Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last night, the Pine Woods snake was eating his usual dinner of raw whipped chicken eggs, when I got an idea. While he was feeding, I dipped a dead guppy in the raw egg. I waited until the snake "yawned," and then I slid the fish into his mouth. The snake could feel the egg on the guppy, and he swallowed it. Then I waited until he yawned again, and put another one in there, which he also willingly swallowed. Finally, I simply placed a third guppy, prepared in the same way, right in front of him. He slithered up to it, grabbed it, and ate it immediately, without me having to do anything! Wow! A fish eating Pine Woods Snake!
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
0.1 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.0.3 southern ringneck snakes
0.0.1 night snake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.1 Pine woods snake
0.0.2 rough earth snakes
2 (all of them are female!) Brahminy blind snakes

I can't believe you're proud of the fact that you tricked a Rhad into taking a guppy. Did you know that snakes have died in captivity because they were fed things on a regular basis that they didn't eat in the wild. The body of the snake did not know how to digest the 'alien' prey item, causing the snake to die after a short time.

You want to feel like you accomplished something with the pine woods snake? Put a bowl of egg, a bowl of guppies, an anole and a tree frog in it's enclosure and see what disapears first.

Mike
Michael's Place

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Michael's Place has updated better caresheets
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

Last time i checked pine woods snakes dont usually eat egg in the wild either yet this snake has been eating egg for how long now?
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-Doug Daly

"Brian theres a message in my Alpha-Bits, it says: "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH""
"Peter Those are Cheerios..."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

I have witnessed the snake feeding on whipped egg for several weeks, and I apologize if my diet studiues concerning this species have offended anyone. That was not my intention.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
0.1 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.0.3 southern ringneck snakes
0.0.1 night snake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.1 Pine woods snake
0.0.2 rough earth snakes
2 (all of them are female!) Brahminy blind snakes

No man, Dave, what you are feeding the Rhad has not offended anyone. And I'm glad you have a particular interest in the smaller snakes. But you are a feeding a snake a prey item that in the wild it will not eat. Like I said, snakes in captivity have died because they were fed something that they would not eat in the wild, and their bodies could not handle the alien matter. I'm just trying to help you dude, you know that, but the pine woods snake is one of those snakes where you can simply not avoid the some-herps-need-to-eat-herps thing. Pine woods snakes have been reported to eat frogs, lizards, skinks, snakes and rarely, earthworms. That's it. No fish, no eggs.

Mike
Michael's Place

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Michael's Place has updated better caresheets
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

Im sorry if you thought i was trying to be sarcatic to you, i really wasnt. I wanted to get the point across that if the snake survived while eating chicken egg yolk then obviously there is nothing wrong with that 'alien' food. If it can digest guppies and not die than that's great! You've made great strides as far as new information on the species. The egg feeding thing in my opinion was brilliant! You didn't just pluck the idea from out of the blue you researched it and came to a logical conclusion. I was just trying to get the point across that if it eats it and it doesn;t hurt the snake then what's the matter with it? Nothing. Good luck with the pine woods snake, they're neat looking little guys!
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-Doug Daly

"Brian theres a message in my Alpha-Bits, it says: "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH""
"Peter Those are Cheerios..."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

If it can digest guppies and not die than that's great! You've made great strides as far as new information on the species.

Doug, that is not new information on the pine woods snake. Egg is not a natural prey item, and Dave's snake is simply drinking the egg because it thinks it's drinking water. It did not voluntarily eat the guppy, it was slipped into the egg. I bet I could put anyone of my 4 pine woods snakes' heads into a bowl of egg and they would drink just as they would drink water, because they think it is water.

Mike
Michael's Place

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Michael's Place has updated better caresheets
Helmz777@aol.com
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake

If it works it works! It may think its drinking water but its getting plenty of nutrition too. I thought he mentioned that he was feeding it like globs of egg while it was sitting with its mouth open too. Snakes have a better ense of smell than probably any other reptile i think it could tell the difference between the smell and the texture of the egg. Anyway, like i said the snake was doing fine with the egg and it doesn't seem like the guppies hurt it at all. He's really worked his butt off to keep this guy alive. Good job dave, and good luck!
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-Doug Daly

"Brian theres a message in my Alpha-Bits, it says: "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH""
"Peter Those are Cheerios..."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

I am not sure if the pinewoods eats lizard or insect eggs in the wild, as this has not been documented that I know of, but does not mean it does not occur. They are not remarked for specialized teeth or a tooth to easily make this claim, however, the scarlet snake does have this tooth, but will swallow small lizard eggs whole and not even need that tooth to slit a small egg. And scarlets will consume bull-ant eggs like jelly beans on Easter and perhaps the pinewoods does also? As far as guppies go, does he eat them on his own from a bowl? I have seen guppies work for tree vipers when frogs and lizards were a no go. Southern ringnecks eat fish in the wild and are often found a few feet away from small creeks so perhaps the pinewoods also enters small creeks and eats fish? Either case, mine seem to need one or two decent sized anoles a week to stay healthy, so your gonna have to keep an eye on your pinewoods body weight if only offering eggs and minnows, unless he eats a ton of the stuff, an egg may be all the nutrition it needs? If it starts to drop weight and look skinny, then you need to give it the proper diet or send it to someone that will. You know you might be able to scent day-old pinks with frog and egg and get by with that? I have a scarlet snake that sucks down pinks that way with the egg scent.

Dan

Dave, that was what i was thinking. You should try dipping some f/t pinkies in egg and then feeding it to the snake. If your lucky maybe you could get it eating some unscented pinkies in a matter of time. I bet that would make your life easier considering all of the animals you have to maintain.
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-Doug Daly

"Brian theres a message in my Alpha-Bits, it says: "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH""
"Peter Those are Cheerios..."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Hey,

I was considering that, but these snakes are pretty slender, and something as bulky as a pinky could harm it's stomach, made for eating slender prey items, by overexpanding it. However, the snake does indeed seem interested in egg-coated items. I thought he would eat egg, because their environmental niche, range, and habits seemed very similar to the egg-eating Florida Scarlet Snake. The reason I tried a guppy as a prey item, was because I found the snakes very similar to the guppy-feeding Southern ringnecks. I put two and two together, and the snake seemed happy with it. She is now eating voluntarily. However, I had nothing to do with the snake eating. It was entirely up to her. Who knows? I have noticed a personality in each individual animal. Maybe I was just lucky with this one.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
0.1 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.0.3 southern ringneck snakes
0.0.1 night snake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.1 Pine woods snake
0.0.2 rough earth snakes
2 (all of them are female!) Brahminy blind snakes

How big around is she?
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-Doug Daly

"Brian theres a message in my Alpha-Bits, it says: "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHH""
"Peter Those are Cheerios..."

0.1.0 Leucistic Texas Rat Snake

Picture something just a little bit smaller than your standard no. 2 pencil.
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DAVE

1.0 Western green toad
1.1 green treefrogs
1.0 Florida blue garter snake
1.0 Mediterranean gecko
1.1 Oriental fire-bellied toads
1.0 American bullfrog
0.1 Spanish ribbed newt
1.1 Eastern ribbon snakes
1.1red-cheeked mud turtles
0.1 Dubia day gecko
1.0 Sonoran gopher snake
1.1 rough green snakes
1.1 giant African black millipedes
1.0 Okeetee corn snake
0.1 Albino African clawed frog
1.0 Kenyan sand boa
0.0.1 Argentine flame-bellied toadlet
0.0.1 African bullfrog
1.0 yellow * Everglades rat snake intergrade
1.1 Western hognose snakes
0.1 fire salamander
1.0 scarlet kingsnake
0.0.1 Argentine horned frog
0.0.3 southern ringneck snakes
0.0.1 night snake
0.0.1 Florida brown snake
0.1 Pine woods snake
0.0.2 rough earth snakes
2 (all of them are female!) Brahminy blind snakes