Posted by:
natsamjosh
at Fri Aug 22 16:09:30 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by natsamjosh ]
Thanks. It's nice to hear that others think about this stuff. Just the simple fact that we have to "trick" baby snakes of a lot of species into eating mice.. well, that in itself raises questions in my mind. These animals have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to eat certain types of diets, and it's common knowledge that in the wild most snakes don't eat only rats, and many species eat very few, if any, rodents. For example, I believe wild King Cobras primarily eat other snakes. I believe the same is true for Indigos, maybe to a slightly lesser extent. So feeding them only rats/mice is similar to you or me going to McDonalds every meal. I used a nutritional breakdown of prey items that I found on the web to analyze the fat, protein and calcium contents of rats, mice, lizards, frogs, etc. A rat/mouse only diet will result in way more fat and way less protein and calcium than a reptile/amphibian/fish diet. I've also observed the pooping of Jack on mice vs. his current diet - huge difference. Also, the physiology of Indigos (ie, jaws that don't unhinge nearly as much as boids) points to prey that is longer and/or narrower than rodents.
I do believe there is merit to the parasite thing, that is why I freeze the anoles. (I'm also now considering freezing the feeder fish.) I actually believe it's sort of the opposite of the possibility you mentioned - wild snakes might actually be *better* at dealing with parasites, since they are not in an artificial environment (ie, a small box with limited temp gradient.) A wild, natural environment allows them to exercise as much as they need to and to thermoregulate properly. I would imagine if wild snakes do indeed have shorter life spans it's
for other reasons, but I guess that's another whole discussion in itself. 
Not sure about any research, but I'm not sure there's a huge demand for any research. Again, no moral judgement here, but it's a whole lot easier for owners to keep snakes that feed on mice/rats vs. other prey, and so it's a whole lot easier for breeders/dealers to sell/maintain snakes that feed on mice/rats vs. other prey. Is that bad or good? I don't think either, it's just the way it is. Maybe an Indigo that's fed solely rodents won't live as long and might have constant indigestion, but it might get more enjoyment out of life with a "Big Mac and a Coke" for every meal.
Thanks!
Ed
>>I wonder that myself. Everyone says to feed mice only, but there are no species in the wild that eat only one species of food. I realize most people also say that anoles are bad to feed because they are wild caught and may have parasites and such, but I always wonder what's best. You have to consider that snakes usually don't live as long in the wild, so is that due to their eating many prey items that are prone to have parasites and pathogens? And do they do better in captivity because we can minimize that? But if we could get captive bred anoles and other food items with minimized parasites and pathogens, would snakes do even better in captivity from the variety? Has anyone researched this?
>>
>>I always wonder about these things... being a scientist and all.
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>>And I have to say, some people may be bored by you going into detail, but I wouldn't be
>>-----
>>5.19 BRB
>>10.20 BCI
>>0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
>>0.1 Albino Corn Snake
>>2.8 Leopard Geckos
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RE: A few comments... - natsamjosh, Fri Aug 22 16:09:30 2008