What to Feed to Garter Snakes. Wild garter snakes eat a varied diet containing worms, amphibians, fish, eggs, snails, and rodents. While captive garter snakes can be fed predominantly frozen thawed rodents, occasionally they can be offered other prey items such as earthworms, fresh whole feeder fish, frogs, or toads.
Will garter snakes eat mice?
Garter snakes are numerous partly because they will eat a variety of prey. Our Boulder snakes’ favorite foods include: frogs, toads, tadpoles, fish, earthworms, snails, leeches, grasshoppers, slugs and salamanders. They will also eat mice, shrews, voles, chipmunks, birds, and other reptiles including other snakes.
Do garter snakes need live food?
Garter snakes won’t eat animals that are already dead or decomposing, either! Their prey needs to be alive for them to be interested in it. However, they will occasionally eat eggs from smaller birds and reptiles because they are easy targets and have lots of protein.
Do garter snakes eat meat?
Garter snakes, like all snakes, are carnivorous. They can be found in a wide array of habitats and their diet is largely dependent upon the type of environment they live in. They are adaptive creatures and can eat whatever happens to be available. They have been known to eat eggs, but usually eat live animals.
What does a garter snake eat? – Related Questions
Are garter snakes afraid of humans?
Garter snakes are naturally afraid of people, so they will try to stay out of your way unless it’s unavoidable. They will tend to hide in the shade unless they are out basking in the sun during the middle of the day.
Do garter snakes eat dog food?
“Snakes do not like cat or dog food, but these foods usually attract rodents, and a snake’s primary diet consists of eating mice and rats,” Tabassam explains.
What fish can I feed my garter snake?
A young garter snake that is not eating pinky mice or pinky parts may be fed a combination of earthworms (cut into appropriately sized pieces if the snake is small and the worm is big), feeder guppies or platies and, if the snake will accept it, pieces of fish fillet.
How long can a garter snake go without eating?
How Long Can Snakes Go Without Eating?
| Pet snake types | Regular feeding | How long can they go without eating? |
|---|
| Garter Snake | Every other day juveniles Once a week adults | 2 to 3 months |
| Smooth Green Snake | Once or twice per week | A few weeks |
| Cape House Snake | Once a week | A few weeks |
| Kenyan Sand Boa | Once a week | Up to a year |
Does a garter snake bite hurt?
That being said, some species of garter snakes, like the common garter snake, do have the necessary toxins in their saliva to make them venomous. But fortunately for humans, the venom from these bites causes little more than a slightly irritated, swollen area around the puncture wound.
Are garter snakes aggressive?
Garter snakes are non-venomous, but can be fairly aggressive and will readily strike and bite, sometimes causing an allergic reaction in humans. If handled or attacked, they will release a foul-smelling musk.
Can I grab a garter snake?
Many garter snakes, particularly if they are captive bred, are gentle and do not mind being handled, and handling them is simply a matter of picking them up and letting them explore your hands. If you have experience handling other snakes, it’s important to remember that garter snakes are not constrictors.
How many garter snakes live together?
They hibernate in dens in large groups, with hundreds of garter snakes sometimes found together (and sometimes other snake species, according to Beane). According to the Virtual Nature Trail, one den in Canada was the hibernation spot of more than 8,000 snakes.
How long do garter snakes stay in one place?
In contrast, harmless garter snakes and ringneck snakes will often burrow underground or find natural cavities (such as rodent burrows) to evade the cold. And they tend to stick in the same area. So if you see one in your yard, it may remain there for years.
Do garter snakes have feelings?
Snakes have emotions, albeit primitive. They show contentment and they like familiarity. Snakes are known to show satisfaction in their owner’s presence and skittish in their absence, or around strangers. If a snake is uncomfortable, it may act aggressively and warn you by hissing.
How can you tell if a garter snake is male or female?
Those with some experience may be able to identify males by the taper of their tails. According to garter snake guru Jonathan Crowe at gartersnake.info, males have longer and thicker tails than females. Female tails are narrower, shorter and taper more sharply.
Will garter snakes bite if you pick them up?
A Word of Warning. Garter snakes are relatively harmless, beneficial predators of rodents and insect pests. However, do not pick it up. Alarmed, it may give you a little nip (harmless but still a bite).
What month do garter snakes lay eggs?
Common garter snakes are ovoviviparous (bearing live young). The young are incubated in the lower abdomen, about half way down from the snake’s body. Gestation is usually two to three months. Most females in the northern parts of their range give birth to from 4 to 80 young between late July and October.
What months are garter snakes most active?
Common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) are active mainly during the day and are active through a wider range of temperatures than most snakes. They hibernate from late October through March or early April, but can be found basking on rocks during mild winter days.
How cold is too cold for garter snakes?
Their temperature cannot get below freezing without hurting or killing them, so you probably don’t want to go below 4-5°C (40°F) under any circumstances. But anything in the fifties Fahrenheit (10-15°C), or even the high forties, is probably ideal.
How cold is too cold for snakes?
The coldest temperature a snake will survive in is 65° degrees Fahrenheit (18°C). Anything lower, and there is a good chance the snake will not survive. Read on to learn how snakes adapt to the cold.
