Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone has tried feeding crickets to their snakes(specifically the dekay's)? Just thinking about the upcoming winter time, when finding slugs might be a tad more challenging.

Thanks,
STeve
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Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!

Sorry love, but garters, ribbons, dekay's and the like do not eat insects. Even if they did... they would not have the means to digest them and they would poop them out looking exactly the same as they went in. I feed my dekay's and red bellies small worm or nightcrawler pieces. Make sure you are not using red wrigglers, as these nasty little red ringed worms secrete a nasty orange liquid that has shown to be toxic. You can't miss em, they are reddish in color and have distinct light colored rings.. and when you poke them there will be orange goo that smells liek earwax all over the place. If they won't eat the worm pieces... get yourself a pet slug (or freeze one) for the winter and use it to scent the worm peices with... it works everytime

you could also collect a whole bunch of slugs and freeze them. You can cut up pieces of any that are too large for your snake to eat.

I agree. Scenting nightcrawler pieces is probably the best way to go. They might not take to it right away but if you're willing to put in a little effort and can accept the fact that some of your snakes might not eat for a couple weeks during the conversion then it should work fine. You can also try offering a slug and the right after it's done swallowing offer it a scented worm piece. Once the feeding response is initiated snakes are more willing to accept food that they wouldn't have eaten otherwise. After doing that a few times you should start having luck without using the slug at all.

no post
-----
Steven ,

and flock;
-1.1 Cockatiels(Buddy and Jake)
-1.1 Budgies(Chipy and Peaches)
-1.0 Orange cheeked waxbill

And slime/scales;
-1.0 Firebellied toad
-1.0 Japanese firebellied newt(on the loose)
-0.1 Leopard gecko
-1.1 Yellow headed geckos

Fish, feeders and other wriggly things!