice in the garter world. Do you know this to be true or have you heard this?

Also, I have to say, that I hate that pinkies are considered a perfect staple and that you don't need to feed them anything else (according to the 2 care sheets I read on this site) One of the reasons I started looking into garters is to avoid mice

Any other advice for a new keeper or snake recommendations?
They are considered parasite diminished bc you are raising them to thrive in pristine conditions by having no overcrowding, proper filtration, and proper acid base balances. Parasites certainly can be in rodents. That is why we as keepers feed frozen thawed. There is always that chance that at any given time by continuing to feed live, there is more of a risk for a reptile to have a outbreak of high parasitic loads. This is true but can be reduced by feeding frozen thawed, keeping your husbandry numbers dialed in correctly, and very importantly to pay attention to cleanliness of the terrarium. That is crucial for garters who have high metabolisms and have high outputs of waste products. Keeping water bowls clean and disinfected on a regular basis will all help to keep parasitic loads to a minimum. Pink mice and rats are not completely a perfect staple bc they are mostly (90%) moisture. Lacking calcium mainly but they do have whole organs however small. Pink rats being a larger animal has a greater proportion but still mostly moisture. You can also steer clear of rodents if that is your choice but the garters will need complete nutrition from a varied safe diet which may include reptile vitamin/ mineral supplementation.