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My male garter snake isn't eating

C

CyberReader

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Hi, not sure where to post this but I hope someone with Garter Snake experience can help me.

I have a two-ish year old Puget Sound who isn't eating. I didn't cool him down, though he seemed to slow down on his own for the winter, mostly staying under his log. He didn't shed for a few months even though he still ate and defecated. I have him on a mouse diet and he usually pounds down his fuzzies. Then suddenly he sheds twice in two months and now he's gotten really active but he won't eat. I've tried wiggling the mouse in front of his face which only seems to freak him out. I've covered his feeding box with a towel and left him alone for a few hours but he still ignores the food.

I've read somewhere that males will ignore food during breeding season but a) I'm not pairing him with a female and have no plans to and b) I don't even know when breeding season for garter snakes is. He's still active and hasn't lost weight. Does anybody have an idea on what's going on or how I can kick start his feeding response? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As you can probably tell I'm relatively new to snake keeping. :)
 
Hi Beth,

I am not a garter snake expert, but I can give a few general tips until someone with more specific experience chips in:

Is there a female garter snake anywhere in your room that he may be smelling? He doesn't need to be right in the same container to know she's there.

If he isn't losing weight, don't worry, snakes in general can go off food with no ill effects for an amazingly long period of time - 3 months is not a surprise if it is cold or breeding season. I would keep weighing him regularly though - if he starts to lose ground it's time to do something.

If you do feel you want to kick start him, try a goldfish - I did use to keep a few garter snakes (many moons ago ) and nothing attracted them more than live goldfish swimming in their water bowl.... once he has started to eat again you can work on getting him back onto mice.

Hope that helps a bit - I wouldn't worry too much yet, chances are one day he'll just decide it's all over and take the mouse as normal. :thumbsup:

There are a few old garter snake discussion threads here that might give you a few tips:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81224&highlight=Feeding+garter
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43671&highlight=Feeding+garter
 
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Goldfish are a no-go for garters due to thiaminase problems. When mine go off food, a night crawler (the kind you get from a bait shop) sometimes gets them going again. You can also try scenting the mouse fuzzy with a bit of fish, I keep silversides, which are available in the frozen food section of Petco or PetSmart, on hand for this purpose.

He might also just be starting slowly again after the long winter. My older ones really didn't start pounding the food until 2-3 weeks ago, before that they were taking smaller meals about once a month even though I wasn't cooling them - they still knew it was winter.
 
Thanks for the help! I had heard about the not eating for months thing and wasn't too worried yet. It's crazy though because the only female I have is a hognose! I might try scenting his mice if he doesn't start up again by June.
 
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