Crazy darn Garter Snakes

:shock: I gotta admit that of all my snakes, the one that is the meanest and most hyperactive is this little old Garter Snake I bought for $20.00 from a pet store. This little snake is TOTALLY unhandleable and is purely a sort of display snake only....he bites, he musks and if handled will thrash around like crazy and poop on ya. He is highly alert and follows my motion near his enclosure. :? all in all, he is a very interesting example of the differences between a lethargic python ( my Ball Pythons ) and a highly active and nervous sort of colubrid snake.

I actually rather trip on this little snake - he only cost a few bucks but he provides me with entertainment - he actually seems to know I am around and reacts to my movement and gestures. I am just glad that he is not highly venomous ( although I think I have read somewhere that Garter Snakes may possess a weak venom ???? ) as if he was he would have nailed me by now. I refer to him as my little green mamba.... :wink:

The EyeLashViper

LOL ... green mamba ... thats great :D. Do you know if he is cb or not? I've heard of people having trouble feeding them in captivity because of a specialized diet, are you having problems getting him to eat? Have you had to feed him goldfish yet, or are you on a strictly rodent diet?

If you cant get them to eat rodents, you might want to try nightcrawlers before switching to a fish diet.
Honestly, i'm not sure of the exact health differences, but i remember when i was a kid we had an eastern garter snake that we could not get to eat, started offering him worms, and he lived happily/healthily for several years.

Just out of curiosity, what's wrong with feeding them fish? I thought that was a natural prey option for them, and it's certainly a lot easier and cheaper than rodents, not to mention less likely to hurt the animal. Is it lacking in nutritional value in comparison?

Actually, I maintain him on a diet of goldfish...he will attack them immediately when I drop one in his enclosure....he will eat about three of them at a time and he seems to be very healthy - he is a very easy snake to maintain.
EyelashViper

try to switch to minnows instead of goldfish...

Oh yea, I fed mine on minnows and earthworms and he was a hapy healthy snake (he was wc too)

It seemed like Jason implied that rodents and worms were better food somehow, than fish. I'm curious why that might be.