One thing its GARTER snake, not gardner. Sorry, just a pet peeve. Anyway mainly garter snakes eat crickets, goldfish, and baby (pinky) mice, in the wild. There are no snakes really that don't eat mice, but with garter or ribbon snakes you could probably feed them goldfish and crickets there whole life because they don't get that big. BUT all snakes benefit from the calories and protein of a mouse, rat, or pinky mouse. If its that you're afraid or against feeding it mice, remember you can buy frozen mice or pre-killed so you don't have to feel as bad. If thats still too much you might want to look into another pet because most commercially available snakes and lizards (larger lizards like monitors and tegus) definitely should eat mice.
