• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Diet: Captive vs Wild

EtherRex

EtherRex

Otter-Like
Captive vs wild diets is something ive been thinking about a lot recently. Nearly all breeders / keepers ive spoken to feed only mice to their corns. A very few also use rat pups. Why is this? Is it purely because its easier than varying their diet?

Many sources state that wild corns eat a varied diet containing mice, small rats, frogs, lizards, birds and even other snakes and yet no one that im aware of tries to emulate this in captivity.

Ive heard various reasons for this including difficulty in finding suppliers for small lizards and amphibians, consistancy of faeces when fed frogs (!?) and also habituation to anything more expensive than mice.

Do these seem valid to people here?

Another thing that I have considered is the non-variation of the food in the preys stomach when you are only feeding mice. Frogs, lizards, birds and mice all have different diets (to a greater or lesser degree) would it not be beneficial for a corn to get the benefit of these diets from the the different prey animals?

Anyway, just musing really. Would be very interested to hear peoples opinions.
 
Varied diets

I wouldn't feed frogs, the parasite transmission risk is too high. Most people don't feed baby chicks because they create looser, stinky poops, and there is a risk of salmonella transmission.

As for rats, well, if you raise them, it's more economical to use young rats than mice. However, if you buy them frozen in bulk, mice are cheaper.

Mice provide a complete diet, so they are the clear winner for convenience and price. Chicks win out if price alone is the issue. Rats win hands down if you're raising your own.

I doubt rats are nutritionally much different from mice.
 
I would not feed anything that is wild. Becuase there are risk of bugs, and parasites that can harm and even kill your snake.
 
I would never even consider feeding a wild-caught animal to my snake for a whole variety of reasons, of which parasites is just one.

This thread is meant to be a discussion about the reasons for feeding only one food type to a captive creature that is reported as eating a whole variety of foods in its natural habitat. It is IMHO possible to obtain a variety of safe foods for feeding to a snake (albeit not cheaply).

Eggs! Does anyone supplement their corns diet with quails eggs? Ive seen this suggested in Kathy Loves book but have yet to meet anyone who does it. Why is that?

Ive been searching hard and have yet to see any proof that mice provide a 'complete diet'. Anyone care to comment please?
 
I fed eggs for years.

I think it makes an eggs-cellent addition to their diet.;)
Quail for corns and young larger species, pheasant for bulls, black rats, Eastern Kings and an indigo.
As a kid, my Dad raised both species of birds so they were readily availible (an egg a day per female is a pretty cheap food source) but I do recall the defication being a little more "foul". :D
I've seriously considered setting up a quail rack again, it was very easy and a pair take up almost no space- less than 2 square feet. We hatched quite a few too and many of the chicks wound up as feeders, much to my sister's displeasure. :rolleyes:
I remember one black rat that would eat pheasant eggs over a killed mouse but wouldn't so much as sniff a grocery store chicken egg. I wonder if the eggs you buy at the G-store are washed?
I also tried strips of beef, lizards, turtle eggs, baby watersnakes, fish (live and cut pieces), and venison. I wish I'd have kept a better journal, I'm certain I had success with each of those, at least with some species. The indigo would eat anything. I'm ashamed to say he once regurged because I fed him a hot dog. :eek: But the bottom line is, snakes that you think will only take mice will probably eat a lot more! I had a book called "Snakes as Pets" by Hobart Smith and he mentioned lots of alternative foods, as did Kaufield.
All the species mentioned were wild-caught either locally or on trips to Florida. My first breedings were accidental, and I was years into it before my first hatchlings, which I turned loose because I was convinced you COULDN'T get them to eat. Of course I was probably trying crickets, worms, and salamanders.
 
Haha, from the sublime to the rediculous there I think ;)

I bet it was an american hotdog right? 20% meat 80% bread, try german salami next time ;)

Seriously though, I will probably try eggs occasionally when my snake is a little larger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top