Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have found a farm nearby that sells whole chicken for $10 on the hoof(?)
What can I expect when feeding chicken? I've read runny nasty smelling stools...stuff like that.
How about the feet? Should they be removed? Beak?
The shipping costs for frozen feeders has gone so high,thanks
to fuel costs, and surcharges, it makes more sense economically
to buy my rabbits locally, but I thought maybe a fresh rabbit or chicken might be a change of pace.
My cost for frozen rabbits comes to $8.50 each for 1lb
with second day shipping. Chickens and rabbits available locally for $10 each for 2lb.
And my rats and mice I'll stock up on at shows,where I can get a quality product at a fair price.

I used to feed chickens (live) to one of my burms. He had no problems whatsoever and nothing on the chicken was removed. (I've recently gotten away from feeding live prey to my retic).

I think it's important to change a snakes diet once in a while, so I would recommend the chicken thing. Good luck.

I have fed chickens to burms without problems. The only thing to be concerned about is mites, fleas, etc. that come from farm type habitats. I brought a burm up (when he was older of course) on pigeons and chickens. They have alot of usable protein in their breasts. Makes for a very healthy meal. I would feed PK also cause those claws they have can be very dangerous. The way I would PK is to "choke" it (I know, it sounds funny but it works the best unless you have a CO2 chamber). Watch the claws!!
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"New strategy R-2, Let the Wookie Win!!!"

I thought about the fleas and mites having raised gamebirds and pigeons. How about pre killing, and then freezing them for a few days?That should sufficiently kill external parasites.
I have some extra cash this week, I may very well stop at the farm, and if they don't have proper prey sized rabbits, I'll try chickens.
How about pigs? Anyone here feed pigs?

Pigs are great for retics. If you have a steady supply but, when your retics get hooked on pigs its extremely hard to switch them back!

Prairie State Exotics

...Feeding fowl is very direct route for salmonella transfer and infection. Poultry overall is a consistent and known carrier of various types of salmonella. The food industry is able to clean them by plucking and steam baths for human consumption, but when feeding to snakes you offer the whole item.
...I would also mention that avain diets are lower in calcium due to bone structures designed for flight. Free Range chicken would be your healthiest choice, not grower chicken in the long barns. Free Range would have a more widely varied diet and an overall leaner physique. They would not have near the fat content as chicken house raised chickens.

...Were you to feed a chicken however, there is no need to take off the beak/head or feet. These areas are the highest in calcium concentration on the body. I would recommend F/K or F/T, as a dying chicken will really make a cage nasty, and might potentially hurt the snake with a head/eye peck.

...I have over the years found rabbit to be healthiest and overall least costly food item retics under 16ft

...Pigs are great for larger retics, I feed them regularly and the most often of my large meal items. They can be difficult to obtain consistently, and depending on your geographic location may or may not be an economical food source. Most farmers dont want to sell piglets or anything less than a "feeder" pig( different meaning, "feeder" pigs run 45-65 lbs typically and are sold for the buyer to feed up to size). I live in a rural, farm area and currently "feeder" pigs are running around $1.10/lb at market.
...A live pig can dangerous for a snake, so F/K or F/T is your safest route, unless they are young piglets without teeth. Juvenile pigs have teeth capable of inflicting serious wounds, they will bite if provoked or injured.

...After "subduing" the pig, I recommend a good scrub with a brush and hot water before offering or freezing. Throughly wash the whole animal, be sure to place attention on the hooves and legs as there is most often caked on fecal matter in these places.. The cleaner you keep your food intake the healthier you snakes will be. F/K can lead to worms and protozoan occurances, so a routine worming should be planned at least every 12-18 months. Freezing food items solid for several months works to kill most host needy organisms.

...I have never had an issue with retics addicting to pigs. All mine get varied diets of pig, rabbit, goat, and sheep. Whatever I have is what they get.

Notah

>>I have found a farm nearby that sells whole chicken for $10 on the hoof(?)
>>What can I expect when feeding chicken? I've read runny nasty smelling stools...stuff like that.
>>How about the feet? Should they be removed? Beak?
>>The shipping costs for frozen feeders has gone so high,thanks
>>to fuel costs, and surcharges, it makes more sense economically
>>to buy my rabbits locally, but I thought maybe a fresh rabbit or chicken might be a change of pace.
>>My cost for frozen rabbits comes to $8.50 each for 1lb
>> with second day shipping. Chickens and rabbits available locally for $10 each for 2lb.
>>And my rats and mice I'll stock up on at shows,where I can get a quality product at a fair price.