Reptile & Amphibian Forums

will there be a problem in the long run if i keep feeding my adult king cobra feeder quail and rats instead of just feeding it with snakes?

that is if i could make it to eat them.just wanted to know if there is a long term problem if they just keep eating anything other than reptiles
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1.2.1 indian star tortoise
0.0.2 radiated tortoise
0.1.0 burmese star tortoise
0.0.1 sulcata
0.0.1 elongated tortoise
0.0.1 leopard tortoise
0.1.0 red foot tortoise
0.1.0 pancake tortoise
1.0.0 herman tortoise

0.1.0 snapping turtle
0.0.2 alligator snapping turtle
0.0.1 chitra-chitra
0.1.0 fly river turtle
1.0.0 asian giant pond turtle

0.0.1 leopard gecko
1.0.0 tokay gecko

0.0.1 amazon tree boa
1.0.0 blood python
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.1 monocle cobra
0.0.1 green whip snake
0.0.1 mangrove snake
0.0.1 green tree python
0.0.1 wagler's pit-viper
0.0.1 shore pit-viper
0.0.1 keeled ratsnake
0.0.1 equatorial spitting cobra

1.0.0 false gharial
0.0.2 spectacle caiman

1.0.0 asian leopard cat

1.0.0 deathstalker scorpion

0.0.1 arapaima gigas

That's a great question. I know of several very long term kings who have subsisted on a diet entirely of rodents with no ill effects. The way I see it, if their digestive track handle snakes, rodents should be fairly easy despite their specialized diet. Plus, how do we really know if wild kings aren't taking the occasional rat; there's not enough field observational evidence to prove otherwise. It is not always a guarantee when it comes to weaning kings on to rodent prey so be patient and make sure you have a good source for quality feeder snakes in the meantime.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>will there be a problem in the long run if i keep feeding my adult king cobra feeder quail and rats instead of just feeding it with snakes?
>>
>>that is if i could make it to eat them.just wanted to know if there is a long term problem if they just keep eating anything other than reptiles
>>-----
>>1.2.1 indian star tortoise
>>0.0.2 radiated tortoise
>>0.1.0 burmese star tortoise
>>0.0.1 sulcata
>>0.0.1 elongated tortoise
>>0.0.1 leopard tortoise
>>0.1.0 red foot tortoise
>>0.1.0 pancake tortoise
>>1.0.0 herman tortoise
>>
>>0.1.0 snapping turtle
>>0.0.2 alligator snapping turtle
>>0.0.1 chitra-chitra
>>0.1.0 fly river turtle
>>1.0.0 asian giant pond turtle
>>
>>0.0.1 leopard gecko
>>1.0.0 tokay gecko
>>
>>0.0.1 amazon tree boa
>>1.0.0 blood python
>>1.0.0 ball python
>>0.0.1 monocle cobra
>>0.0.1 green whip snake
>>0.0.1 mangrove snake
>>0.0.1 green tree python
>>0.0.1 wagler's pit-viper
>>0.0.1 shore pit-viper
>>0.0.1 keeled ratsnake
>>0.0.1 equatorial spitting cobra
>>
>>
>>1.0.0 false gharial
>>0.0.2 spectacle caiman
>>
>>1.0.0 asian leopard cat
>>
>>1.0.0 deathstalker scorpion
>>
>>0.0.1 arapaima gigas
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

While this may be rather simplistic, but I look at it this way. Their favorite prey in the wild are rat snakes and, well, there's nothing in a rat snake that didn't come from a rat... Maybe it's not ideal, but if some humans seem to get by on nothing but vegetation, and I can survive mostly on fast food, going from a ratsnake to a rat can't be too much of a stretch...

I know a couple of zoos that feed them rodents only and not other snakes and they got along fine and healthy.
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids