Red-sided garter snakes are found in North America and their diet includes: amphibians fish small mammals and birds. Snakes are carnivores meaning that they eat other animals. The size of their prey depends on the size of the snake. Smaller snakes will eat smaller prey and larger snakes will eat larger prey.
One study found that the diet of red-sided garter snakes living in the wild consists of 88% amphibians 7% fish 4% small mammals and 1% birds. The most common amphibians that red-sided garter snakes eat are frogs and toads. The most common fish that they eat are minnows. The most common small mammals that they eat are shrews voles and mice. The most common bird that they eat is the common grackle.
Red-sided garter snakes living in captivity have been known to eat a wide variety of food including: live mice live rats live chickens hard-boiled eggs chicken soup hamburger meat hot dogs goldfish and guppies.
In general it is best to feed your red-sided garter snake live prey. This is because live prey will move around and stimulate the snake’s hunting instincts. Hunting and eating live prey is also good exercise for the snake. If you cannot or do not want to feed your snake live prey you can feed it frozen-thawed prey. To do this simply buy frozen mice or rats from a pet store and thaw them out before feeding them to your snake.
What do red sided garter snakes eat?
Answer: Red sided garter snakes eat a variety of small prey including fish amphibians reptiles small mammals and insects.
