Posted by:
regalringneck
at Fri Aug 12 07:49:22 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by regalringneck ]
....Ive observed & pondered this ? for many years & have posted about it on a number of occasions too.
I've always been befuddled by the numerous hobbyists struggling like heck to get a young indigo /king/whatever to take pinkies.
Its a no-brainer....once you drop your biases & think.
Evolution will not look favorably on a young colubrid poking its nose into a mammal nest. Look at the tails of rubber boas if you doubt this...
These snakes are hardwired to seek coldblooded prey.
As they get larger they begin to opportunistically take a wider range of prey, & Id suggest adult kings actually prefer mammals & if well fed, I note they do not seem to care to take a bite from vipers for the sake of a meal.
Even the rattlesnakes prefer their first few meals to be lizards rather than rodents.
Ah...but what about those parasites...
Again...how do you explain the healthy gloss & strong graceful bodies of w/c snakes loaded w/ other organisms???
My experience/education with microbiology leads me to conclude that squamate gut microecology is so unknown, we ought not to assume too much & instead trust a few million years of evolution.
Try to manage for natural conditions, rather than espouse typical western medical dogmas such as striving for sterility. Many of these micro-organisms that we crudely observe & subsequently label as parasitic, are likely mutualistic; synthesizing vitamins or serving as catalysts for other complex biochemical reactions & interactions. Typical lab analysis’s will find a host of what we believe are nasty bacteria & protozoans, thus most samples will appear "sick" & "need treatment". I use this method; start natural & stay natural; feed natural foods in addition to the usual sterile lab mice.
Understanding your ophidian friends requires you to recognize your biases.
Beers / RxR
[ Hide Replies ]
|
.. King natural feeding habits......what are your thoughts?.. - regalringneck, Fri Aug 12 07:49:22 2005 