Posted by:
Matt Campbell
at Sun Dec 11 18:43:34 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Matt Campbell ]
At the zoo I work at we feed domestic chicken chicks to most snakes, monitors, and crocs semi-regularly. I've feed both chicks and quail to some of my snakes at home. Some have taken them and others haven't. The one case I've had of this backfiring was with a juvenile Jungle Carpet Python. The JCP was a fuzzy-eater before I acquired it. It did eat fuzzies for me on at least 2 to 3 times and then I fed it a single 1 day old quail [about fuzzy-size], at which point it began to refuse anything but 1 day quail. I tried numerous tricks to switch it back and have had limited success. I've managed to get the snake to take a F/T fuzzy, a live fuzzy, and most recently a F/T small mouse that had to sit for more than 10 hrs. before it was eaten. So, I would say go for it in regards to variety, but be prepared for the occasional snake that might develop champagne tastes. I think this might be more likely to happen with species that tend to stick with one food item, like JCPs that imprint on only eating mice and won't switch to rats, or Ball Pythons that only will eat mice vs. rats. Snakes like Taiwan Beauties though you should be able to feed fowl with impunity - they're garbage disposals and will eat just about anything that resembles food.
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Matt Campbell
25 years herp keeping experience
Full-time zookeeper
Personal collection - 21 snakes (9 genera), 20 lizards (4 genera), 6 chelonians (2 genera)
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RE: Yes... - Matt Campbell, Sun Dec 11 18:43:34 2005