Caught a Garter snake last week

[Roger Wildcat]

I took Concinnusman suggestion and moved stuff around in the aquarium. First, the enclosure is moved to a window where it get partial sun in the morning time till about 11am and indirect light rest of the day. The plant is moved to the front and the hideaway moved back next to the water bowl with the entrance facing slightly away from the plant with a clear opening on the left side.

It seemed to work better now. The snake either sit in the hideaway with it head poking out of the entrance or it is moving around on the plant. Right now, the snake is sitting on the plant with it head raised up like it is basking or observing the surrounding.

As for the feeding, I tried alot of suggestion but none had worked until I tried assist feeding this morning. The day-old frozen pinky was cut up into 7 small pieces and it ate 3 of the pieces. The three pieces went down easily, but it wouldn't open its mouth after the 3rd piece.

I am guess that it ate in self defense since it coiled itself around my pinky finger fairly tight and had it mouth wide open prior to me feeding it. So, I just put it back in the cage when it started to refuse food after the 3rd piece. The snake ate about 1/3 of the pinky which is the head and hind legs with tail.

Now that it have some food in the belly, how long can I leave the snake alone and let it settle down more before offering food again?

[guidofatherof5]

Please be careful with direct or even partial sun.
Aquariums can heat up very quickly and over heat.
Garters can handle temps down near freezing but are far less tolerate of heat.
Just something to be aware of.

[infernalis]

Now that it have some food in the belly, how long can I leave the snake alone and let it settle down more before offering food again?

4 days to a week will be fine.

[Roger Wildcat]

I'll keep an eye on the enclosure since I am home all morning everyday. If it get too hot then it will stay in the original place.

Any suggestion on a thermometer? Are zilla digital thermometer any good, something that I can move the probe from hot to cold side?

[Sonya610]

Any suggestion on a thermometer? Are zilla digital thermometer any good, something that I can move the probe from hot to cold side?

Yeah, if the sun hits the tank and it gets too hot it could cook your snake fast.

A lot of people use these cheap little coralife thermometers, usually one for hte cool side and one for the warm basking spot. If you order some online I would be tempted to get an extra one since they are so cheap, some I have had worked perfectly for over 3 years, but just ordered some more and one is faulty.


Amazon.com: coralife thermometer

[infernalis]

This was rather inexpensive at Wal Mart...

[ConcinusMan]

I like the multiple probe units made by springfield instruments. The coralife ones are cheap but very unreliable and inaccurate in my experience. I wouldn't risk direct sun in any case. Too risky, even if you're there to keep an eye on it. I'm not against it if your enclosure is made up entirely of screened walls and top, (no glass!) and if half the enclosure is shaded. During the summer I often put snakes outside in a screen enclosure to get some sun but you have to make darn sure there is shade for them and I don't do it if it's going to be a hot day.

[guidofatherof5]

I use ZooMed brand. Seem to work just fine.

[Sonya610]

I use ZooMed brand. Seem to work just fine.

Those Zoomeds look suspiciously/exactly like the coralife! Different color but probably the same manufacturing plant in China is my guess!

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, just like every brand of CD/DVD in the world is manufactured exactly the same in one of very few factories. The exact same disk, manufactured in the exact same factory, can have hundreds of different brand names.

I don't know man. I checked two of those coralife thermometers against USDA checked and calibrated thermometers. Neither one of the coralife thermometers was accurate. Way too far off for my taste. They're only close at room temperature. The higher or lower the temperature goes beyond that, the farther off they get. At 85 degrees true temperature, the two I bought are reading 90-92. At 60 degrees, they're reading 54 or so. It's that bad. You get what you pay for.