Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering how many of you vary your BP's diet. Feeding chicks or baby rabbits. I know of people who feed their adults primarily baby rabbits but was wondering if anyone feeds rats, chicks , and rabbits without a problem going back and forth. Looking forward to hearing the pros and cons.

Best of luck to all this breeding season.

Rats are very good deit for ball pythons, I don't think rabbits or chicks are that good for ball pythons, I know rabbits and chicks are good for burmese pythons. Thanks Scott Glover

Balls are strictly rodent eaters in the wild so something like chicks may have adverse affects on their digestive systems. I suppose if you fed them chicks all the time their system would adjust, but there is no real reason to go that direction with it IMO. Now, I do something that will probably be frowned upon by most here, and for good reason I suppose, But occasionally I will live trap chipmunks and feed these to my balls. I'm aware they may harbor parasites that are unfamiliar, and possibly dangerous to Ball Pythons, but I've been doing this off and on for years with no ill effects.

Quig

Actually snakes out in the wild eat a variety of food, including things like small birds and lizards. I even got a WC ball that I had rescued several years ago to start eating by catching lizards in my yard and feeding those to him (he hadn't eaten in 16 months so I thought I'd give it a try). The problem in varying their diet tho is that you may end up with a snake that will only eat baby bunnies or chicks, we all know how finicky balls can be. Unless you have a constant supply I wouldn't recommend it. Chicks are good for getting WC's to eat, but I really wouldn't recommend them for just to add vareity. Hope this helps.
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Tosha

8.10.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

My ball eats both gerbils and mice without a problem(I had to start breeding gerbils for a boa that would only accept them and not mice)So just be careful about getting him hooked on a food that isn't always available, but in my opinnion a varied diet would more mimick the wild and the snake might be healthier.

I use mice,rats,chinese hamster,russian hamster,syrian hamster,gerbils,Peromyscus leucopus mice *(white footed).....

have used chicks,guinea pigs and rabbits on stuff too.

YES they get hooked onto one item and it is usually the wrong item.....yes it's a pain....yes they do what they want....

I raise all that stuff anyways.but if they would all eat frozen rats......heck yea I'd stay with that.......

......corns will stick on an item too........most species could do it........
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Always feed mice if they will take them...I've never had health problems, mice are easy to get, cheap, and not dangerous to the snake. I've never heard of a ball python eating anthing other than rodents in the wild. While many other snakes might, I seriously doubt balls eat anything other than rodents, primarily gerbils in the wild (yup I said it, gerbils in Africa...oh no, now someone is going to tell me the 100 or so species of gerbil in africa don't exist b/c their pet gerbils come from mongolia...lol).

Since I have never heard of anyone actually studying the benefits of varying a BPs diet, I assume that there are no such benefits...until someone proves me wrong (i.e. a long term study involving more than two snakes, I don't want to hear a bunch of people's anecdotes). All of my BPs have been just great with mice with maybe the occasional rat. In fact I think the less you vary your exact feeding procedure (food item, live or F/T, time of day, location, place where you buy you food items from etc...) the less likely you will have problems with them feeding in the future.

LOL you just had to bring the gerbils back into the picture didn't you?:0

I asked the question because a man in my area feeds his largest females 2-3 day old rabbits. I FEED MINE F/T RATS EXCEPT FOR TWO FEMALES THAT ONLY EAT MICE. I would never feed mine anything other than Rats and mice. I was just wanting to see if ANYONE else heard of or feeds a varied diet to their BP.Thanks for the responses.

Best of luck to all this breeding season.

I think the very best way to vary the diet of a ball python is to vary the diet of the prey. A rat a week but every week the rat has a belly full of something different. Kinda like gut loading but over time the nutrition of the rat package will provide a more widely varied profile.

For instance, if the real natural prey of a ball python is a fruit eating rodent (I said IF because I don't know and the statement is hypothetical) then take your rat and let it fill up on melon or berries and then feed it to the snake(s).
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

NAMED BEST REPTILE STORE IN LOS ANGELES

that sounds kinda pointless

a mouse or rat is a single package of all the vitamins and minerals required for the mouse or rat to live (it is alive afterall). So why do people think this is not enough vitamins and minerals for a snake to live? You do not need to vary anything, that will just lead to picky eating down the line. Pick one thing and stick to it. In the end it will be easier and your snake will not develope weird preferences.