A very tiny newly hatched baby snake found his way into my house yesterday. I have him in a container, heated to about 75 degrees. I have tortoises so i know about heat. I would put him back outside but it is about 40 degrees and it has been pouring down rain for 3 days. I thought I might keep him till spring. I don't know why he hatched now, except that we had a weird warm dry winter in CA. He hatched, and now winter has finally set in.
Anyway. What do i feed this little thing. I can't even find an ant outside. He is sooooo tiny. Right now he seems happy, warm and has a water dish. I just can't find what to feed him.
Any help please!
2007-02-10 08:31:46 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Reptiles
Make sure it is a garter snake- all but one species of those is legal to keep as pets. There are another snakes that are illegal (and dangerous) to keep as pets in CA.
You never said how small he was exactly. He can eat something that is about as big as the middle of his body. If he is just newly hatched, crickets and worms are probably the best. You can get them at a pet store or bait shop. If he is large enough to eat a day old baby mouse, definately feed him that. Most pet stores should have little babies yet. Mice are the most nutritious for snakes, but if he is too small- just buy some crickets.
Minnows will work occasionally. I have raised a lot of baby snakes, and most won't touch them.
With you keeping him at 75 degrees, he should eat once or twice a week with how young he is- offer him crickets 3 times a week if he is at that size, or a small pinkie twice a week if he is a bit larger. If he doesn't eat for a week, don't worry. If he doesn't eat for over 2 weeks- let him loose, despite the weather- he may have a better chance of surviving if he can find his own food- or get cold enough that he sleeps, lowers his metabolism, and does not need to eat.
Your set up seems good as well- if you don't have anything in there, set up a couple rocks he can crawl underneath to hide, and make sure that there is a gradient- maybe put the rocks at the cooler side of the tank. You want to let him be able to choose the temp. If he is constantly on the cooler side of the tank, pull the heat source back a bit- it is too hot.
2007-02-10 08:43:42 · answer #1 · answered by D 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Skip Petco or the like & go to a fish bait shop. The small worms are much cheaper there as are the minnows which is what young garters eat. You don't have to cut the worms up. The snake doesn't have this advantage in nature. Garters are easy to keep(no matter what most of these bleeding hearts say, it's alright to take snakes from the wild as long as they aren't endangered). Keep it till the weather outside warms up if you decide not to keep it.
2007-02-12 08:03:49 · answer #2 · answered by preacher55 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try going to a pet store and getting the smallest feeder fish that they have. I have a ribbon snake (a type of garter snake) and he eats minnows. It is amazing to watch him watch them in his bown and then jump into it and snatch one up. I am not sure if a hatching would feed like that or not. Are you sure it is a hatching? it may just be a small young snake that hatched this past year. You might even want to take him into a pet store and ask them what he would eat, don't tell them you got it from the wild thought because in many places you cannot take a snake from the wild without a permit (and yes, i realize it came to your house, but the game wardens won't look at it like that) Good luck,
2007-02-10 08:41:45 · answer #3 · answered by hartsock1 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Go to the pet store and get some crickets and ask them.
I bred snakes and found the babies of all breeds hated being fed and regurgitated most of what they were fed. The average with good care was 1 out of10 to reach maturity.
We blended up baby mice and fed it down their throats with special droppers... and, you must have a delicate touch to know where to very slowly and gently open the mouth enough to slide the thing in. It is very delicate work.
Good luck. I used to rescue anything and everything too. Once i brought home a 2 foot adult snake and just sat and did my homework with it wrapped around my arm. My family was grossed out. I set it free that evening where I found it.
Snakes may not wag their tails with joy when you walk in the door, but they are still a fascinating pet.
2007-02-10 09:52:34 · answer #4 · answered by Noor al Haqiqa 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well ordinarily I'd tell you to let him go, but I see your predicament. I have some suggestions, but I have to tell you right off that the success rate isn't very high. Most wild snakes won't eat. However, you can try going to a Petco or Petsmart and get the small crickets. They have pretty small ones. You could also ask for advice there. You might be able to get it to eat really small mealworms, if you cut them up, but they must move to get it to strike. If all else fails, try putting bits of hamburger on a broom straw and wiggle it around. If you can't do this, take it to a animal rescue place, or ask them for help. I don't think they would be able to do much better in taking care of them though. Good luck!
2007-02-10 08:38:22 · answer #5 · answered by Maedhros 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Ok 1st you need to properly identify it and make sure its not venomous as babies and the adults can look quiet differently and baby venom is as potent as parent venom. You will probably have a tough time getting him to eat. if its a nocturnal breed (meaning it feeds at night then that is when you will have your best chance of it eating, dont ask me why this is but they just seem to know, get the small crickets and a pair of hemostats like doctors use place a piece of cricket on the hemo's , and wiggle it a little in front of the snake if he wont eat that way then you are going to have to force feed him, to do that you will need a small syringe with a plastic tip (no needle) you will have to make a mash out of the crickets and gently grab him behind the head and simply inject into his stomach through his mouth, but first make sure it nonvenomous. good luck
2007-02-10 08:52:59 · answer #6 · answered by roger c 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you should ask a veteranarian. All I know is that snakes eat mice. Once I saw on the Discovery Channel a baby snake a few mimutes old caught a worm half its size.
2007-02-10 08:57:41 · answer #7 · answered by Jenna L 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Young garter snakes usually eat chopped up pieces of worms. Otherwise, crickets, maggots, grubworms don't work. I've had 2 garter snakes before and they only ate feeders and worms. However, a small garter snake may only eat small pieces of worms or fish. Thr food pieces shouldn't be bigger than it's diameter
2007-02-11 10:27:21 · answer #8 · answered by Onyx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let him go. Wild snakes usually don't eat in captivity, and snakes are pretty hardy animals. They are fairly smart and can almost always find a warm, dry place to stay until the weather passes.
2007-02-10 10:28:16 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
New born garder snakes can be hard to get them to feed. I suggest getting the snake back to its environtment as soon as you are comfortable releasing it.
Feed it cricket parts, small worms, or most insects that will fit through his tiny mouth. The goal is to keep it alive until you can release it.
Unfortunately, some new born snakes are really hard to get them to eat and he will most likely end up starving in your possession. If you do not get him to eat soon, please consider releasing it back to its natural environtment and let nature take its course (even if you think its going to die at least you're not starving it to death).
2007-02-10 09:15:11 · answer #10 · answered by Astroboy1979 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋