How Much To Feed?

[ssssnakeluvr]

nightcrawlers are ok to feed, they are mostly water and will pass thru fast...and make quite a mess!!!! if you are strictly feeding worms...you will need to dust them once a week with vitamin powder as they aren't the most nutritious food items. you can feed cut up pieces of trout twice a week and be fine. worms won't necessarily make them fat, but they can get overweight.

[GartersRock]

I might cut her back to maybe twice a week... But thats just my opinion.

[GartersRock]

And yes. I would offer some different food items (fish, pinkies etc) or dust with supplements as Don says.

[Garter_Gertie]

I went a week between feedings for Peeps & Jeeps trying to get them on f/t pinkies. Jeepers would have NONE of it. And Peepers I left alone because it looked like he was getting ready to shed and I knew he wouldn't eat anyway and only get stressed.

[garterchick]

i'm glad this topic came up because i have a related question. can you put a garter on a weight-loss diet? i think all of my adults are overweight and i wonder if the "big" snakes i have lost in the past didn't die of fatty liver. so i've tried to restrict the food intake. i still feed once a week, but instead of all-you-can-eat i feed a cartain number of pinkies. sounds good, right? problem is, they kill me with the "are you sure that's all there is?" behavior. so now they always act like they're starving and i can't take it.
any alternatives?

[GartersRock]

Hmmm... Good question. I have never had a problem with overweight snakes but I would love to hear the answer!!

[ssssnakeluvr]

an overweight garter can be a problem. feeding adults once a week is normal. don't give them all they can eat....an adult can eat a couple pinkie rats or small mouse a week will be fine...or several chunks of fish. with adults eating mice, if they start to get fat you can feed them a mouse every other week. babies can be fed twice a week.

[Loren]

Mine all get an apropriately sized rodent a week, on average(young youngs more often sometimes), unless they are too small for rodents, then they get fed worm pieces or slugs or guppies about every 5 days. I skip a week here and there with adults that look nice and fat.
My babies dont grow as fast as those that are fed every 3 days, but they still grow up to be nice healthy looking adults.
If they get too fat, feed them less, and let them complain.

[Snake lover 3-25]

i feed mine 3 fuzzies once a week and the babies till they are fat twice a week

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I stuff my baby garters like little sausages

I stuff my adult garters like... big sausages