Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am now breeding crickets to get baby crickets... The baby crickets are for the tadpoles that I am raising into groglets... The froglets are for the baby rat snakes I am trying to fatten up... The baby ratsnakes are for the coral snake at our refuge.

Have I gone totally off the deep end???

On side branches, the adult crickets are being used for my goliath birdeater and my young sawscale viper, and I plan to try both the sawscale and the coral snake on the froglets...

At least I'm not growing grain for the crickets yet...

Yeah, Larry, you need help. Heehee
You'll probably have beter luck getting the Echis to eat the frogs than you will the Micrurus, but try 'em both. If successful, I would not recommend making frogs a steady diet for either. BTW, if the refuge has any Dispholidus, I know for a fact they will eat ranid frogs, even though you won't find that in any book on African snakes.

~~Greg~~

Although I'm sure that can work sometimes, and you're probably referring to stubborn adult imports, I tried various frogs with my babies and they wouldn't have any of it. I tried both feeding the frogs and scenting mice and rats with them, no effect. Ah well, I guess you can't always have cooperative snakes, lol. In the end, the only thing that did work was persistent assist feeding.
-Chance

Yeah, that was an adult import..she seemed to prefer leopard frogs to mice.

~~Greg~~

I figured the Echis would be more likely to take them. I don't intend to make frogs the sole diet of either, but we do have trouble getting enough small snakes for the coral and the sawscale is about a year old (I have had him since birth) and still hasn't eaten anything but crickets for me. His parents munched mice like there was no tomorrow, but I can still only get the occasional defensive bite out of the little one if I bug him enough.

No Dispholidus... Maybe once I have my own hot room built...

I was wondering if you have tried scenting pinkies with snakes (the kind corals like)? I am "fattening" up a little dekayi for a M.f. tenere, but plan to scent a pinkie first to see what happens. That would sure make things easier than having to frequent ditches, flipping trash for little blind, ground and flathead snakes.

Before you go scenting pinkies to feed Micrurus, two things:

1) Any snake on a diet of nothing but pinkies or fuzzies is not getting sufficient calcium.

2) Micrurus naturally feed on reptiles. Switching them to rodents may not fulfill their nutritional requirements.

~~Greg~~