Quote:
Originally Posted by bigsnakegirl785
Yeah, that's why you offer the occasional mouse and the occasional fish filet puree, to give them those nutrients they may lack. An adult garter would definitely eat earthworms, it just wouldn't be its only food item. But, due to the risk of parasites it's best for keepers to avoid amphibians, which would naturally make up the majority of a garter's diet.
I myself am on the edge of trying to offer less mice, because garters do no naturally include rodents in their diet at all (except for the absolute largest of females in select locations, which is a small percentage). This means they are most likely getting a completely inappropriate diet on a rodent-only diet. Other, more sensitive species (garters are a group of species but you know what I'm getting at), would die from fatty liver disease on such a diet if their natural diet was rodent-free, so maybe they'd benefit from a low-rodent diet. Mice/rats have a way higher degree of fat than amphibians, lizards, snakes, earthworms, etc.
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Fatty liver disease is only an issue in over weight snakes, so as with any animal you should not over feed a garter snakes. Mice are one of the most populous mammals on earth and they can have up to thirteen litters a year, so to say that only large garters eat mice in the wild does not seem reasonable to me. In fact certain species of garters are known to eat only mice as adults. I have a male T. sirtalis infernalis that will not touch anything but mice, even when he was small it is the only thing I could get him to feed on. Don't forget that parasites are also a concern with worms as there is no source that I know of that is as controlled as mice breeders. Mice represent the safest and most complete diet, and many people have successfully raised and bred garters on solely mice diets for years.
You can absolutely put fish in its water bowl and watch the garter hunt but be warned live fish are also a potential vector for parasites. If you don't feel like risking parasites then you can also watch several videos of this online.
Hybrid Mode
