are you still feeding your snake mice & rats ???

Originally Posted by blckkat

I don't like how this thread started...Nor how it seems to be continuing...

It appears to me that this is a bit of a joke. I wouldn't risk my animals on experimenting like this...

i don't think he's joking...but i am not satisified with the answers I am getting. not enough info Vinman...if you have been practicing something for over two years and want to share the info now...i don't think "figure it out yourself" is good enough advice.

and i'm still not sure what you meant by problems from over feeding.

I buy 40 pound box of fresh chicken necks for 16 bucks 40 cents a pound

I answered your question look start small and increase the size as you go I feed all my snakes differantly each one is on their own growth rate some can take biggers meals that others the same goes with mice. you should know how ever snake in your conly feeds ,if you pay attention to them. and what is there to figger out did you expect gold to be thrown up, what you put in is what comes out. if you give your snake too much food it is gona regurge This is common sence. Remember with something new there are gona be the some things you are going to use your own brain for . I will try to answer your questions the best I can now lets all lay off the nastyness and have a friendly dicussion.

This sounds pretty plausable Vinman -I applaud your enginuity in times of crisis! I think I'll give your method a shot after breeding season as I don't want to change the routine with the adults right now and risk throwing off their rhythm. There's a butcher I know of that sells chicken hearts, livers, necks, etc, and I think it sounds like a great idea. I probably won't use chicken parts as the soul source of food for my snakes but I'll certainly look into suplimenting their rodent diet every 3rd feed or so...and if it saves me money...even better!

Originally Posted by princess

I probably won't use chicken parts as the soul source of food for my snakes but I'll certainly look into suplimenting their rodent diet every 3rd feed or so...and if it saves me money...even better!

I agree princess...if one were to try this I would recommend rodents still make up the main part of the diet and the poultry parts be only a supplement. IF the snakes will accept the switching back and forth that is...

Vinman, how do you expect anyone to take you seriously when you respond the way you do? I don't appreciate your last comments and you cannot compare knowing what sized rodents to feed each animal (rodents have brains, bones, meat, fat, the smaller ones have MILK, etc) to knowing how much of what type of poultry part to feed if someone's never done it before! GROW UP!

dont use to much organ meat there is a proteen in organ meat that can be harmful in high qunt. this is what I was told thats why I feed them organ meet ever third or forth time.

To anyone considering implementing this as a diet, a word of caution:

When eating a whole prey item or something like the snake sausages, remember that it's not just protein, fat, and bone (calcium) that the snakes are getting. The majority of a carnivore's vitamin and micronutrient requirement is filled by eating the gut contents...something you will not get from turkey necks or boiled pork. They also get the diet of the prey item which is typically loaded with carbs. Your snake may not die in a year or two, but over time the lack of vitamins and micronutrients will have it's toll.

There is nothing wrong with feeding pieces of meat, boiled or no. The snake can digest it. It's not harmful. Keep in mind, though, that you need to get your vitamins and micronutrients from somewhere...and they aren't in the muscle and bone of any animal. Those parts with the fat around them supply energy, protein, and calcium, but very little else. Also keep in mind that you are no longer feeding them their protein/calcium/fat/carbs in the ratio they are used to. Calcium imbalances are especially deleterious in reptiles, so just think your plan through. A little research never hurt anyone. Don't accept anything anyone says at face value (my advice included), or you have no one to blame but yourself when problems crop up.

Just some thoughts on the subject.

Addendum: A special word of caution regarding liver...very very high in vitamin A. Hypervitaminosis A (too much Vitamin A in the diet) will lead to excessive bone production and fusion of the spine. A little liver won't hurt you, but a diet of liver is toxic.

I use other meat besides chciken no comint on the pork and dont forget about the turkey . by the way milk is not good for snakes they are lactosse intolrent. I read it a few times where they said to make sure to take the baby mice away from the mothers for a few hours before you feed them . Remember In the wild baby snakes do not feed on baby mice they dont get milk. Baby corns in the wild eat mostley lizards along with other stuff that they find in the wild that we dont feed them in captiveity. my friend has a F1 true okeetee corn . (I caught the parents myself) that eats gold fish.
When he would go to feed the turtle he noticed that the corn would go crazy looking at the gold fish swim in the bag so he decied to put some gold fish in the glass water bowl well the snake ate them all up and wanted more . I went into a pet store one day years before this and they had guppys in the water bowl in the corn snakes tank so I asked that the hell you got guppys in the snakes water bowl for .You are gona make them sick . His reply was thats their food. WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY I SAID I said they eat baby mice (pinkies) not fish I know I been breeding corns for 8 years. He told me thats what they eat he seen them eat himself and no inteation of feeding anthying else and was asked would you like to buy one .I said no I breed my own and was going to ask you if would like to but some of mine in the future. but seeing how you feed your snakes your an a**hole and you are not taking care of toyr animals the right way. Boy who was the a**hole? It was me I bet you in nature some corns eat fish and amphibians.

So far so good like everthing else in the hobby somebody had to try something new. Think of the first person to use plastic boxes or grapefriut seed extract .IF I get any bad results I will post them

in this comment you are GROSSLY misinformed. Corn snakes in the wild, while yes, they do eat more than just rodents, they DO SO eat baby mice. Now just becuase you should not actively feed your snake pasturized cow milk does not mean that the 1/4 TSP or so of unpasturized, natural mouse milk that would be in the belly of a pinkie is bad for them.
I will not argue weather your diet works or not, but for me i think i will stick to rodents. I do like the idea of trying a goldfish every so often though.