Feeding question

[NetBSD]

my garter Jake doesnt seem to hunt for his minnows in the water, its like he just isnt noticing them or something, once they flop out of his water bowl he dives for them and eats perfect for me, is there anyway i can teach him how to hunt in the water?

[tyflier]

You might try a guppy or something with a little more size to it. My girl doesn't like to hunt her minnows, but she LOVES to hunt guppies. I think it might be a size issue. She eats the minnows...she doesn't actively hunt them the way she does the guppies...

Take this with a grain of salt as my experience with garters is limited...

[jitami]

It could be a size/visual thing, but likely he really just hasn't noticed them there yet. You could make the water more shallow so the fish splash around a bit. Once he knows there's a possibility of fish there he will check his water bowl for them I thought it was odd that my captive bred babies never hung out in the water bowl like my wild caught adult did. That was until they had their first live fish meal... now they periodically check the water bowl and will even go through the fishing/hunting motions when there's nothing there

[infernalis]

From my observations I feel strongly that contrast is a factor.

If the minnow does not stand out, the snake may not even notice it is there.

Dark colored fish and polliwogs or fancy guppies are easy for the snake to see in the water.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

what color is your water bowl?

try using a clear or white water dish, with only enough water in it so that the fish wil stay alive and breathing... make it so that they really have to flop and splash to move about.

Dekaybrown is right about the contrast thing... The better the snakes can see the fish, the better off you will be. If he is not noticing them, he either just can't see them, or he is too focused on something elsewhere to look into the water bowl (he may be more concerned with you than the bowl)... try surrounding 3 sides of his tank with cloth or paper so he feels a bit more secure, and maybe drape some foliage over top of his water bowl from the lid of the tank for some cover.

[NetBSD]

maybe thats my problem, im using a ceramic blue dish, took a while for the ribbon to even see the minniows in her bowl. ill give a clear dish a try

[Lori P]

Clear dishes seem to make all the difference in the world. The only issue you might find is that some snakes (and I won't mention any names) seem to get stuck trying to go thru the glass instead of reaching over. Or maybe I just have a stupid snake or two. LOL!!

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol too funny

[jitami]

Clear dishes seem to make all the difference in the world. The only issue you might find is that some snakes (and I won't mention any names) seem to get stuck trying to go thru the glass instead of reaching over. Or maybe I just have a stupid snake or two. LOL!!

Yours are not the only stupid snakes

[prattypus]

Hey, I can't let this behavior be limited to snakes. Many a time I've tried walking through a patio door!