Garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) questions

[David_F]

Found a few garter snakes around work tonight. My roommate decided he wants to keep one but wasn't sure what to feed it. So, after reading some care sheets, and looking around here to see what their natural prey might be, I've determined these snakes are living mostly on toads (probably some other things as well but toads are the most abundant). I plan to help him get the snake switched to f/t mice but until then, or if that doesn't happen, will feeding the snake toads and fish be healthy? My main concern is the toxins toads produce. Can they build up to unhealthy levels in the snake? Another concern is fish. I remember reading something that said you shouldn't feed a snake a lot of fish. Will calcium deficiency be a problem? I know releasing the snake would be the best thing to do (and it will be done soon, like before mid-October, so it has time to find a place to chill for the winter if it doesn't acclimate well) but he wants to keep it and, frankly, I kind of like the snake. He's mean as hell.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Wade]

Snakes that feed on toads naturally should have no problem metabolizing whatever toxins the toads posess.

There's a lot of debate over wether or not feeding a snake fish is bad long term. Some people suggest using bait minnows instead of goldfish claiming that there's a lower parasite risk, but I can attest to the fact that minnows and feeder goldfish are raised on the same farms and distributed by the same suppliers, so I think that idea is just wishful thinking.

Calcium defeciency from fish? I'm not a nutritionist, but fish do have bones and many snakes do live off fish almost exclusively. I think it's more likely that problems arise from the chemicals and medications used to ship and and treat feeder fish. Long term, this stuff MAY cause problems. Just speculation based on experience. I would suggest setting up a small aquarium with chemical and biological filtration to keep the feeders in for a week or so prior to feeding them off to the snakes in order to clean them out.

Garters MIGHT take mice without pre-scenting, they're pretty general in terms of prey they'll take, but often they'll refuse. I often think (more speculation) that the hair of feeder rodents can cause long-term problems for snakes that aren't adapted to eat them. For that reason, I prefer pinkie mice when feeding rodents to snakes who's wild diet would primarily be fish or frogs. Also, mice are much richer, and it might be good to feed sparingly compared to the volume of fish.

Garter snakes are also often very fond of earthworms. They probably wouldn't be suitable as a complete diet, but they'd be good to add variety.

Wade

 

[David_F]

Thanks a lot, Wade. Yeah, I couldn't remember what I'd read about fish. For some reason I thought it was a calcium thing but like you said, they've got bones. The chemical and medication thing sounds familiar. Have to look around and see if I can find the stuff I read. I didn't think about the rodent hair possibly being a problem. I'll probably just stick to toads, fish, worms, and a pinkie thrown in occasionally.

Thanks again.

 

[Thoth]

Its not a calcium deficiency. The problem is minnows, sardines, and other certain species of baitfish have a high level of an enzyme thiaminase which will to severe vitamin B deficiency. You can also feed him pieces of fish for human consumption avoiding the whole parasite issue.
You know you can keep them communally, did so when I was a kid with wc garters, but my mom made me free them.


Heres a link to a pretty good care guide
www.mcwetboy.com/gartercare/gartercare.pdf

 

[Empi]

I have kept garter snakes and even bread them. They are really easy to take care of. They will eat worms, goldfish and tree frogs. I would not feed them pinky mice or toads. Garter snakes have a hard time digesting pinkies and do not have a high imunity to the poison in toads. They're are a few types of toads they can eat but I would not risk it. I fed one of mine a toad that I got from a friend of mine and it died from it a few hours later. The really sad part is that snake just happend to be a rare melenistic garter snake that was all black with very faint gray stripes on its back. Anyway don't feed toads it is not worth the risk. They will be perfectly healthy on a diet of goldfish and worms. Just put the goldfish in they're water dish and they will go in and catch them. Don't feed them just worms either because they will get mouth rot do to lack of proper nutrition. Other than that if you have a male and female you will have little babies slithering around before you know it. There are a couple good books out there on them too. Be sure to give them a good bbasking spot and a big water dish. They like to bask and they like to swim. Good luck with them.

 

[David_F]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I know they can be kept communally. Thought about keeping them all together but I'd need to get a bigger enclosure. I also have a couple other snakes in the apartment and dealing with the possibility of parasites with one WC snake is going to be a big enough pain in the butt. Since I'm sure I'll be the one ending up taking care of the snake (my roommate is as worse than a kid ) I'd rather deal with just one.

@Thoth: Pretty interesting care sheet. It looks like it has some info that conflicts with other things I've seen but I'll look over all of it again and figure out what's going to work best.

Thanks again, everyone.

 

[David_F]

One other quick question. Two of the snakes we caught were about 2' long with nice, thick bodies. The third was about the same length but very narrow bodied. I'm guessing the thin one is a male?

Thanks.

 

[Empi]

One other quick question. Two of the snakes we caught were about 2' long with nice, thick bodies. The third was about the same length but very narrow bodied. I'm guessing the thin one is a male?

Thanks.

Yeah I would say that's probly right. The easiest way to tell is by the tail. The females have short tails and the males have long tails and are normally smaller.