Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the opinion of you other snake lovers here, I am wondering what you guys like to feed your big burms other than rabbits. I hear that feeding whole full-feathered chickens may be an option, and that also frozen piglets can be purchased that might also be a good way to go. There surely must be other viable options than feeding only rabbits to adult burms. Just looking for some other thoughts on this.

Thanks,
~Kyle

a lot will depend on what is available to you. for most, obtaining commercially raised rabbits is the best choice for feeding large burms. I would not recommend chickens as a primary food source (plus, you will find that a burm fed a diet high in chicken tend to have loose, runny and very stinky stools). I have one rather large burm that still refuses everything except for rats....so she gets LOTS of rats (but since I get many donated, it isn't that big of a deal). Piglets, small goats, etc. can all be used as a food source but unless you live near a farm, this may not be a viable option.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

>>In the opinion of you other snake lovers here, I am wondering what you guys like to feed your big burms other than rabbits. I hear that feeding whole full-feathered chickens may be an option, and that also frozen piglets can be purchased that might also be a good way to go. There surely must be other viable options than feeding only rabbits to adult burms. Just looking for some other thoughts on this.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>~Kyle
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Believe in yourself and your abilities and you can accomplish anything.

Hi Kyle –

Unlike Rob, I didn’t find that large adult pythons fed chickens had loose, runny stools – quite the opposite in fact. Those, um, turds, came out rather dry, and all those undigested quill feathers packed together looked kind of uncomfortable. As far as smell goes, well, I guess that’s an individual matter. Seemed about the same as any other poop.

Day-old chicks fed to snakes was a different story, however. In that case, I agree with Rob – stools were softer than with a rodent diet and the smell was worse. Who knows if that was due to maybe less calcium content or just that the snakes needed to allow their systems to adjust. I can’t say because I didn’t utilize baby chicks all that often.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’ve had big Burmese that loved poultry and lived to a decent age eating mostly chickens after they switched over from rats. But the large breast size of those birds makes it more difficult for the snakes to eat say, a 6 pound chicken than a 6 pound rabbit or piglet.

You asked what people fed their “big” Burms. By the time a python gets to a really big (or just maximum) size, most males and non-breeding females require a rather modest amount of food to maintain good health. A few half to one pound lab rats make a perfectly adequate meal, with the added advantage that you don’t have to waste the food if the “big” python isn’t hungry. You can just give those rats to some not-so-big snakes.

-Joan

Good point Joan, the experience I have had with feeding primarily chickens were with 1 day old chicks fed to a group of extremely stubborn wild imports who turned their nose to everything else. And the second hand reports I received from reputable folks shared the same observations with full grown chickens. With a full grown chicken, it probably wouldn't be as bad though (we supplement quail to many of our herps but pretty much stick to a primary rodent diet). Also, I do agree in that many people have an exagerated idea on what a full grown adult burm really needs (for an appropriate sized meal). My 19' burm RARELY gets any rabbits larger than the 5-10 lb range....two of these a month is PLENTY for this particular snake to stay in tip top shape.

Cool, thanks for the tips!

So if my burm is 7 feet, and eating like 2 jumbo rats a week, then by the time it is 12 feet, you think like 4 jumbo rats a week would be enough for it? Then at say 15 feet, 4 or 5 jumbo rats could be a sufficient meal? I am looking into local farms to check on the availability of pigs, chickens, etc. I'm just planning ahead.

Thanks again,
~Kyle

Also, the thing about feeding many rats at a time is that I thought maybe it would not be willing to eat that many, that maybe it would stop after eating a couple. Do you think most burms will eat 4 or 5 at a time?

Thanks again,
~Kyle

Hi Kyle – I’m not sure if you said you had a python or a boa. But if you keep good records, by the time it gets big you will have developed a sense for how much food is appropriate per meal or, indeed per year. When they’re young and growing, they are eating machines. When they get older, males and non-breeding females just naturally require less food. And it can sometimes go in cycles. I have a 12 to 14 foot Burmese who ate 15 rats last year @ 3350 grams (less than 7-1/2 pounds total for the year). The year before, he ate close to 100, the year before that 33.

Yes, a hungry Burmese could certainly chow down on 5 or 10 or more large rats, if you didn’t wish to feed it one large food item. Just think, in the wild, they don’t get fed once a week on Monday on the same strain of bunnies. They might snag something humongous, or something small, or come up completely empty.

-Joan