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RAUK - Archived Forum - Feeding Juvenile Grass snakes

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Feeding Juvenile Grass snakes:

Author	Message
ineedhelp Member Joined: 07 Sep 2003 No. of posts: 1 View other posts by ineedhelp	Posted: 07 Sep 2003 hiya ive got a really small grass snake id say about no more than 3 weeks old and im having troble finding out what it eats, what should i feed it, will it eat ants or woodlice?

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 07 Sep 2003 Hi, Grass snakes are not an ideal pet, they feed on the same things as juveniles as they do when adult, live amphibians or fish, mostly tadpoles and froglets. This means that to maintain the animal you will need a supply of live juvenile amphibians or very small fish, I believe it is technically illegal to feed these to your pet and grass snakes are difficult to get onto frozen alternatives even as adults. Best let him go if he was wild caught and buy a more suitable species for pet keeping such as a corn snake. administrator37871.5834837963 Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

Herpetologic Member Joined: 02 Sep 2003 No. of posts: 35 View other posts by Herpetologic	Posted: 09 Sep 2003 I know a friend who has rescued grass snakes from horse stables as eggs hatched them out and relaeased them back where they came from. He had released around 140 snakes over two years and he decided to keep one back as a pet and to use in educational events in Essex. The snake is 2 years old now and has been fed on small fillets of trout. he described how he feeds the snake just dangling the piece of fish in front of the animal and he takes it. He has grow quite well. If you want to feed up the snake before release then this may worth a try. And another thing it is Illegal to feed any live vertebrate to another vertebrate in the UK. I found this out when i kept Piranhas and I use to get feeder goldfish from an aquatic centre, my biology lecturer quickly informed me that live goldfish fed to these fish would be illegal so i stuck to earthworms which the grass snake may also take?

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 09 Sep 2003 I tried the Trout strips method with an adult that I had in short term captivity to study feeding response. Using artery forceps and patients I would get strikes but she would always drop the item soon after the take, worth a try though. Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

calumma Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2003 No. of posts: 351 View other posts by calumma	Posted: 09 Sep 2003 Gemma, are you really suggesting that you tried using artery forceps to feed your patients to a captive grass snake Lee Lee Brady Kent Herpetofauna Recorder \| Independent Ecological Consultant Email

GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090 View other posts by GemmaJF	Posted: 09 Sep 2003 Doh! so much for spell checkers Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant

Caleb Forum Coordinator Joined: 17 Feb 2003 No. of posts: 448 View other posts by Caleb	Posted: 09 Sep 2003 With adult grass snakes, I think some will feed more readily on fish than others- a friend of mine had a rescued snake that fed very well on defrosted whitebait. Some will feed very well on defrosted pink mice or rats that have been scented by putting them in a small container with a frog.

- Feeding Juvenile Grass snakes

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