temporart captives

A friend of mine dropped off three garter snakes today that she found in the backyard. I planned on relocating them, but one has a wound on its tail that has caused the tip to become necrotic, so I'm planning on taking it to work and having the docs remove the tip of the tail with the laser. So far, it's the only one that has eaten for me- a f/t fuzzy mouse. If the others eat, I *may* keep them all to use for education programs, but if they refuse to eat after a couple days, I'll turn them loose at the forest preserve near my house. I'd like to turn them loose in my own backyard, but I have a small yard with few hiding spots, and I know my neighbors would kill the snakes if they saw them. Here's pics of the little buggers. Anyone have any guesses on what sex they are, just out of curiosity?

Here's the injured one, ready to kill the camera-


The second, doing a good job of ignoring the food.


And the third, curled up in the corner opposite the food.



Here's the injured tail- it looks nasty, but it's only about 1/2 an inch long, so it shouldn't be a problem to remove the dead tissue.

Try feeding worms, fish, frog or toads.

You can also wash the mice to get the mouse scent off and rub the mice with something like a treefrog. I've had the best luck with scenting when I've used treefrogs. You could also try to scent the mice with worms or fish, or try Dand's feeding suggestions.

I've got three garters I use for educational presentations. Taming them can be a bit of a smelly business, but they're a lot of fun too. Good luck with your little guys!

-Alice

Yeah, I'm planning on trying worms or fish next, or frogs if I can find them. The girl that brought them to me foudn them yesterday, and said they ate some bait worms after she found them, so I may try scenting a fuzzy with worms. I figure they just got here and are probably stressed, so I'm not going to worry too much right away. If they won't eat, I'll just release them.