Can You Feed A Snake Chicks?

[@thatweirdguy1843]

My ball python has become a lot more excited about food since I started feeding her a varied diet, so I definitely think it's very enriching and could even lead to fewer food refusals in some snakes. She completely refused to eat anything but mice in the beginning and it was quite the struggle to get her to accept rats, but I did it eventually and now she happily eats rats, mice, chicks, and African soft-furred rats (which seem to be her favorite food).

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Sounds like a nice healthy diet! They show preferences in my opinion by their reactions to different prey. Still working on a methodology to preference test this.

[@ithewho6603]

How did you get her to take rats? I'm planning on getting a ball python and the thing that worries me the most is their eating habits.

[@thatweirdguy1843]

@@ithewho6603 I skipped feedings, thawed a mouse and a rat together, offered the mouse first and then the rat right after, fed rats the same size as the mice she was eating and scented them with dirty hamster bedding. Initially getting them to eat something new when they've only ever been fed the same thing can take quite a bit of patience and persistence, but once they're consistently taking two different prey items they'll usually accept anything else you offer. Complete food refusals (except for natural fasts during the breeding season, which are actually healthy) can almost always be avoided by having correct husbandry. If you haven't yet, I would recommend joining "Not Just a Pet Rock (Python regius)" on Facebook, for the best info on proper care :)

[@ithewho6603]

@@thatweirdguy1843 Thank you! These are great advices and I'm saving them just incase I need them in the future 👍 I don't have Facebook account, but if it's an open site for reading I'm gonna check it out.

[@madeliner1682]

Thanks for sharing! I'm still doing lots of preliminary research before getting a ball python, and was curious how hard it would be to get them to eat varied food given how notoriously picky eaters they are... And I'll definitely keep that feeding trick you mentioned in mind in case I need it 👍

[@abherbitter]

In addition to the enrichment value of a varied diet, it's also important to consider the importance of macronutrients (carbohydrates fat, etc), and vital non-nutrients (fiber, water, etc.). There are going to be highly specialized species that benefit from a single prey item diet--egg eating snakes jumps to mind--but most of the reptiles we keep are generalists. More study is needed but if they evolved eating a diverse diet, they almost certainly need a diverse diet for optimum welfare.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I agree

[@josecat436]

Snakes don’t need carbs and fiber. They’re obligate carnivores. Fiber especially is an indigestible material even for us, interestingly enough it’s theorized that fur of rats act like fiber for the snakes, aiding in bowel movement since they can’t digest keratin, but still not necessary and can pass stools without it.

[@ithewho6603]

Nice 👍 And the thumbnail is great. You really look like you have trouble deciding whether you eat the mouse or the chick for dinner 😁

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Yum 😋

[@akiradragon2935]

Hahaha

[@matts1072]

Great points as usual. One thing lost in the data is how much fun it can be for the keeper to offer variety.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

That's very very true!!!

[@LoriTorrini]

I randomly feed mine lately whatever I pull out of the freezer. Mice, chicks, quail, rats, reptilinks, and a couple eat fish as well.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Nice and varied 😊

[@allenshaw4753]

What kind of fish??

[@Scaling_Obsession]

For a time, I mostly fed my reptiles chicks and quail with no ill effects whatsoever. Their stools were normal, their skin had a wonderful iridescent sheen, and they appeared to eat these birds with far more enthusiasm in comparison to rodents.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I've noticed one of mine has a stronger reaction to chick than mice

[@andycristea6784]

Very interesting. You are helping son much with all the things you share with us

[@ReptilesandResearch]

So nice of you! Im happy its of use to you :)

[@kathyls74]

We just tried adding quail to our snakes diet. Roxy, our boa ate no hesitation, cause well she’s a boa. Rocky, our royal python refused the first offer but was interested in it. The next feeding he took it very aggressively!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

That’s brilliant! Glad they are getting on well 😀

[@headhunterxotics4365]

Another awesome video! I love the information you bring to the reptile hobby!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you 😊

[@bulaongdanielcd100]

This is super interesting, another good quality and very informative video from this channel. THANK YOU SO MUCH! i really hope you feel our appreciation. 🥰😇 One thing tho, i’ve seen so many videos about how often should snake be fed, i’ve also seen a small part if yours about this topic, but it would be nice to have an elaborate video about it as well. Also please try to consider adding more information about baby to “young” snakes (0 to 3 years old). Most information online or in KZbin are for adult snakes 🙁. I hope it’s not too much to ask 😅 Thank you again and have a good day 💖

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I feel the appreciation :) I my feeding schedule is not strict at all its as and when i remember so it might go one ever 2 weeks to 3 to a months gap if i feed something like a snake. As long as they keep good body condition i tend not to overthink it. I will be breeding the mbks at some point so i will have babies to feed then ;)

[@bulaongdanielcd100]

@@ReptilesandResearch woah! I’m so excited for your baby MBK contents 😍

[@Secretsaver]

Awesome stuff 😁 I know what I'll be trying to feed more often next time I pick up an obese snake

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Brilliant!

[@kevinthegrizzly5074]

Truly enjoyed your video, very informative 👍🏾. I must bring up some points. 1) Availability. ASF, or multis as they're called on your side of the pond, can be difficult to find and sometimes expensive. I had a royal many moons ago and he would only eat black gerbils. The biggest point for us is a quality source that's consistent. Sometimes that can be a little difficult. Take care🇺🇸🇬🇧.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Yeah for sure it’s all relative, glad you enjoyed it!

[@Nathansexoticsandmore]

Great video! Learned a good bit about the calcium to phosphorus ratio of different prey items of snake. 😁👍🏻

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Scaling_Obsession]

I strongly believe snakes become "addicted" to one food type solely due to people over feeding their snakes. Never had any of my snakes becoming "stuck" on a chick, mouse, or rat. I'm quite conservative with my feeding regime and so the snakes have learnt to grab whatever they can, when they can.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Yeah they might feed to often too I feed mine like every 3 weeks maybe

[@reptielenshowassen]

Another awesome video! Thanks for recommending it to me. I love that you do research into this common "myths". I had heard several different stories regarding chicks but you can't argue with science. I'll definitely be feeding chicks more often!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

No problem I’m really glad it’s getting out there that chicks are good food sources

[@reptielenshowassen]

@@ReptilesandResearch Agreed! I think it's important we continue to educate ourselves and don't get stuck in our ways, simply because we have done it like that for such a long time. There is so much still to learn about reptiles, even ball pythons. Perhaps especially ball pythons.

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Thanks for such an informative video. I usually alternate feed items for most of my snakes. My carpet pythons often use more energy when consuming chicks, as they tend to either eat them back end first, or consume them from the middle (ie doubled up), which takes them longer! I also find that chicks end up producing less solid faeces. I made the mistake of keeping my jungle carpet python on mice for too long, and he absolutely won't take rats now that he's an adult, and others have had the same problem.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

No problem glad it was useful. Have you tried quail at all?

[@johnschlesinger2009]

@@ReptilesandResearch My adult boa constrictor amarali loves adult quails. My female Kenyan sand boa didn't feed for four and a half months; a week ago she took a day old quail - huge relief! Day old quails would be too small for my other snakes, and the supplier I use only stocks adult and day old quails.

[@Lizardliker]

I do enjoy the factuality accurate information. If you can handle constructive feedback. I personally don't find the background music helpful. I don't feel it's a great song. I feel it makes it harder to follow what you are saying. I'm really interested in what you are saying. But it's like you are saying it in an elevator.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thats fair enough i might tinker with removing it in the future. Thanks for watching :)

[@notmyrealname4363]

I'm thinking that for my future ball python (a male because of the space I have available, and I want my snake to have a lot of climbing opportunities which males do more- learnt that from your video on their semi-arborealilty!) so considering that the wild adult male ball python diet is according the research we have is about 70% birds, I think for him I will choose to have bird prey items be the main basis of his diet and other items as the variation, to reflect the wild diet. Things like textures of the feathery fluffy birds might even be more appealing for his most frequent food as that's what they are geared towards in the wild. Having rodents occasionally may even go down well *because* they are different and interesting- in a way that could perhaps be more so than if I were to do an all rodent diet for him? 🤔 Only time will tell, this along with your other videos are extremely helpful right now in the research and preparing stage, and will continue to be helpful as I actually become a reptile keeper (as soon as living situation and space changes to allow that 🤞🏻).

[@sgtcoffee4243]

Very interesting video! Great work dude, gives me some food for thought (no pun intended)

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 😊 Not intended but made me laugh anyway

[@TesseraCraft]

yeah. I keep corn snakes and black rat snakes. One of my corn snakes will not eat frozen thawed mice at all, so I had to feed him live mice till he was big enough to day old quail chicks, and he has been on quail for more then a year now. Some people call black rat snakes chicken snakes because they are seen eating chicken chicks and eggs from chicken coups all of the time. So I figured it was ok to substitute chicken chicks in replacement of rats every other meal to save a little money. a small adult rat is like $1.50 where a chicken chick is just $.50 Thanks for making this video. it does put my mind at ease when it comes to feeding my snakes. as for input on a 3rd type of feeder I would suspect chicken or quail eggs would be something to look into.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I’m glad it put you at ease, funnily enough I feed eggs but I have not looked into the nutritional aspect of it. Black rat snakes are a species I’d consider keeping

[@TesseraCraft]

@@ReptilesandResearch I got some content on them on my channel if you want to check it out. theyare much like corn snakes

[@Specogecko]

I feed my boas feral pigeons regularly, they nest on my property, and I dispatch them and freeze them first to avoid parasites. But raising your own pigeons or getting some from a person with a pigeon coop (they breed easily and grow quick, so a person can quickly become over whelmed) is a good option!

[@jh8320]

Fantastic info as always

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you

[@kisakisakura6663]

Hey there, I hope to get your input on my scedule. I do have a hoggy and based on what I've found they eat eggs, small birds, lizards, ambibians and small mammals in the wild. Sadly, not everything on that list is available as a prey item where I live. Tbh. we only really have mice, rats, rabbits and the occaisonal chicken chick (no quail chicks that might be small enough). I already do have her on a smiliar rotation as you proposed in the video. I just alternate the second prey item - sadly those are not full. I go mice; 2-3 eggs (quail), mice, froglegs (asian store), repeat. Feeding depends on behaviour and she does gets the occaisonal supplement as a powder on her mice. I like the different sizes of the food. Sadly anything else I could get her would be too big. I do think about including chicken hearts, too. But I haven't found a supplier, yet. Eventually there will be non-fertilized turte eggs on her diet, too. as they are a staple food for wild hognoses. But my girlfriends turtle isn't quite at the age to lay eggs yet. As far as I can tell she does well on that rotation - better than on just mice (she had problems with RI for quite some time that are not thankfully conquered).

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Sounds like you already have a cracking diet plan! I will be looking into hognose diets for a video in the future so I may have recommendations then

[@kisakisakura6663]

@@ReptilesandResearch Thanks! I look forward to the video!

[@Specogecko]

I know where I live juvenile hognoses have a diet that consists almost exclusively of frogs and toads, with things like neonatal rodents and juvenile skinks being a fraction and only happen on occasion; these prey items are not nearly as readily available as amphibians are. they reach larger sizes the diversity in prey items do increase, and include more birds and rodents, but the majority of their diet is still frogs and toads. The only reptiles they could consume are each other, garter snakes or prairie skinks. They could also eat fish and invertebrates (juvenile hognose are more likely to eat invertebrates than adults because of size) My hognose (a really small male who could probably eat a small fuzzy but that would be pretty big for him, so for mice it’s only pinkies) will eat fish, and insects on occasion, just as something different. He’s also eaten baby love birds (they died naturally) he’s also eaten still born crested geckos, and dropped tails from small geckos

[@Specogecko]

For birds, baby budgies and lovebirds are easy to breed, You could also get button quail or coturnix quail, incubate the eggs and use the chicks as feeders or you could try feeding the eggs cracked open, whole, or deshelled and lightly boiled. My hognose has eaten fish and insects before so you could give that a try too for some variety! You might need to rub the smell of rodent on them to get him to give them a try the first couple times. You could also give peices of raw meat such as chicken, as a treat too. The frog legs are probably one of the best alternatives as amphibians do make up a large portion of their diet in the wild,. but If you wanted to raise your own frogs as food, african clawed frogs breed easily and produce hundreds of offspring! Normally people actually cull some of the eggs and tadpoles as they’re a no way to home all of them. In many places (as unfortunate as it is) it’s legal to catch frogs for using as fishing bait, so you could catch wild frogs, but I’d recommend if your gonna feed them whole to kill them (destroying the brain) and freeze them first to prevent parasites.

[@kitsune0rei]

I've tried some variety. My royals moved from mice to rats with no issue, but look at chicks like they aren't food. Maybe I just need to keep trying. I've tried reptilinks with the same result. I do have a Children's python who will happily take anything. I rotate him on mice, reptilinks, and quail chicks. Of course my Savannah monitor will take anything so I don't worry about if I try new things and they won't eat them :)

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I have kingsnakes and they demolish anything offered to them 😂

[@Nicna86]

Good stuff dude!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thanks!

[@guy8646]

Excellent video. This is why I don’t have any reptiles that need rodents; I cannot reconcile the issues on either side of the debate enough to feel comfortable feeding rodents. Thanks.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Glad you think so, thats a fair stance its not for everyone, although if you like snakes but dont want to feed rodents there are snakes that eat insects like rough greens etc

[@hannahsophie5391]

Very interesting. I don't know if I missed it but, what data are the recommendations based on? I remember reading a study once (didn't find the link), the the nutriutional values, and particularly ratio between fat and protein differs strongly from wild mice to human bred mice. If domesticated mice were used as a baseline (as I have seen it being done sometimes) for recommendations, this would make a circular argument.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

One is the MSD veterinary manual, who lists requirements as carnivorous reptiles. And from Allen and Oftedal (1994) which burrowed some aspects from the known requirements of rats, dogs and other mammalian carnivores. We really don't have much to go off currently. I have also seen that cb mice seem to be high compared to the wild mice. It's worth noting that the 500 odd thousand iu of vit A exceeded the critical limit for dogs or something. Its got to be an anomaly surely.

[@hannahsophie5391]

@@ReptilesandResearch Thank you for your reply :) So, I skimmed through the sources and found that the MSG veterinary manuel doesn't disclose specific sources and Allen and Ofteda (1994) took the nutrinional content of mouse from zootrition, which I don't have access to. In the meantime I found this: tcfeline.com/nutritional-analysis-of-mice/ Given their motivation and small scope of operation, this isn't much to go on either.They also didn't use the same measurement system (wet instead of dry weight) as you did, so to compare, the numbers would have to be converted.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@hannahsophie5391 Brilliant thanks for that!

[@jeorgeprout3672]

It's interesting that chicks are more or less suitable to feed as a staple feeder, I say this because I took in a very malnourished young Burmese Python last year that only ate chicks and he was in very poor condition. Stunted growth, no muscle tone and generally looked pretty slumped. He was one of the worst snakes I've ever had to deal with in regards to getting established on rodents but once he started eating them he did have a sudden growth spurt over the course of a few months! I always feed my snakes chicks on a regular basis, they get them at least twice every 6 or so weeks alongside a varied diet of rodents. Hamsters have been the most recent addition to the mix and they've all gone down a treat! I wonder if certain species will do better on different prey items, a potential example being that giants (burms, retics etc) may not be best suited for regular chick diet due to the fact they'd be tackling more substantial prey? Then colubrids (again a potential example) are more suited to a diet based around chicks due to the fact they're far more on the move naturally hunting for prey? Do you see what I mean? I absolutely love these types of videos and I'm really pleased that the reptile KZbin scene is starting to take a real appropriate stance on modern reptile welfare. As always bud keep up the great work!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

That's really interesting, perhaps it was because it wasn't enough calories? I wonder if he was fed multiple chicks in a feed if that would make a difference. Ah well glad he's doing well. Your logic makes perfect sense to me. Glad you enjoyed the video, got a few more videos like this one in the plans

[@Dragoninja35]

So I have a 6ft+ super hypo boa and is currently on small rat's but has had a variety since I've had her which is coming up to a year next month 😊 ive owned Reptiles for 12+year's but she's my first and only snake atm and always seems to be hungry 😅😅 but she's growing very fast

[@MegNotEgg]

My royal python could never 😂, but I would still like to try and give him some DOCs...

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Very cheap to try at least :)

[@gab3963]

In the US, mice see to be a lot more expensive than chicks. I got 25 day old checks for 1/2 the price of 12 large mice. Mice are easily accessible to me, so I’m curious to see what my snakes think of them (BI and retic, respectively).

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Yeah same here it bring the cost down. Should be interesting to see if they do

[@Specogecko]

People don’t even realize many species of snakes diets in the consist of reptiles, amphibians and/or birds. Birds would be more similar to reptile and amphibians than they would be to a rodent. Garter snakes for example; rodents are only a fraction, if not absent in the wild diet. Rather their diet consists more of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Most adult rodents are too large for most garter snakes and the only time they would be eating rodents would be rodent neonates. No snake would be able to locate enough pinky mice (neonate rodents)for that to be their staple.

[@hammy8127]

I feed my dumerils boa a mixture of chicks, mice, and quail.

[@mariaguns8790]

Where can I buy frozen chicks for my king? I can't give him snakes the store won't cooperate. And I only find frozen mouse/rats in reptile shops or animal shops.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Depends on where you live in the UK there are online suppliers: www.internetreptile.com/frozen-chicks/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw--GFBhDeARIsACH_kdYov_ZHrzy-K65cQsXW6WVGlvwtU5SR2SkZmhVjeqH6ZPo6fDeYTbIaAj3REALw_wcB

[@mariaguns8790]

@@ReptilesandResearch I live in Belgium, and yes I found finally an online supplier here that delivers 3x in a week. I ordered some 1day old chicks. So I give at least a chick and mouse diet. Snakes to bad I can't give him any. My local shop won't cooperate. Maybe I find a breeder that has some stillborns or that don't gonna thrive so I can freeze them for at least a month or 4 better to be safe. But I need to find someone. But chicks and mouse are a good diet too.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@mariaguns8790 if you can’t find snake I wouldn’t stress to much over it

[@agreedThroneLogic]

is that a desert king snake in this video

[@ReptilesandResearch]

cali

[@karolinadudek]

I wanted to feed my MBK a day old chick but it feels like it'd be too big? Makes me worried that she'd hurt herself trying to force it down.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Try a quail chick instead if it’s not big enough yet

[@karolinadudek]

@@ReptilesandResearch don't have any available nearby, they have rats, mice, Guinea pigs, day old chicks Do you order online? Might have to try get it with my Tegu order as kreitzberg might offer quail...

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@karolinadudek is your mbk fully grown? I get mine from my local shop

[@karolinadudek]

@@ReptilesandResearch I would assume so, if the shop was correct it's about 2 years old now

[@monsterkajiu1912]

How often would snakes need to be fed mainly on rodents and bird/reptiles?

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Depends on the species, size of prey, size of snake etc

[@Lysergesaure1]

I've heard that chicks make the snake poop very runny and overall gross to clean. Is there any truth in this?

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I have noticed no difference between chicks and mice. Only time ive had runny poop from them was when i fed them salmon. Other than that all poop is gross haha

[@thatweirdguy1843]

I haven't noticed any difference in my ball python's poop either :)

[@LongfieldReptilesandAquatics]

Some great information! I feed my royals a mix of multis, mice and rats although one only takes multis. I wanted to introduce chick's, gerbals, hamsters ect ect but worry about them getting stuck on the harder to find prey items 🤔

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Are chicks hard to find for you? They are common here. You are already feeding more variety than most 😊

[@LongfieldReptilesandAquatics]

@@ReptilesandResearch I'm up the North of Scotland so everything is hard to get 😅 I order all my frozen food in bulk online so could definitely get chick's, was more thinking about the other options

[@Thisisquail-196]

Don't feed them when they alive 😰