Posted by:
natsamjosh
at Sun Aug 24 15:50:45 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by natsamjosh ]
Hi Jeff,
Thanks. I have no problem feeding my ARB a 100% rodent diet,
although I would imagine young ones in the wild would probably
eat lizards also. According to the nutritional analysis I used, birds and rodents are very similar in fat, protein and calcium content. Still, I think it's great you throw in the occasional fowl meal, there are probably other pros of varying their diet.
I'm not saying no species of snake should get a 100% rodent diet.
In a nutshell, I question whether some species SHOULD eat a 100% rodent diet, even if they can be trained to eat them. So my point about the book is that I think it would be incomplete, if not biased, to have a blurb about the deficiencies of a 100% fish diet, but nothing about a 100% diet of any other single prey item.
Thanks for sharing about your Indigos liking snakes. I'm sure Jack would love one, but so far I haven't found on that would be appropriate, and I can't seem to find a supplier of feeder snakes. He also loves fish. You wouldn't believe how fast he can hone in and pounce on a flopping fish. And I never had to scent the fish with rat smell. 
Thanks,
Ed
>>Ed,
>>....I do not have the book with me here in Florida. I do think there is quite a bit of literature that says diets consisting solely of rodents are good for many boids. My Rainbow Boas get mostly rodents with some small chickens for the big ones and hatchling quail for the little ones. When I had Indigos I fed them a highly varied diet. They got lots of road injured Ratsnakes and seemd to like them better than anything else. Some of them would eat toads and they all seemed to eat Leopard Frogs. They only rarely got rodents.
>>Jeff
>>
>>>>Hi Jeff,
>>>>
>>>>I don't have the book, but does the Dr. commment on possible dietary deficiencies that arise from a 100% rodent diet for certain species? For Indigos, I would bet my house that Indigos that are fed only farm raised rodents are highly deficient in calcium and protein, and get *way* too much fat in comparison to wild specimens. (I can go into details, but that would probably bore the hell out of everyone.)
>>>>
>>>>Rodents are great and probably make up a large part of many species' diets in the wild. And everyone has the right to decide for themselves what to feed their captive snakes, since there are economic and practicality factors besides species-specific dietary needs. But the economic and practicality factors are what's best for we *humans*, not necessarily what's best for the snake's digestive system. This subject is admittedly a little touchy for me, since I've been criticized for feeding my Indigo lizards and fish. So far all the criticism has been backed up with no evidence, however. All the evidence I've seen supports the diet I feed Jack... that's why I feed him that diet! It costs a lot and is not practical, yes, but for me it's important to mimic his wild diet as closely as possible.
>>>>
>>>>Sorry for the rant...
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>Ed
>>>>
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>>>>>>Ed,
>>>>>>..Except for some Watersnakes I have never raised a snake entirely on a fish diet. This is a ling to pages from Dr Rossi's book. I found them interesting.
>>>>>>books.google.com/books?id=wukkw-5cTHoC&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=snake fish diet deficiency&source=web&ots=e9iJLu6Xg5&sig=1z_kAJILNPvYVQN_U4dBBnrHADs&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA81,M1
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Never a dull moment with Jack, feeding time is *always* fun. I fed him the first fish, then got distracted by one of my sons. I came back a few minutes later and he was resting his head on the lip of the cage, ready for more. I fumbled the next fish out of the tongs and it fell on the floor. Before I could even react, Jack flew out of the cage onto the floor and pounced on the fish. Had to pick him up and gently put him back in the cage while he was chomping the fish.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Waiting for the next fish...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Pouncing on the fish...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Yummmm!!!
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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RE: A few comments... - natsamjosh, Sun Aug 24 15:50:45 2008