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Old 02-22-2019, 10:17 AM   #3
Dragonling
I had excellent results using reptilinks in some of my snakes, but many of mine seemed hesitant to take them, possibly from the texture. Start with a single bag and see how they take to it.

In fish keeping as well as other pets, large companies emphasize using a single food source (flake diets, dog kibble, etc.) over attempts at variety, while the experts tend to know better. In reptiles we see something similar, with pelleted or prepackaged diets being encouraged by the companies that make them while experienced keepers offer their own blends of fresh veggies and live insects and other creepy crawlies of varying species.

That is until you get to snakes, where if it can be convinced to eat mice, it stands to reason that it should. North American ratsnakes DO consume very large numbers of rodents, but I have to wonder how rodent populations differed before settlers first arrived and planted crops in the New World. Do I think a varied diet will make your snake live longer, healthier, or happier? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I doubt you'll notice a difference. There's not enough data to make any conjecture. I have high doubts there's any harm in trying though, so I don't think non-mouse foods should necessarily be discouraged so long as emphasis is on whole prey or at least a balance of muscle, bone, connective tissues, and organs that mimics what they might consume in the wild.