BP Snacks...Any Such Thing?

Thank you, Carson, for some wise words. There are a lot of different ways to keep animals, and some are clearly better for the animals' well-being than others, but sometimes the line isn't so clear. As you mention, the snake might have been a rescue, or the owner may have been misled into believing that alternating weekly feedings of mice and fish was a good idea. The visitor was asking whether it's a good idea for a ball python, and as Kara clearly states, it's not. This site is here for education of reptile owners and interacting as a community, and attacking someone who has a question is not a good way to do either of those.

Rex started it.

Thats right, blame it on the snake :P

Rex is the user!

hey now, dont go blaming me for all this

you are the one who said he was a troll.

i didnt say he was, i suggested it

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Originally Posted by BallPythonBabe448

Garter snakes are never suposed to eat fish. Rat snake *can* occasionaly. Pythons and Boas NEVER!

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You are infact completely incorrect. In the wild most garter snakes and ribbon snakes live on an amphibious diet...but in captivity a reccomended switch for the snake is over to a diet consisting of fish/worms. Being that fish dont give the average species its complete nutritional requirements. Contrary to that though, there are infact a few aquatic species of garter snakes that sole diet is comprised of fish/leeches and other aquatic native creatures.

here's a qoute directly from a site all about garter snakes:
"Feeding
Trying to feed a captive snake a completely wild diet may be difficult--if not illegal or annoying to your local animal welfare groups. The amphibians typical of wild diets may be replaced by fish and earthworms which, with some vitamin supplementation, will provide a nutritionally balanced diet.

Harvesting earthworms is relatively easy, but care must be taken to collect them from areas free from pesticides and herbicides. The worms should be rinsed clean before being offered to the garter. To prevent the worms from becoming coated with loose substrate, place them in a small shallow bowl or jar lid.

Whole fish rather than slices of fillets are best. They are more nutritious and are more easily recognized as being food by the garter. Fresh fish is best, but at times it may become necessary to feed frozen fish. Frozen fish must be supplemented with B1 (thiamin) as freezing causes the development of thiaminase, an enzyme which destroys thiamin. Sand eels and Lance fish may also be offered (placed in shallow bowls of water); they will often encourage a reluctant eater.

A diet exclusively comprised of fish is not balanced. Other food items need to be fed on a regular basis. Leeches are relished by the aquatic garters, while terrestrial species enjoy slugs. Be careful where you collect these prey, especially leeches collected in agricultural areas where irrigation and other run off may flow into and contaminate lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. Wax worms and, for young snakes, white worms (grubs) can be found commercially in the pet trade and may be used to supplement captive garter diets."

Source: Right from anapsid's good old care sheets
http://www.anapsid.org/gartcare.html

Well, you said garter snakes that are aquatic eat fish, those are the ones I am talking about. Thats pretty rude to tell someone they're compoletely incorrect, when you stated that I was correct! im no longer replying to this thread. When threads get over 20 post, I stop replying. Simply for the fact I don't want to read all the post, when enough on the subject has already been said.

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Originally Posted by BallPythonBabe448

Well, you said garter snakes that are aquatic eat fish, those are the ones I am talking about. Thats pretty rude to tell someone they're compoletely incorrect, when you stated that I was correct! im no longer replying to this thread. When threads get over 20 post, I stop replying. Simply for the fact I don't want to read all the post, when enough on the subject has already been said.

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you were wrong
anapsid(and almost every other garter caresheet) basically flat out says that the best diet for ANY SPECIES of captive garter snake is made up of fish(generally minnows) and worms(whether they be earthworms, or wax worms)

For the record, I wasn't being rude, what i said was true - you were infact incorrect - I'm just basically trying to correct the mis-information you posted earlier. Telling someone that garter snakes should never eat fish, when infact its generally reccomended isn't exactly a great thing to do. If you can find ANYTHING on the net that says to not feed a garter fish, please feel free to post it and show me. Because most caresheets reccomend it, and i've housed and know alot of people that have cared for garters and have always done a mix of minnows and worms for their diet.