We've just inherited an 18 month old red sided garter snake and my partner decided it would be a good idea to put a little aquarium in his terrarium. it's only got a redcrab some snails and a few tadpoles in but it did have a molly. Now I know garters do eat fish but I would of put money on this one being too big for him but it's gone missing and cant find it anywhere. Will it cause him any problems if it was too big? or any other problems related to him eating out of the aquarium?

You would be surprised what a snake can swallow! And if its too big it won't swallow it.
And I would remove the crab and the snails, you don't want the snake swallowing those!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Will he tend to keep away from things that are bigger than himself or do you think he might have a go at them?

I actually just responded to your into thread and stated the garter ate the molly. lol The liklihood of the garter not going after a fish he thinks he can eat is pretty slim. You would be better off just purchasing some feeder fish and tossing them in the tank. That way you have a cheap fish source, the aquarium appearance remains active, but you aren't disappointed when the garter eats them.

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Well thankfully I wasn't too attached to the molly, neither was my little girl, she hadn't even had a chance to name it But my partner is very attached to his red crab, so far fella (the garter snake) has kept away from the crab but do you think he's likely to have a go?

I think he might have a go and I would suggest for the safety of the snake and the crab, you find the crab a new tank.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

We have an aquarium inside our terrarium but have read that some of the fish we'd like to keep like slightly salted/brackish water, will this be ok for Fella (the garter snake) or will we need to put in a separate water source for him to drink from?

You need a seperate water source. And the aquarium is unnecessary. Just putting the feeder fish in a bowl will do fine.
They aren't going to last that long anyway if the snake can get to them!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Too many threads. Can we merge a few together? I"m having a hard time following.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Sorry about being all over the place, getting over excited about the fantastic amount of information this site is brilliant.
I have a question about mouse pinkies. alot of people have said that my garter will eat them but some people say to scent them with frogs or fish, does this mean that normaly they wouldn't eat them? and what sort of nutritional value are they?