What snakes can be feed ball pythons?

This is just my opinion but I PERSONALLY would not do it.

I understand that people breed rats as feeders, but those were bred specifically for the purpose of being feeders. These are bred with the intent of them being pets, so feeding them off just because they didn't have the right genes is a little unfair to the animal in my opinion.

People probably feel this way about us when we feed rats as well.

I 100% understand though that from a business stand point, it makes sense. People probably do this with rats too, so I get it completely, I just have a hard time imagining it, but y'know, you do you, if you don't have a problem with it, that's fine!

Like I said, this is only MY opinion, and I know that you have no bad intentions, so do whatever YOU think is right!

Before the explosion of morphs ball pythons were bred as both feeders and pets. Some people still produce them as feeders for snake-eating snakes.

I've sent a few male normals to local pet-only homes as freebies, with the caveat that the snake comes back to me if the new owner no longer wants it. So far only one has come back.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Understand your feelings but you also have to take "YOU" out of the situation.
I have fed off and given away normal males because they are useless in a business plan.
That being said, I have also see what can happen to a free animal when someone doesn't know or care how to care for it.
Its facts that many wont like or agree with.

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I think in many cases, a feeder is the more humane solution.

The way I see it, a free snake is much more likely to be accepted on impulse. In the case of "free," the necessary thermostat, temp gun, etc. are going to look relatively expensive. A $500 animal has a much better chance of getting good care and a proper set up in its new home.

Personally, I prefer the look of the normals, but I wouldn't accept even a "free" snake without already owning the enclosure, the necessary equipment, and having the food source in place.

From a farming perspective, "extras" are just a fact of life. Extra roosters, extra bull calves, extra bucks...
Due to time as a volunteer at our local animal control, and also at a no-kill cat shelter, I've become jaded; there are worse fates than death.

I don't see anything wrong with it, personally, but I think there could be complications for you...
1. You'd have to get a kingsnake (or other type of snake) large enough to take decent-sized BPs for food.
2. If pre-killing the BP hatchlings, you will need to figure out a humane way of doing so that doesn't destroy their body (so that they can be fed off later)... This, I think, is the bigger issue, because if my reading is correct, the only truely humane way of killing a reptile is destroying it's brain matter (crushing it's head)... and if you did that, I am not sure if it would then make a suitable feeder.
3. If feeding them live, your kingsnake would need to be able to deal with a sizable prey item and might get hurt in the process.

I think it could be done, but as I said above, there are complications. I, myself, am starting to raise rats primarily to breed for pet purposes, but I intend to use the pups that do not show good temperament or health, etc. as feeders until I get my lines established.. Basically, I don't want to sell babies that might have bad temperaments and bite people, so I feel that humanely euthanizing them, then using as feeders is a better option.

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Originally Posted by carolineleven

I'm thinking that if I ever get into ball python breeding and get too many normals in a clutch I might make sure no life goes to waste. I think Kingsnake maybe?

But is it a stupid idea? Will the snake always be able to smell my other snakes and be hard to handle/be uncomfortable in general?

-EDIT: I wasn't planning on killing off the normals I don't want, if I can't use them as feeders I'll keep them of course.

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You don't have to get another snake for that purpose you can very well wholesale your normals as either pets or feeders. That's another option as well.

In my case, after working at a locally owned pet store in Florida and seeing just how poorly your average normal ball python gets treated, I decided that any normals I produce (unless there is a holdback worthy animal) would be sold for feeders, or fed to my kingsnake. I know several people with king cobras, or large kingsnake collections that would benefit.

I would rather the animal be humanely euthanized and fed to an animal, than left to live in subpar living conditions and lacking a good quality of life. Like distaff said, there are worse fates than death.

It's interesting, I was just tweeting about the whole predator/prey/circle of life thing yesterday. And this thread is actually doing really well, for potential feather-ruffling.

As stated, the practical issue would just lie in how to humanely euthanize. I don't believe that selling normals "cheap" to potential pet homes with less than ideal conditions (unknown if the future owner would be willing to afford vet care, thermostats, proper equipment) is better than humanely euthanizing baby BPs as feeders/selling them online to snake-eating species. If you would rather sell them "cheap and fast" on craigslist and not deal with it, then humane euthanasia could possibly be morally preferable...

But then there's the option of upping the prices of your normals so that they may have a better chance at going to a responsible pet home AND educating/screening the potential owner on BP husbandry and equipment before selling it to them- it would just take a little more effort on your part.

Urr... to the OP's actual questions though, I have no experience with kingsnakes and how they fare with smelling ball pythons. Ahaha.