Can I catch minnows?

[GGarter]

You can but there is a risk of transfering parasites from the fish to you snake though.
If you freeze and thaw them before feeding them to your snake there should be no problem, although the content in the fish of vitamin b may be broken down in the process. You can add vitamin b to the f/t fish and that problem is solved.
Some are more conservative/careful/afraid, call it what you want, than others regarding this issue. I would be reluctant to feed semiadult or adult minnows to my snake without freezing them prior to use. I am planning on finding some minnow eggs and let them hatch and grow in an aquarium. It is not nearly the easiest way to do it but I think it is very interesting to see their development. On the other hand I'm just a nerd

[KITKAT]

Please remember that minnows contain thiaminase.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Please remember that minnows contain thiaminase.

yes, minnows contain thiaminase, but it is believed to be much less than that of what goldfish contain. I use rosy minnows sometimes when feeding baby garters and I have raised quite a few to big stong robust snakes with them in use. As long as they are getting plenty of other things to vary their diet and routine supplements with PLENTY of B1, using minnows -sometimes- is fine. I've got a garter I raised from a wee one, started out on small minnows w/ supplement and she's 6 now! The small amount of thiaminase enzyme can only destroy so much thiamine before it breaks down itself. Wild garter snakes get their fair share of minnows.... without supplements from humans.

I personally would not feed wild caught minnows to a captive garter snake. The parasite possibilities are endless.

I also use thawed trout, but I don't like to feed my garters everything from the freezer. Not only does the freezer break things down (yes I know you can supplement that) I believe there are parts of a fish other than the flesh that they should be getting. This is why I sometimes still use minnows and I have not ever had a single problem doing so.