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Thinking about feeding my snake some wild lizards.

No they wouldn't necessarily be parasite or bacteria free, but I think what Mike is saying is corns either do not seem to contract the parasites or just do not get ill from them for whatever reason which still confuses me. Animals in general all carry parasites and bacteria in their bodies and for the most part some are not harmful to the specific species or not in great enough numbers to be problematic. However, when an animal gets sick and the immune system is weak dormant parasites and bacteria can then multiply and attack complicating simple illnesses. I wouldn't feed anything wild to be on the extra safe side, but know many who do. I guess its all about the risk your willing to take or not.
 
I guess as a treat then they would be alright, assuming the snake took it lol. I thought corn snakes ate just mice?
 
VickyChaiTea said:
I guess as a treat then they would be alright, assuming the snake took it lol. I thought corn snakes ate just mice?
Click to expand...

In captivity, they usually eat mice. In the wild, they will eat nearly anything, but mostly mice and birds. Some populations of guttata eat only lizards, and neonates from those populations can be very hard to get started on mice.
 
Yeah. I have a lot of rat snakes in my area and I assume they live off of the lizards and frogs.

Cuban tree frogs seem to be exceptionally prevalent in my area and the rat snakes love them.
 
So Mike, what you're saying is that higher protein or lower fat diet (lizard), over higher fat diet (mouse), increases fertility? Or makes for a healthier snake which would result in greater fertility? Which sounds reasonable, just never heard it expressed quite like that.
I'm just asking, because I want to know. It sounds logical, and might make me want to rethink long-term snake food sources. Seriously.
 
vetusvates said:
So Mike, what you're saying is that higher protein or lower fat diet (lizard), over higher fat diet (mouse), increases fertility? Or makes for a healthier snake which would result in greater fertility? Which sounds reasonable, just never heard it expressed quite like that.
I'm just asking, because I want to know. It sounds logical, and might make me want to rethink long-term snake food sources. Seriously.
Click to expand...

Yes. Think about a snake's diet in the wild, how much fat do you think a wild corn eats? Add to the fact that wild corns actively hunt for their food, burning off excess fat. Then think about the diet of captive corns/snakes. Fattened mice and they live in a box getting minimal exercise. This would be one of the underlying causes for obese snakes and thus reduced fecundity. If one were to vary the diet, they could hope to increase fecundity and overall health of the animal.

Just something to think about.
 
mike17l said:
Yes. Think about a snake's diet in the wild, how much fat do you think a wild corn eats? Add to the fact that wild corns actively hunt for their food, burning off excess fat. Then think about the diet of captive corns/snakes. Fattened mice and they live in a box getting minimal exercise. This would be one of the underlying causes for obese snakes and thus reduced fecundity. If one were to vary the diet, they could hope to increase fecundity and overall health of the animal.

Just something to think about.
Click to expand...
Well, that does seem to explain a lot. Perfectly logical. I see plenty of pictures of very hefty CB snakes.
But in my teens when I was catching Black Rat Snakes and Texas Rat Snakes almost every day, they were always on the lean and athletic-looking side.
Thanks.
 
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