To give food to a snake is the simplest thing in captivity. All you need to know is the species in your possession, and you will never have to change one iota of your diet. The only variable is the frequency. And again, this is in day, even in the week.
Your snake is a carnivorous reptile. There is no vegetarian despite some unfounded rumors. However, its prey varies according to its species. Thus, some snakes eat only rodents, snails or even slugs. Others ingest everything in their path. Finally, marine snakes can feed on fish eggs along coral reefs. In captivity, you surely have in your possession a corn snake, a boa constrictor or a royal python. In this case, it’s even more childish.
What do garter snakes eat?
Live or frozen rodent
The 3 snakes above, and even the main snakes for captivity feed on live or frozen rodents. It is better to offer him some food already dead. This will prevent him from unintentional injuries inflicted by a prey who try to defend themselves before giving up the ghost. Thus, a mouse or a rat can easily scratch the eyes of your reptile, and hurt it badly enough.
However, frozen prey does not mean that it must be when it is given to your snake. On the contrary. The rodent must no longer have a trace of cold on his body. The ice cream could offer some digestive problems to your reptile.
Which rodent to give?
The type of prey to give depends on the size of your snake. Thus a snake wheat less than 4 months can be satisfied with a tiny mouse once a week. A mouse will take over until his 8 months. After, it will be necessary to give him a frying pan every 10 days approximately. Then, as an adult, a wheat snake can ingest an adult mouse every 2 weeks.
In the Royal Python, consider an adult mouse every 8 to 10 days. When your snake is adult, you can administer an adult rat every 3 weeks or so.
Finally, the Boa constrictor will be full, if it measures less than 90 cm, from one to two mice twice a week. Larger, he will have to eat one to two rats a week. Those who measure more than 2 meters may be fond of a rabbit every 10 days. It is quite uncommon.
In case of regurgitation?
Sometimes your snake does not digest its prey well. He will regurgitate and this will cause irritation in his esophagus. Nothing serious in apparent, but you will have to wait 2 weeks before offering him food again.
In summary
A good diet for your snake is simply to eat rodents once or twice a week (it depends on the species) or even 2 to 3 times a month. The feeding of a snake does not pose a problem and difficulty. This is not very difficult to remember. Still, we must manage to reserve a floor of your freezer for mice or rats. It’s not always fun for those around you.