I like your idea of chicks as a treat...

All kinds of ratsnakes eat birds, as well as mammals, in the wild. They sometimes eat the eggs too. Some take birds more often than others, but most all will take them at least part of the time.

My adult female Senticolis triaspis loves small birds, nestlings. I feed her mostly f/t mice, but the birds really get her going, especially in the spring when it's time to bulk up a little and she's eating a lot. I think the variety is good too, as they get variety in the wild. Also, there could be some nutrients in birds they don't get as much of in mammals, although I'm sure the mammmals provide more protein.

This is a South Korean Dione's ratsnake eating a quail egg this spring...


TC


>>I am curious to get others feedback on chicks as feeders. I bought a bag of these and fed those to just three of my rat snakes as a trial run. I typically only feed mice and rats but thought I would change things up a bit so I fed chicks every other feeding and rodents every other feeding. What I have noticed is explosive growth on the snakes that ate them in just 6 weeks. I have to wonder if it is just fat they have gained as I assume chicks don’t have anywhere near the muscle content or protein an adult mouse would have. It appeared as though the rat snakes would digest these chicks in less than a day and appeared hungry within two days. I think I might continue to use chicks as they are incredibly cheap to purchase but use them more as treat than a consistent source of food. Does anyone else here use chicks?


-----
Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org

[ Show Entire Thread ]