I've read on many forums that it's good to feed your Indigos chicken parts or quail and fish in addition to rats/mice. The main problem I faced was finding these items in appropriate sizes. I don’t live near a fish farm that can supply me with baby trout or tilapia and most small species of fish such as smelt and goldfish are high in thiaminase (an enzyme that breaks down vitamin B). Quail (thanks to CA law) is only sold in adult size which is still a bit too big for my yearlings.

I've seen snake sausages made by Natural Balance Pet Foods but didn’t like them because the sausages are only filled with beef and vitamins. In addition to beef not being part of a snake’s natural diet, the sausages don’t contain any bones, skin, intestines or other parts that would naturally be present in a snake’s diet.

Solution… or so I think: I bought an industrial strength meet grinder, ground up some whole chickens (bones and skin included) and some whole tilapia fish (head, scales, bones and guts included) and stuffed them in some natural hog casings. I mixed the ground chicken and ground fish at a 2 to 1 ratio. I’m thinking of feeding my snakes these sausages in addition to rats in the attempt to give them a more balanced diet than just rats and boneless fish fillets.

I’d really like to hear your opinions, thoughts and advice.

Thanks in advance,
Mike


www.mikesreptiles.webs.com

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