A tale of many snakes

[guidofatherof5]

Good deal.

[Skulexander]

I've attached a couple photos. The first is of Casey (my brother's snake; he named her). She's about one and a half feet long, I think. The second is of her terrarium, which is a 30-gallon. She has a heat rock, which I've never had problems with before. The temperature is always in the mid-seventies (F), so getting too cold is not a problem for her. I don't know what kind of substrate that is. All I know is that it's some special snake bedding I bought at the pet store. She seems to love it as she's always burrowing in it. My brother feeds her nightcrawlers everyday. He even tries to feed her when she's clearly not hungry. lol

EDIT: I forgot to mention that she's a Butler's garter snake, Thamnophis butleri

[guidofatherof5]

Too much food isn't good.
Be sure they don't eat any of that bedding. Looks like aspen.

[Skulexander]

How often should he feed her?

EDIT: And I think it is aspen.

[d_virginiana]

Depends on the snake and what you're feeding. For my adult Eastern (about 25-26 inches) he gets a couple of mice about once a week with some minnows or worms as snacks whenever we feed the baby snake. Minnows and worms are more quickly digested than pinkie mice, so they can be fed more often, like two or three times a week as long as you don't go overboard. With an only mouse diet, you'd want to probably only feed once a week.

Also, depends on your snake's activity level. My adult male gets fed that often because he NEVER stops moving. The younger one is much more sedentary, so she won't get fed that often as she gets older.

They enjoy variety too; have you ever tried fish fillets or mice?

[kibakiba]

I gotta agree with you there Stefan. I doubt milk does anything other than make you think the snake will come out.

[Skulexander]

I'd be too uncomfortable feeding the snake mice. That's why we don't have big snakes. I'll try fish fillets sometime though.

I'll get rid of the milk, but I'll keep trying the water, heat source, and hiding place. I'll put them in different areas of the house now and then, and hopefully I'll eventually find the snake.

[d_virginiana]

Make sure you check out the caresheets and stuff on what fish is okay to feed and how you need to freeze it to avoid parasites and stuff. Certain types of fish contain an enzyme that is harmful to garters if fed over a long term. Tilapia seems to be a hit with a lot of snakes

[guidofatherof5]

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husb...fish-list.html

[Skulexander]

Thanks!