What Else Can You Feed A Snake? Should You Diversify Prey? YES! And Here's Why!

what else can you feed a snake? Some say to feed a snake anything else but mice or rats is wrong. They are wrong. If you are wondering what else can you feed a snake because you wonder about what else a snake would feed upon in the wild, then this is the video for you.
With insect eating lizards, and even some snake species, we emphasise the importance of variety and try to offer as many different types of insect feeders as possible. We understand that the animals would find a vast variety of feed items in the wild and we do our best to emulate that in captivity. So why then, when the same is true for a snake in the wild, do lots of keepers feed snakes on a monoculture diet of mice or rats? When we have more than that available to us to feed a snake. And what else can we feed?
So. What do our pets eat in the wild? Yes. I know that’s a very broad question. But, luckily for us there is scientific data out there. There’s data out there not only on what is eaten but what percentage of the diet is mammal, bird or reptile etc.
We often see people keep say a royal python on rats all its adult life. When in fact this doesn’t reflect their natural history at all. In fact, quite often how royal pythons are kept in captivity doesn’t reflect their natural history at all! Although, for this video its best we stick to diet. There are papers on royal python wild diets out there and the results may be far from what you’d expect.
For example this study on sexual dimorphism in royals pythons found difference in diets between the sexes. These results were found by faeces examination and forced regurgitation of stomach contents. Snakes smaller than 70cm or just over 2ft almost exclusively fed on small birds (nestlings and immature birds). Both sexes fed exclusively on birds and mammals with a significant difference between sexes. Birds made up to 70.2% of the males diets, on the flipside females diets were made up of 66.7% mammals. When individuals over 100cm are concerned the diet is almost exclusively small mammals. This study also identified what the prey item was down to species level if possible.
And that’s only what happened to be eaten at the time of the study, we really don’t know how diverse the diet really is. That being said we can be 100% certain the diet is not made up of a single species. Also, if snakes smaller than 70cm or just over 2ft almost exclusively feed on small birds (nestlings and immature birds), could that be a factor as to why people find some royals hard to get feeding, because they are trying to get them to start out with mammalian prey rather than birds?
So how do we as snake keepers diversify our pets diets? By offering different feed of course, lots of things are available frozen thawed in the UK quite easily. I have no experience with what is available in the US so I cannot speak of that. But you can now find the following frozen thawed in the uk (as I know because I have used them or know where to find them):
• Mice
• Rats
• Multimammats or African soft furs
• Gerbils
• Hamsters
• Quails
• Quail chicks
• Day old chicks
• Chickens
• Rabbits
• Guinea pigs
• Quail eggs
• Reptile eggs
• Frozen lizards and snakes if you ask a reptile shop or know a friend who has had stock die.
• Frogs legs
• Various fish species
There is also the idea that a snake must be fed the same time period between every meal, which isn’t the case. Varying the food item size, type and duration between feeds is both enriching and more natural. With my own personal snakes I may feed a meal after 14 days I may feed a small meal after 7 days. I may feed a large meal and not feed for another month. When my kingsnake ate a corn snake, she wasn’t fed for another 41 days before she had one chick. I may feed a hand full of rat pups, or a few quail eggs to simulate nest raiding.
I think we owe it to our animals to do our very best, yes we may not be able to entirely replicate their exact wild diet but even including a few new prey items and slowly expanding the diet as you go is better than nothing. Some people are so set on feeding the snake the exact same sized meal in the same way, after the same amount of days that they forget that these snakes are not autonomous mindless machines. I promise you, varying the prey type is not going to harm the snake. Think about all the retic owners that feed a variety of different food items to the animals, yes it may be for their own amusement rather than them thinking about diet variety, but no doubt the snake is benefitting.
So now you know what else can you feed a snake!
Studies:
www.tandfonlin...
www.cambridge....
www.researchga...

[@ReptilesandResearch]

This is something the wider hobby desperately needs to hear! If you havnt already be sure to *SHARE* this in as many places as possible, some keepers wont realise unless it slaps them in the face. So lets slap them in the face!

[@AnimalsatHomePodcast]

After you sent me the draft of this video I immediately went out and picked up chicks for my boas. All three took them no problem 👍 Excited to continue playing with this!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Shocking how different the diet is than expected!

[@samanthatarekegn7869]

You just changed mine and Penelope’s (my ball python) life! Thank you for this.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I love that! Thanks for watching!

[@porshamclachlan7872]

I find this quite interesting. Currently I have a Stimsons Python and he is fed on rats, mice, quails and occasionally fish every 6 to 8 weeks. But originally I was told by the breeder 2 years ago that he is a good eater if I stick to a strict schedule of feeding mice every 10 days, but was a bad eater if I deviated from the schedule. The breeder also disapproved of my "large" 90x45x45cm set up with UV and heat lamp for such a small python and said I should stick to a simple tub and heat mat. The only advise I took was to feeding advise as I was worried about a difficult feeder. A year later he was diagnosed as obese and was put on a varied diet by the vet. Now he still has a bit of weight to loose but he's not a difficult eater at all. Plus in a couple of years I plan of doing a 120x90x120cm naturalistic or bioactive set up and I'm really looking forward to it. Another point I find interesting about this is that I've been doing research on Black Headed Pythons for a while now and when it comes to diet, everywhere recommends mammals. However their wild diet is mostly lizards. In captivity they quite often get fatty liver disease becuase of this. It's just unfortunate that Australia doesnt offer any form of frozen reptile for snakes. In fact trying to find anything outside of the usual rat, mouse, quail and chicken is difficult here in Australia. Thank you for all the great videos, they are really eye opening and interesting.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thanks for watching, really enjoyed reading that comment, I'd lower the size of the feeder if it's fat, and extend the duration between feeds.

[@FieryLittleRaven]

Maybe order online. I think you can get frozen feeders online.

[@JTBReptiles]

Smashing video, Liam! Couldn't agree more. One little trick I'll add is the following. For smaller species (like my Chinese leopard snakes) or hatchlings, it can be tricky to get the variety in. After all, there are few things other than pinky and fuzzy mice which are, when fed whole, small enough to be consumed by these animals. What I do, then, is just snap bits off other feeders! No, the leg or wing of a chick does not represent a wholefood item and is therefore likely to be quite a way away from "complete", but at least it offers some difference in flavour and texture for the snake to enjoy, much like offering frogs' legs. Once again, great video this!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thanks! I used to feed chick legs to young green tree pythons too! Variety is key!

[@monsterkajiu1912]

@@ReptilesandResearch I didn't knew you had green tree pythons!!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@monsterkajiu1912 I don't sadly I just used to work with them

[@monsterkajiu1912]

@@ReptilesandResearch Oh I'm sorry.

[@djkong2309]

Real glad I found this video. I've had my ball python for 8 months now and he's been eating frozen mice pretty consistently and I always wondered if he wanted something else. I got some frozen chicks online and I've got one heating up now. He just finished shedding and hasn't eaten for a couple weeks now, so I'm hoping he'll eat. Thanks for all the information, it was nice to watch while waiting for this chick to heat up

[@RedQueenOfficial]

What a good info.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you 😊

[@terrariumchannel]

Great video Liam. And congrats on the 1K subs. Well deserved.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you, finally joining the rest of ya !

[@becca5461]

Thank you for this! I've read so many guides saying to only feed ball pythons every certain number of days and to never deviate from that. My boys (both juv. ball pythons) have been very active about 5-6 days after feed and I've felt guilty not giving them something as they seem to be on the hunt until it's feed day, almost never resting during those last few days.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

You’re welcome ☺️

[@Ezeyclaps56]

I have my first ball python for 2 years now I’ve watched this video like 10 times already and omg I wish I could do an interview or show you everything I’ve don’t as far as tank set up and feeding and how many times I’ve overcame ri and did so many thing I didn’t know were wrong but this video got me dam near perfect thank you

[@johnschlesinger2009]

I have been giving my snakes a more varied diet for the last year. My b.c. amarali gets adult quails as a treat, my jungle carpet loves chicks, as well as mice - he won't touch rats. My darwin carpet gets large weaner rats and chicks. So far, I fed my brazilian rainbow boa small weaner rats; I offered her a chick, which she went for, but later left uneaten - I'll offer her another chick at some point. I agree about offering different sizes of prey, and also agree about varying the schedule: this should be obvious: in the wild, food availability must be highly variable.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

i agree it should be obvious, love hearing that people mix things up

[@gunnrmcleod]

Brilliant video, thank you for enlightening me. I'm definitely going to start diversifying my snakes diets now.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

No problem, thanks for watching!

[@VictoriaLoves]

Absolutely

[@reptilia7170]

Good video. I apply this to both my snakes and heloderma. All get UVB and variety in their diet. And big and high enclosures, no racks here.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

That's brilliant! Very jealous of heloderma. Thanks for watching

[@tatsuketheknown7973]

Thank you! I was even thinking feeding a snake the same thing over and over is boring to them and there was more to their diet. I didn't want to just feed mice or rats to my corn snake or ball python. Rats seem high in fat and aren't recomended for corn snakes so why is it okay for a ball python to eat regularly. To know ball pythons live on birds and not so much mice I may change it up with birds and mice along with some others in between. Thank you do much for these videos, I have subscribed and look forward to more!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I think I shall get a ball python so I can make specific videos on them, I also want one anyway lol

[@wrasse1155]

So glad I discovered your channel. I plan to get a Mexican black kingsnake and want to provide the best care possible. Now I'm looking for some frozen lizards to feed :)

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you glad you like the channel. Im planning on doing a detailed MBK care guide in the summer stay tuned ;) Id love to find frozen lizards

[@Stephen-gp8yi]

Thanks I’m learning a lot from your channel and am grateful.I’m getting my young brooks king and was thinking of giving it one chick for every two mice and will now consider frogs legs also!

[@joshuastover1047]

My pythons all devour quail and chicken. Luckily I’m able to breed all of my own bird feeders. I can produce them high quality feeders for extremely cheap. That quail hatch and grow incredibly quick and I can have a nice variety of size in the freezer real quick

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Sounds perfect

[@speedymadr6]

Really good video. Our snakes are all under 1 years of age but i am conscious about not sticking to a feeding a schedule and provide different gaps between feeds. I have started introducing rats as well as mice to the diet and will overtime bring in other prey items.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you :) Qual chicks are another great feeder thats tiny. If you can source them near you that might be worth a go!

[@CelticRewilding]

Great work. Definitely need to diversify the prey of our snakes.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thanks! It's definitely something all of us can work on

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Thanks for this. I vary prey items as much as possible. My adult boa constrictor amarali gets a quail occasionally. My carpets enjoy chicks, but my jungle carpet hates rats!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

No problem variety is awesome

[@Nathansexoticsandmore]

Great video, I love your videos and your channel. These sort of videos are the ones I need to expand my knowledge on snakes when I go to get my first snake 🐍🙂👍🏻

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Cheers Nathan!

[@Abel-z5q]

Awesome videos thank you

[@horsemanshipper]

a great video as usual. Thanks for the time to make this.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ianaliciaperry5243]

Thank you so much for making these videos!! I feel so much more equipped to make better decisions for my animals and inspired to do more research.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I’m glad they are helpful 😀

[@rad_reptiles]

The availability of food items we have today is incredibly diverse and easy to acquire. We owe to our animals to, at a minimum, at least offer a variety of foods.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I totally agree with you

[@SurfingisLife674]

Can you give me a link to these studies? I'd love to read them for my own education.

[@chloegreene4565]

At 7 months old is there anything small enough to feed him aside from fuzzies? I haven’t had any luck finding anything so far. Or is it best to wait until they’re larger?

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Parts of animals can be fed to add variet, for example i used to feed the cali chick legs when it was tiny. Its very hard at the smaller stage but with time more options open up.

[@PeteHawkins]

Great video dude. P*sses me off what people just feed mice and/rats.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you! I feel thats really shafting the snake by just feeding one thing.

[@feral7094]

My rainbow boa gets mice/rats, quail and rabbit. Variety is key

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I agree!

[@roundhouse2616]

I will admit, as a soon-to-be stimson's python keeper the high percentage of reptiles and amphibians for the children's and spotted pythons are quite intimidating. it's hard enough as is to get rodents where i live. still, good to know they do eat mammals in the wild, so rats and mice aren't too far from their wild diet. great video, you always have the best videos about the fine details of reptile care.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Why thank you!

[@aleksnikolic7765]

Hey, I'm new here and I loved the video!! I think you could try to make the same kind of video for lizards too! A lot of lizards eat stuff like butterflies, scorpions, spiders, and stuff like that in the wild, and I think a lot of people would be interested in what similar options we could offer our little friends! (For example I know painted lady butterflies are safe for reptiles and chameleons apparently love them)

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I fed scorpions and centipedes to my beardie if you check out that video. I will look into some lizard stuff at some point

[@aleksnikolic7765]

@@ReptilesandResearch alright, thanks a lot! I'll definitely check it out!

[@Ceretrea]

I've always wanted a snake but have been put off by the idea of having to feed rats (I've had pet rats for years). I'm now doing research into different prey items I can feed instead. Watching this has helped me realise that my future ball python may not actually be at a disadvantage by not eating rats all the time. It makes so much sense to feed a varied diet, it's what we do with other caged animals. Thanks!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Im glad it was helpful to you :)

[@bearsbeetsbsg8]

Question: do you worry about pathogen (crypto, etc) transmission when feeding your snakes amphibians and reptiles? Granted you’re sourcing food grade frog legs and frozen culls from good breeders so the risk would be low? I definitely want to incorporate more herps into the diets of my hognose, but currently the most readily available source are Frog and Iguana Reptilinks. There’s also the route of ordering feeder lizards, but I’d have to spend the extra money to house them and get them tested for parasites and crypto because I am paranoid.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I will only source snakes if i know how the animal died like culls etc, im not worried about parasites because theyve been frozen for ages. i'd use reptilinks too if it were available to me in the UK.

[@bearsbeetsbsg8]

@@ReptilesandResearch I think it's a really cool company we have here. Their iguanas are sourced from the wild populations in Florida. Although I think that's a really great way to combat the invasive population, do you think the pathogen transmission would be more high? Their site says they remove some feces before grinding up the animal and freezing and they haven't had any issues feeding them, but they don't test.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@bearsbeetsbsg8 I don't think I'd be too concerned really. People sink a lot of money into their collections and any problems linked to reptilinks would result in lawsuits. The risk is probably low if that.

[@bearsbeetsbsg8]

@@ReptilesandResearch I've looked for any negative reviews regarding that, but you're right nothing has come up. Eased my mind a bit. The iguana links are fairly new so I think I'll hold off on them a little longer and ask my vet what he thinks about transmission rate. For now my hogs like the rotation of quail chicks and rainbow trout. One of my goals is to find a breeder to source turtle eggs from since those make up a large part of their diet in the wild.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@bearsbeetsbsg8 that's a sensible approach, let me know what your vet says! Quite interested in a hognose myself recently, got a think for North American snakes. I feed my current snakes bearded dragon eggs.

[@LoriTorrini]

This was excellent!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thanks! Been months in the making

[@chriskahn5727]

The key question, I think, is whether there's any evidence that a single-species diet leads to malnutrition, reduced life span, or other physical/behavioral problems (at least for species that readily accept such a diet). This would answer whether a more diverse diet is required or just a nice to have. Citing studies on natural diet does not address this, unfortunately.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I get your point, but it's not just about malnutrition, it's about welfare. For example, a kingsnake feeding on snakes is a natural behaviour that is missing with a monoculture diet. Also if you are set on only feeding one food item then you should be regular switching suppliers as you are relying on the diet fed to the feeder being adequate. By switching supplier periodically you should be getting a range of nutritional values even from the same species. Any short term deficiencies will be corrected in the long term. The same applies to varying feeder. I don't subscribe to the idea of only doing enough to keep the animal alive. Not only nutritionally, it is also offering varying degrees of smells which contributes to olfactory enrichment. Francis Cosquieri noted that rat snakes in his experience where longer lived due to them receiving a predominantly rodent diet which matches their evolutionary requirements. He has. Individuals over 20+ and getting on 30 years now. They are also fed a varied diet. Unfortunately there are no papers studying the effect of a singular item diet on snake longevity. But I'd say the onus is on a singular item diet to prove itself adequate, rather than the reverse. Even if a diverse diet is just a nice bonus I'd rather feed that as a failsafe regardless if that makes sense.

[@chriskahn5727]

​@@ReptilesandResearch That's a good point about the burden of proof. I agree that, in the absence of good data one way or the other, it makes sense to err on the side of caution and lean towards a diet that is more reflective of the species' natural environment. That's a different position from "You MUST feed this way because look at these studies" however. About enrichment/welfare, I think if a snake shows no signs of distress and in every way we can tell is "happy" from a behavioral perspective (in addition to being physically healthy), then the keeper is probably doing fine. Focusing on enrichment sometimes seems very close to anthropomorphizing IMO (not that I see you doing that here). But again, it certainly wouldn't hurt to err on the side of caution and provide more enrichment too if it's not too burdensome on the keeper. Anyway, it's good for people to regularly throw new ideas out there and let people work through them, so thanks for the video :)

[@ReptilesandResearch]

It's actually quite a basic principle of nutrition in general that diet should be varied. It is quite absurd that we ever assume a single type of prey item would be suitable in general. The only reason this has gone on so long without very obvious issues is due to gut-loading of the prey. Also, simplifying by macros isn't enough. Proteins are made up of different amino acids and any protein you ingest is only as good as the scarcest amino acid it contains. For protein to be used for building/repairing tissue it needs to form the correct chain of specific aminos. This is far more efficiently done with a varied diet.

[@joenuts7771]

This is an amazing video dude. I now feed rodents like mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils and once I feed a deceased chinchilla as well as reptile food like feeder geckos, feeder anole lizards, chicks and quails as well as fish occasionally to my corn snake, western hog nose snake, ball python, Mexican black king snake and my young common boa

[@joenuts7771]

I plan to feed my snakes some ducks and for my boa when he gets older I’ll give him guinea pigs, rabbits, big peices of chicken and maybe some red meat. I have also want to get reptilinks reptile food especially the iguana meat flavor for my animals. My friend has a pretty old pet ferret soooo…

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@joenuts7771 that sounds incredible you’re really going above and beyond!

[@joenuts7771]

@@ReptilesandResearch thanks

[@joenuts7771]

@@ReptilesandResearch also I’m planning on breeding mice and rats so I don’t have to waste more money. It’s not cheap buying all this variety of prey for these snakes and I wanna save money.

[@Lycan_24_7]

Agreed! I thank you Sir!

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you for watching! Was it new or did it offer confirmation to what you already knew?

[@Lycan_24_7]

@@ReptilesandResearch It was information I already suspected and knew. But the trends and common culture seem to always win over. I thank you for doing the footwork and providing the links to the studies to everyone so they can be shared. I am from the US. Here they have feeder ducklings, chicks, quail, and anole lizards. A majority of places do not sell anything besides rats and mice as feeders. Quail eggs are available at the market. Hopefully the people's way of thinking changes for the better.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@Lycan_24_7 I know exactly what you mean, the indoctrinated dogma can make anyone question themselves, what we have to remember is when debated with logic and studies their argument falls apart very quickly and turns into oh but I have more experience than you, as if what the animals in the wild depend on how experienced you are as a keeper, things get silly quick. I'm trying to do my bit bud, you will get hate and threats by going against the grain but no one ever created change without stepping on a few toes. Hopefully the more interest in variety there is the more variety is provided in the US. I for one wish I could get frozen thawed lizards or frogs here so I could structure their diets to reflect the taxa % of Wild diets. But we do what we can.

[@joshuapowers5590]

I'm getting a baby kingsnake Tuesday. I have button quail who give me fertile eggs. Eggs and chicks will be a big part of the diet, but I also have a pair of mice and a pair of african pygmy mice who give me pinkies. My dude is set! If any of my ackie eggs end up being infertile or babies can't pip out of the egg, there's another meal source. Going to have one healthy snake!

[@chantellerosebud1780]

Very pleased to find your channel as I am trying to replicate as natural a life as possible for my corn snake. Great to have a source of reliable and well researched information, because there is unfortunately a lot of rubbish advice out there! I’ve just subscribed 👍

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Glad it’s helpful 😊

[@LC-hb5ky]

This is very interesting and makes a lot of sense. I can't believe there's not more information out there pointing it out. I have MBK (so lampropeltis getula) which mostly eat reptiles. I have however not found a way to order frozen reptiles and I don't know any local reptile pet shops. Any suggestions? Mind, I do live in Germany, so some providers may not be available here, but it would still be good to hear some options! cheers

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Have a look at the Cali king diet video I made, since our mbks are Cali kings we can follow that

[@mariacallas9962]

Hi,I try to feed them 8/10 days..to avoid routine and it’s seems digestion is 4/6 days,even as a baby I want their digestive system to rest at least 2 days...again,nothing scientific there..for now it’s not easy to diversify feeders between rat mouse ...(i’ve no idea what quel/qwell?? Is)...except the « target feeding »,one of the trick is timing.night feeding,morning etc...always try to feed smaller meal when no heat source available after ingestion (no idea if it’s ideal,seems logical...).I feed them inside by the way.still jump like a little boy when they strike 😜.take care.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Seems well thought out!

[@mariacallas9962]

Merci monsieur.

[@peterpotts7482]

It's natural for them to live half of their life spans in the wild too. The reason why most snakes solely get mice is because they're nutritionally sufficient. There's not many snakes that need a varied diet to do well with the exception of garters. They have varied diets in the wild because in the wild you take what you can get.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

This is not true kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4PcgHWbfqp6ftU

[@Ethan-hh8zn]

If you own a snake and want to introduce amphibeans to their diet what would be a good feeder frog to breed?

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Frogs legs are what I’ve used, I’ve not bred any frogs myself

[@gulsenikatman]

R.I.P. little and cute chicks 🤧

[@Jamessawyer010]

How can I offer such a verity when I live in UK and I have a king snake 🐍 P.S. Where did you get a snake to feed your king snake? 🐍

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I live in the UK, reptile shops sell all manner of frozen prey

[@BooksMusicMe17]

If frogs legs are fine for non-whole prey as enrichment, what about frozen chicken feet and duck feet? They're quite easily accessible.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

If you wanted to, we used to feed chick legs to neonate gtps

[@cupidgaming8062]

Definitely gonna give my ball python a mixed diet for his enrichment.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I know I would haha

[@jase123111]

Are kittens and puppies a good variety for my large snakes, because in nature the snakes eat them... like in my village the wild pythons often eat dog and cats?

[@ReptilesandResearch]

From the snakes point of view yes it’s just another mammal, from an image perspective it may not be the best idea to represent the hobby in that way. From a welfare perspective live feeding cats or dogs would be a big issue, if its a frozen thawed animal that died naturally welfare wise there is no issue. It’s one of those ones where culturally people may not be happy with it, its situational of course.

[@680ecks]

I do vary size and time of feeding I never thought they would eat the same size the same times . Have you fed chicks to ball pythons (anyone) . I always fear they will get stuck on one prey type then not switch back to other cheeper more available foods has anyone had experience with that . Interesting information either way

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Fed them chicks and quails, lots of people mix it up with rodents too

[@680ecks]

@@ReptilesandResearch couldn't tell if you where only talking about king and rat snake . Cool place m going to try birds

[@ReptilesandResearch]

@@680ecks uvb helps a lot, ramps up the metabolism, there's literature from the sixties stating non feeding snakes fed almost overnight after being given uvb

[@cupidgaming8062]

I wanna make it as realistic as possible though like where I feed my ball python a rat or mouse for 2 weeks and then not give him food for 1 month and 1 week rewarding him with 2 jumbo rats or 1.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Youll learn as you go, especially if you notice the snake getting fat, then you know to scale it back. The intuition comes with time.

[@cupidgaming8062]

@@ReptilesandResearch yesirrr, I'm taking my time with getting my ball python though because I want to be ready. I know I may sound a lil crazy but I want my snake to be aggressive when I get it so I can have a challenge with taming it down but if it isn't aggressive then I will still accept my lil buddy.

[@demona6315]

I have a Cali king snake I feed it from mice, lizards an quail eggs. I want to feed him some baby rattle snakes

[@ReptilesandResearch]

That would be in line with their natural diet indeed!

[@kimberleymarkova3641]

I love snakes, I have Opheodrys. I can not give rodents dead or alive to à snake. I always had pet rats, wept their deaths, have spent thousands of euros in vet bills trying to keep them alive, rats are exactly like dogs, only difference their size and too short life expectancy. I love Corn Snakes and all Pythons. QUESTION.... has it ever been successfully done, to fool the Pythons into eating for example non-rodent meat, il chicken? Don't like the egg, anole, fish eaters

[@josueveguilla9069]

🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

[@chrisdrex_gaming8958]

i find it really weird that Morelia virdis has no bird percentage on that chart

[@ReptilesandResearch]

yeah maybe there is some gtp specific literature out there

[@mavroforos6816]

Nice job

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Thank you

[@monsterkajiu1912]

If hognoses in the wild feed almost exclusively amphibians (mainly frogs or toads) shouldn't we not feeding them a all mouse diet!?

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I will be researching this in more detail

[@monsterkajiu1912]

What if you feed a captive bred male ball python a staple diet of birds (mammals as treats) and feed a captive bred female ball python a staple diet of mammals (birds as treats), honorable mention about mimicking the tropical savannas climate (wet and dry seasons) of west Africa.

[@ReptilesandResearch]

You could do that, id be inclined to feed that way

[@nazarosetrov63]

feeding chicks feels better for me than mice and rats

[@ReptilesandResearch]

I feed mine chicks often

[@NekoNebula1313]

It can be difficult to find rats and sometimes all I can find is chicks and gerbils 🤷

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Luckily chicks aren’t bad at all, check out my other video comparing their nutritional content

[@Lue-rd2lb]

I know she'd eat it in the wild but my snake is a bit of a twat, i worry she would cut her insides on the bird beak somehow

[@ReptilesandResearch]

You would be shocked at how easily they go down

[@MrSouthsideMuscle]

If birds are in the diet that might indicate semi arboreal characteristics

[@ReptilesandResearch]

It can do, although there are also ground nesting birds or just opportunistic raid raiding. For example cali kings have been recorded climbing up trees to raid nests yet they arent typically classed as semi arboreal. The ball pythons are different though, the differing parasite load between the sexes, the high proportion of the diet etc. So it needs looking at very closely. its somewhat arbitrary for certain species anyway, providing climbing as a default means we dont need to fret over how they are classified, just give them the choice and let them get on with it.

[@MrSouthsideMuscle]

@@ReptilesandResearch definitely I got my baby ball python a tree and she does enjoy it

[@marioncobretti8210]

i feed mice rats and baby chickens

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Same here

[@jensenblaze25]

My snake is known to eat other snakes, should I buy another snake for my girl to feed on every so often lol

[@ReptilesandResearch]

Not really, but if you can source them from someone who has stillborns or something, why not. Or if you are breeding yourself etc