Quail anyone?

First time I've offered something other than a rodent for a meal and Ursula needs practice eating quail. The first one went down ok but she worked for 45 minutes or so on the second one as she was determined to eat it butt first.
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And now she won't stop roaming the enclosure looking for another one.
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She looks great T and she's obviously got that pit appetite. My male bull had 2 chicks and a small rat last night. I have yet to try quail with any of my snakes but I'm pretty sure the pits and carpets would smash those too.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

She looks great T and she's obviously got that pit appetite. My male bull had 2 chicks and a small rat last night. I have yet to try quail with any of my snakes but I'm pretty sure the pits and carpets would smash those too.

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Ursula certainly enjoyed them. I'm thinking the 10-15% per prey item might not apply to fowl as it does rodents because these were 40g quail and Ursula at 500g had a hard time swallowing them. I don't think that shag at 200g could have done it. I'm thinking it is because fowl are more round and spherical instead of long and cylindrical like a rodent. Anyone else notice this?

T- Looking over my feeding records I started feeding my all of my carpets chicks when they were right at 250g. It's mostly just the feathers that make the chicks look big. None of my snakes had any issues getting them down at that size.

Chicks were 40g or so?


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Originally Posted by Terminal

Chicks were 40g or so?


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Yessir! Also keep in mind that carpets can take larger meals than your average colubrid. My male bull is 1500g and eats medium rats. My 950g coastal carpet eats mediums as well with ease.

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Originally Posted by Terminal

Ursula certainly enjoyed them. I'm thinking the 10-15% per prey item might not apply to fowl as it does rodents because these were 40g quail and Ursula at 500g had a hard time swallowing them. I don't think that shag at 200g could have done it. I'm thinking it is because fowl are more round and spherical instead of long and cylindrical like a rodent. Anyone else notice this?

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I feed birds to carpets and short tails. Most have difficulty with birds the first few times. They seem unsure how to find the head. They get the hang of it soon enough. About that shape difference; judge the bird at it's widest which is the butt end. With rodents, if the snake can get past the shoulders, it's a done deal. Not so with birds, gotta get past that butt. Go by girth not weight.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Yessir! Also keep in mind that carpets can take larger meals than your average colubrid. My male bull is 1500g and eats medium rats. My 950g coastal carpet eats mediums as well with ease.

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I'll give it a try his next feed in a couple of days.


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I have the same experience as Dennis. I have an older female that's been feeding on chicken and quail for years. I also have adults, larger animals even, that hadn't had fowl before this year. In the time it'd take a newbie pit to puzzle out their first chick, this older female could toss back a bowl full - like popcorn.

Such skills, she'll take two at the same time.
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Ain't no 3 legged chicken neither.
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Originally Posted by DennisM

I feed birds to carpets and short tails. Most have difficulty with birds the first few times. They seem unsure how to find the head. They get the hang of it soon enough. About that shape difference; judge the bird at it's widest which is the butt end. With rodents, if the snake can get past the shoulders, it's a done deal. Not so with birds, gotta get past that butt. Go by girth not weight.

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I'm no good at judging size. In fact when I saw these quail I thought they looked too small but I'm glad they weren't bigger. And I think you are right about having to learn to eat birds.


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