san fran babies :)

[Mommy2many]

Welcome to the forum! try cutting up the earthworms, maybe a tiny bit of water. I notice that my squiggles all come running when they smell their food!

[Journey Fan]

Hello from California...
Is there any chance that you would part with 2.2 of your San Frans? The only way we can keep this kind is if we get them from over seas.
Thanks JF

[infernalis]

Hello from California...
Is there any chance that you would part with 2.2 of your San Frans? The only way we can keep this kind is if we get them from over seas.
Thanks JF

Could you please be so kind as to show us where that bit of information came from??

To the best of our collective Knowledge, it is illegal to posses them at all in the USA.

[ssssnakeluvr]

yea, they won't allow us to have them period.... if you kjnow of a way to get them that would be awesome!! even with documentation that they came from overseas, they still won't allow them AND the shipper also could get in trouble.

[viper]

thank you all for your kind replies, i offered them chopped earthworms and it would appear that most have eaten these. there are the odd couple that have not yet started but they have good weight. i will keep offering a bowl of these as up to now they will only take food if it is moving..

once they are feeding well i will mix in some chopped pinkies and some fish and hope they will take to this

as far as i was aware also it is illegal to posess san frans in the us as they are a protected species, id be interested in seeing any evidence to suggest otherwise though

[infernalis]

thank you all for your kind replies, i offered them chopped earthworms and it would appear that most have eaten these. there are the odd couple that have not yet started but they have good weight. i will keep offering a bowl of these as up to now they will only take food if it is moving..

once they are feeding well i will mix in some chopped pinkies and some fish and hope they will take to this

as far as i was aware also it is illegal to posess san frans in the us as they are a protected species, id be interested in seeing any evidence to suggest otherwise though

Congratulations on getting some to eat.

[Journey Fan]

thank you all for your kind replies, i offered them chopped earthworms and it would appear that most have eaten these. there are the odd couple that have not yet started but they have good weight. i will keep offering a bowl of these as up to now they will only take food if it is moving..

once they are feeding well i will mix in some chopped pinkies and some fish and hope they will take to this

as far as i was aware also it is illegal to posess san frans in the us as they are a protected species, id be interested in seeing any evidence to suggest otherwise though

Hello Viper,
Since you are going to give them worms which have gut loads of various bacteria, etc... why don't you try tadpoles? There must be a pond close by. It is spring and around our place the frogs are croaking and busy reproducing. My garters would always eat tadpoles. Then you can wean them off after the put on some weight. Keep a few frozen frogs around to help you scent the pinkies later.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Hello Viper,
Since you are going to give them worms which have gut loads of various bacteria, etc... why don't you try tadpoles? There must be a pond close by. It is spring and around our place the frogs are croaking and busy reproducing. My garters would always eat tadpoles. Then you can wean them off after the put on some weight. Keep a few frozen frogs around to help you scent the pinkies later.

If you get nightcrawlers from a good source, such as the ones DMF bait co. farms, I would feed those to a snake any day over WC tadpoles... the problem with grabbing tadpoles and frogs from the wild is 1) you are depleting their population when there are better options out there and 2) you have no idea what those tadpoles may or may not be carrying in and on them (parasites?)

there is nothing wrong with worms, they are an important part of a garter snake's natural diet, some species will feed exclusively on worms and slugs... worms living in high quality soil are even better because they target the richest things they can find to eat and they pack themselves full of nutrient rich food that will benefit the snake that eats it. if you have a really finicky snake that will only take worms, if you feed him adequately he will grow just as fast as a snake feeding on pinkies. worms are a great starter food for baby garters because most babies will eat them and it's very easy to get a baby to eat worm scented pinkies right off the bat. I got my snow, albino and my flame to eat their first pinky pieces while still in their shipping container by scenting with worms. It is true that they LOVE tadpoles and at times, tadpoles are needed to save a finicky baby from starvation, but starting garters on a wild food source that is only available seasonally, and that is not available to everyone is a bad idea. Sometimes garters like tadpoles too much and will not want to eat anything but those or items scented with it. This is a huge inconvenience to anyone who wishes to own a snake you are rearing. Hope this helps!

[infernalis]

Not to mention that PROVING that those papers are for the snakes in question would be a tough cookie without say for instance a DNA profile attached.

If an endangered species is illegal for private parties to keep, it's straight across the board simple as that.

[ConcinusMan]

Earthworms are fine. They just not as an exclusive source of food, and they have to be fed a lot, and often. Most of my snakes will eat f/t pinkies and silversides as well as live fish or night crawlers so I don't really know but you can try cutting a few night crawlers in halves and putting them in a dish with pinkies. Shannon showed a trick a while back on how to trick worm eaters into eating pinkies so maybe she can chime in and help you out.