Hamsters used as food?

Jessie & Jen,


Just something to think about - if you ever plan to sell any of your ball pythons in the future, you may want to seriously consider rat breeding as opposed to feeding hamsters. You likely won't find many buyers when they find that you feed hamsters and that your balls may have imprinted on hamsters. Not everyone is willing to pay for or breed hamsters. Most ball python keepers feed mice or rats.

The petco here in Miami sell's both male and female rodent's.Jessie good luck with your hamster's I'm a rat guy myself.Robin is right though I hope you plan On keeping your Bp's cause they'll probably never eat another prey item other than hamster's again.How many baby ham's do you get when you breed them?

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Jessie & Jen,


Just something to think about - if you ever plan to sell any of your ball pythons in the future, you may want to seriously consider rat breeding as opposed to feeding hamsters. You likely won't find many buyers when they find that you feed hamsters and that your balls may have imprinted on hamsters. Not everyone is willing to pay for or breed hamsters. Most ball python keepers feed mice or rats.

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You're very right. The ones I plan on feeding the hamsters to are my keepers/pets...they'll never be going anywhere. Love them too much. :) Still not sure if it's something I want to continue with, it may just be this litter because it was convenient. I know my adults will go back to mice and rats...they're garbage cans. lol! My babies and females get mice, and I'm just waiting on the 1.3 group I have to start breeding.

Hamsters are a dangerous animal to feed to a ball python.

-adam

Why is that? The only ones that will be getting them are my young ball pythons, and they'll be getting them as prekilled pinks. ???

iif your bps get addicted to hamsters they may not want anything else. you could be having to supply hamsters to your snake for the rest of its 20+ year life and although young hamsters aren't dangerous, adults can be.

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Originally Posted by JenHarrison

Why is that? The only ones that will be getting them are my young ball pythons, and they'll be getting them as prekilled pinks. ???

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Ball pythons tend to be imprint feeders ... meaning, once they take one particular source of prey, theres a good chance that they might not accept anything else for the rest of their lives ... so your young ball pythons that you offer prekilled pink hamsters have a very good chance of demanding hamsters as adults ... unless you want to feed 2000 gram ball pythons a ton of pink hamsters every week, they will require adult hamsters.

Live adult hamsters are particularly nasty because their teeth tend to be much longer and sharper than adult rats or mice ... and even if pre-killed, their longer than normal teeth still could pose a problem during swallowing and digestion ... I've treated more than a couple abcesses in the back of the throats of rescues that were previously fed hamster and gerbils.

I know the hamster thing "seems" like a good idea ... but I assure you it's not. ;)

-adam

Im with Adam on the hamsters...



1, they may get the imprint on the hammy's

2, they are WAY more $$$ here than mice/rats

3, an adult hamster has WICKED teeth.



My step sisters are breeding hamsters now, and have like 8 pairs or so, and we have about 90+ babies. I went to go pull the babies from a mother today, because she started eating them, because my little bro touched them, and the mother sunk those teeth in!!!



It hurt like a :cens0r: ...lol. And hamsters, IMO, are more "jumpy" and "nervous" than rats/mice. thus, having a better chance to bite.

Though ive fed a couple of hamsters to Spook already, im not going to continue it. (good thing spook is a garbage disposal and eats ANYTHING) Plus all my snakes, with the exception of Riley, a W/C then captive abused ball, eat F/T like champs.

hey wellcome Jen!!! and I 2 feed hams:D

Im no where near breeding my BPs. The only female I will be breeding is only 4 months old and I have a few years to go befor she will be able to breed. That will give me plenty of time to get into a larger 5 or 6 BR house (hubby has to have 2 rooms and I need an office, a snake room and a place to have the rodents) and convence (sp?) my husband that rats and mice are not "deadly" I had all of my 300 plus mice before my husband came in to the picture, and the fact that he wouldnt live in my house with me. I was really lucky that he let my mice in the house when we moved.

I plan on feeding any babies that I hatch out mice or rat pinks.