Hi everyone... new to the forum but I have a few questions for your collective expertise! I caught 2 scarlet snakes yesterday (NOT scarlet kingsnakes). They are relatively small (roughly 10 inches) , but from the research Ive done, they are adults. My biggest concern is what to feed them. Research tells me that they usually eat small anoles and lizard/snake eggs in the wild and will occasionally eat baby rodents. The problem is that their heads are really really small- you could put them inside a drinking straw very easily. I dont see how they could even eat a day-old pinkie mouse. Anyway, I would like to keep them but I dont want to starve them. Any suggestions about what to try to feed them??? I thought about tearing the jumping legs off of a small cricket or giving them an earthworm, but I dont know if that will suffice. Im also going to run over to my local pet store and check out their pinkies to see how big they are. In the meantime, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!
Based on what I found here : http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/deptmpl....erps/snakes.asp I'd recommend buying a few little feeder goldfish and placing them in the water bowl. If they are housed together, take one out and let them feed one at a time. Really, just housing them together can cause enough stress to stop them from eating. My brother in law used to feed a garter snake he had the same way. It would take the fish from the bowl. That would be the easiest most cost efficient way to get them started I think. After they start eating something you can try a more varied diet, like pinkies. If either takes pinkies right away, great, but you can't always get them unless you breed and control the supply. "Their diet mainly consists of other snakes, lizards, baby mice, fish, earthworms, and reptile eggs." On the flip side, if they are not hatchlings you may never get wild caught snakes to eat in captivity. If they go a couple of weeks and don't start, let them go. Better they survive on their own, then die in your cage. Good luck. Jeff
