Posted by:
DeanAlessandrini
at Tue May 20 12:46:22 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by DeanAlessandrini ]
I feed a combination of f/t rats and f/t chicks. I'm lucky enough to have a hatchery near me where I can get chicks for $15 per 100. I ALWAYS freeze them for a couple weeks before feeding them...Although this may not kill ALL of the bacteria, it stops further growth and should wipe out salmonella (? someone please correct me if I'm wrong here) The feces is a little messier with chicks (sometimes they pass the little feet and beeks  )
But then...Dry poop is never going to be in a neat little package like boid poop anyway!
This diet does the job of getting in some variety and cutting costs a bit. A typical meal for an adult snake would be one med rat and 3-5 chicks. Some of my big yt's get 2 rats AND the chicks. I feed once a week for adult males (over 3 years old) and about every 5 days for younger snakes and females that have laid eggs within about 3-5 months, until they get their bodyweight back.
Juvi's (under a year) get fed 2 x's per week...mice or rat chubs.
Although I have admittedly had an "off" year with breeding the eastern indigos this year, I firmly believe it has nothing to do with diet.
I have been successfully producing eastern indigos in this fashion since 1994, and this is my very first experience with "bad luck". Since my lucky streak has now been interrupted...I can now come out and say (not brag, mind you...)
that until this year, every time I've tried to breed a female Dry they have produced at least some fertile eggs, with no problems with egg binding or "re-absorption". I have used only the diet I mentioned above.
It's also the first year I've EVER tried to breed any of my females 3 consecutive years. In the past, 2 years in a row has been the max for any of my females.
So...shame on me for trying I guess. They had great bodyweight and seemed ready, so I went for it. 2 of the 3 are completely heathly, and seemed to have re-absorbed the eggs early on, which may have been their body's way of avoiding disaster.
The third female has re-absorbed most of her eggs...but has ONE small egg still in her body. She's eating and passing, and is currently being treated with antibiotics...
We'll watch her closely for another couple weeks and decide if surgery is necessary.
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 My thoughts on prey... - DeanAlessandrini, Tue May 20 12:46:22 2003
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