Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I saw some Quail eggs at a supermarket yesterday, and was wondering if anyone feeds them to their Kingsnake? Kingsley is about seven years old, a good eater, but all he has ever had are frozen/thawed mice or rat pups.

Not sure if:
a) it's safe?
b) if he can digest eggs properly if he has never had them, and
c) if he'll recognize the eggs as food.

First of all, what TYPE of kingsnake is it we are talking about, and how big is it?

Many kings do forage on different types of eggs in the wild,....turtle eggs, lizard eggs, other snake eggs and ocasionally bird eggs they can get to. I doubt your snake will look at the store-bought quail eggs as food because they don't have the natural scent of the mother bird and the nest any more. However, you can scent them with rodents or chicks and it will likely go for them. I would only supplement them with a few now and then though, and not offer large numbers of them all at the same feeding just in case.

Use some common sense and make certain they are thoroughly thawed to room temps first too.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

"some are just born to troll and roll"

Agreed Doug. Is there a reason for trying the eggs in the first place? Varied diet maybe? Anyway, several eastern kings I have caught and kept over the years had turtle shell pieces in their first couple poops. Easterns seem to love turtle eggs and baby turtles!

Joe

Agreed Joe!,.....yep, Eastern getula and floridana LOVE turtle eggs and baby turtles when they can find them.

I don't really see any need to feed them quail eggs personally, but a few quail eggs here and there can't hurt I don't guess..LOL!

I don't think they would necessarily digest all of the shells though, but probably a portion of them anyway. I know others have also found shell remnants in their stools from field collecting, etc...Maybe different types of shell would be processed a bit differently too....*shrug*

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

"some are just born to troll and roll"

Thanks all~!

We're talking a regular, black and white banded, California King Snake. I'd say he is about 4 1/2 to five feet long (haven't measured him in a while). Bought him at a pet store when he was about a year old, most probably captive bred.

He is a good eater, so the eggs would just be for variety - to closer mimic a natural varied diet. But I know Kingsnakes can do well on nothing but mice, so if there is some doubt that the eggs might not agree with him, I'd rather not try them.

Would they be able to crush the egg as they swallow it then? (Assuming that I did scent the egg with some raw chicken, for example).

A 4.5 foot cal king could EASILY swallow a qual egg whole. If you want to mimic their regular diet feed him small rattlesnakes and kangaroo rats. (KIDDING) Keep him on the mice. He seems to be doing just fine with them.

Joe

Regarding quail eggs, I don't recall ever giving eggs to Lampropeltis, but I have fed lots of them to ratsnakes. The key is having fresh bird scent on them, fresh eggs unwashed just a short time away from brooding hens are taken readily, but cold ones without fresh scent are often ignored. BTW, I have fed some day old quail chicks to various Lampropeltis and they seem to be favored, maybe they enjoy something in addition to rodents? I think a few are desirable, although no argument from me that most kings do fine on just rodents.

Well, I'm still unsure if I should try the eggs - is there any truth that the unfertilized eggs don't have the same nutrition as fertilized eggs? I seem to recall hearing that in chicken eggs, it makes no difference if they are fertilized or not, the egg nutrition is the same (unless you are feeding the eggs for the partly developed embryos, I guess).

Though Kangaroo Rats and small Rattlesnakes would be a bit of a challenge to find around here, seeing I'm in Northern British Columbia, and still have patches of snow on the ground here and there.

I think for now I'll forget about the quail eggs, since they come in large packs, doesn't seem to be worth the trouble.

Quail eggs in your situation are probably more trouble than they were worth, but if you have large Pituophis or Pantherophis, I think they are a valuable and natural part of the diet. Easy if you or the neighbors have some laying bantam hens, I often fed them when I was low on rodents.

My L.zonata seems to prefer day old quail chicks over mice of the same weight. I usually feed it one of each about 2x/week. Given the choice, it usually takes the quail first. Some think variety adds a favorable aspect to a captive specimens experience.

I do feed frozen thawed chicks to my pits. They are cheaper by weight then mice. More bang for the buck.

Joe

Joe, Do you notice the chick-fed snake's poop stinking any worse than the others?. Some folks have meantioned here and there in the past that it is a very noticeable odor diference and that it does smell worse, while others say they don't notice much of a difference, if at all. Maybe I will get a bag or two and see what gives the next time I get a new rodent supply. I wish I would have thought to do this about a week and a half ago when I ordered a shipment..LOL!

oh well...

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

"some are just born to troll and roll"

Doug, yes it does stink worse. I don't find it all that bad though, and you are cleaning up half as many pile because of the larger food item. But yes, you will notice a difference.
The snakes LOVE them though.

Joe

Cool!,...thanks Joe. Maybe I will try a few bags next time..

~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

"some are just born to troll and roll"