Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well Ive decided im going to get a pine snake or bull or even gopher since they are in the same class, either way they eat (pituophis)a variety of rodents,birds eggs,birds. I wanted to know If it would be ok to feed a parakeet once in awhile to an adult pine or bull. Humanely euthinised and given to eat or humanely euthinised,frozen,thawed and then given. Is this ok? The primary source of food is obviously mice but for a snack I mean?

I do not believe all members of the genus are avid bird eaters. I understand they are all primarily rodent eaters but I am not a Pituophis specialist. Even if your animal would eat a bird (and some Pituophis will) why go to an elaborate, smaller and more expensive food item when f/t rodents are cheaper, easier, and provide for the complete nutritional requirements of the snake? I would also venture to say that a Pituophis would be happy with and even prefer a rodent diet. If you want to try a bird consider a baby chick, they are cheaper and a bit larger than a Parakeet.

other thoughts?
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Randy Hallman

I obviously wont PRIMARELY feed it any birds, a rodent diet will be established before the feeding of anything different. I just dont believe that it shouldnt have a bird or a quail egg its entire life. In my opinion giving it a bird every few months wont kill it being that theyve been known to snack om gophers,birds eggs,birds,rabbits. I dont think I can obtain chicks from the pet stores around me being that I dont live anywhere near a farm. I would fork up 7 or 8 bucks now and then for a parakeet to be eaten. Also I hear chicks are walking eggs(nutrition wise).

Kudos on choosing a gopher, bull or pine snake. They're awesome and underrated animals. However...

There are two catches with feeding a snake parakeets. Even as a snack. First, it is politically incorrect since 'keets are considered cute little affectionate pets, and a lot of small animal owners already freak out over what snakes eat. And unlike many rodents, parakeets are generally raised with the intention of becoming lifetime pets. Yeah, I know rodents are also cute and affectionate but it's partially the unusualness factor. People are accustomed to snakes eating rodents. A snake eating a parakeet will just rub them the wrong way. Heh. It even jars with me, and the only parakeet I've personally known was a little feathery psychopath.

The second catch is that you could have the misfortune of getting a snake who decides he/she likes the taste of parakeet far more than rodents and decides to refuse to eat anything else. A fully grown gopher snake could probably pack down 3 little birds in a sitting. Aside from getting a reputation at every petstore for 30 miles around as a sicko, there's the risk of getting a very expensive snake to maintain.

Your intentions are good, but there are other ways to enrich a snake's life, such as rearranging the snakes cage furniture or adding new things to the cage, such as a cardboard tray of shredded newspaper one day, cardboard wrapping paper tubes the next, or grass clippings. Or you could find a safe, private lawn with no animal burrows to crawl into where you wouldn't scare anyone, and with vigilant supervision let him crawl around a little. Another option is stowing the parakeet money away and saving up for a really nice large cage, with all the fancy features.

I'm sorry to be so negative when you clearly want the best for your snake, but feeding a snake parakeets is a really bad idea.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

There is no need to offer a snake a parakeet. Doing so would have no benefit for the snake. It could disrupt the dietary behavior of the snake and cause husbandry problems. Its best nutrition (and cheapest) would be appropriate sized rodents. Snakes do not need or benefit from dietary variety if their nutritional needs are met. If the snake is feeding consistently do not mess with the routine.
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Randy Hallman

I never understand the desire of people to feed a "variety" of food items to their snakes. Most snakes do fine if not better on a steady diet of captive bred rodents.

A parakeet is only going to weigh a few grams. So the snake gets the equivalent of a hopper worth of meat surrounded by a big mass of feathers and beak. It isn't going to help your snake in any way, and it could hurt.

Rarely a snake that is offered an unusual food item will "fixate" on that food item and want those food items from then on.
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Chris Harrison
Central Texas

I maintain a large collection of Pituophis and Drymarchon and have found that both relish quail and chicken, as well as an occasional quail egg, given occasionally as a treat, well, the Cribos are generally unimpressed with eggs, but all of my Pine and Indigo snakes appear to relish them when offered.
I try providing a variety of prey items for the animals in my care, especially generalist / opportunistic feeders, such as Drymarchon spp. and over the years, I have discovered the inclusion of fish to the Drymarchon spp. diet has decreased problems associated with ecdysis, such as eye cap retention, though I have incurred the same results by simply adding a few drops of cod liver oil to rodent fare.
Anyhow, I feel as though we owe it to our charges to provide them with a diet as diverse as possible, as most would certainly incur such within the wild, with the exception of highly specialized feeders.

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Thanks jeff (epidemic) for seeing my point of view. Obviously my captive snake doesnt need a diverse and variety of foods because its obviously in captivity. But what if you were a captive, and was fed chicken patty every day? oh yes your owner knows chicken patty if high in protiens and fat which is what we need to make energy to warm up your body but would YOU be happy? Most people dont care if there snake is living good or not, I feel bad for animals that have to eat the same thing day in and day out,but its not inhumane because they are atleast given what they need. Maybe Im wrong for thinking about parakeet being fed to my new snake when its gets older but I like being different just as long as my animal isnt hurt.

Frankly, assuming I was a captive who needed a chicken patty every day, I'd probably become sick of them in a short time. But if I only required food every week or ten days, then the simple act of eating that chicken patty would be a novel break from routine, even if I had one seven days before.

But if you're absolutely determined to give your snake a diverse diet and are willing to take the chance of him/her becoming fixated on one specific food item, there is a solution.

There are online sources for snake food that not only raise rats and mice, humanely euthanize and freeze them, but they do the same thing for quail and chicks. Shipping can be costly, but the price difference between chicks and parakeets will probably make up for that in your first order. And getting mice or rats from such a source can be done at the same time. You can get quality snake food, a diverse array and even with shipping factored in, it's cheaper than buying at pet stores.

Hope this option is useful to you.
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

Chicks, and button quail are far better nutrionally then parakeets which are little more then feathers and bone. Also you can get them at fraction of the cost. you can maintain a colony of button quail for pennies, they breed easily and grow fast.

Having worked with both Pituophis and Drymarchon for over 25 years, within my personal collection, and over 200 species over the past 15 years in both zoological and academic entities, I have encountered only a single specimen which has become "fixated" on a single prey item, a D. corais, which was "stuck" on chicken, but has thrived on such, growing from a 13" runt upon acquisition to a staggering 7.5' in just over two years.
Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree with you to this regard.
However, I would have to agree with Rick, and I apologize for neglecting this earlier, but button and contortix quail would provide a greater level of nutrition, are readily available in a variety of sizes from various frozen feeder suppliers or you can purchase hatching eggs from quail suppliers and off of eBay.
Personally, for the variety of indications already posted, I would shy away from the use of parakeets as feeders...

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Yes.

If you want variety in your snake's diet, quail would be a much better way to go. You can buy them frozen, in bulk, along with your mice.

I try and vary my indigo snake's diet a bit...but they are much more general predators (I think) than most Pits.

I don't remember who above me posted this - but I agree that another way for animal "enrichment" would be to change up the cage setup every once in a while, so the snake has something a little different to explore.

Enjoy your new snake!