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am i the only one
As I added to my snake population it got expensive to feed live. So I began to convert everyone to frozen/thawed. Bought online in volume, it is very affordable. After I got them on f/t mice I switched them to f/t chicks at about a third the cost. Question; am I the only BP owner feeding f/t chicks and is there a reason?
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by ezraIII
As I added to my snake population it got expensive to feed live. So I began to convert everyone to frozen/thawed. Bought online in volume, it is very affordable. After I got them on f/t mice I switched them to f/t chicks at about a third the cost. Question; am I the only BP owner feeding f/t chicks and is there a reason?
Im curious because I tried feeding chicks (as a treat) and only my colombian took one, so they ended up on a farm.
Feeding got expensive so I started breeding rats
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Re: am i the only one
No, you're not the only one feeding F/T chicks. I've heard of a few owners who found this to be cheaper and more readily available. I would like to know if the weight gain is comparable to feeding on F/T rats. Have you kept track of weights?
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoFride
No, you're not the only one feeding F/T chicks. I've heard of a few owners who found this to be cheaper and more readily available. I would like to know if the weight gain is comparable to feeding on F/T rats. Have you kept track of weights?
see thats the thing, im getting equal if not superior weight gain and growth with the chicks and once they start taking them they love them. I'm haven't had enought time to declare an absolute here but I can't find any flaws either. I can't farm my food and at 12 cents each, I will at least be including f/t chicks on the menu. ezra
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Are there any downsides to feeding birds/chicks over rodents? I've only heard that the poop is usually smellier.
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daybreaker
Are there any downsides to feeding birds/chicks over rodents? I've only heard that the poop is usually smellier.
i'm not ready to say there is no downside and i will keep rodents in the mix but so far i'm liking what i'm seeing. I'll keep up with growth and keep y'all informed. Havent noticed any change in fecal odor but there is a bit more calcium.
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Re: am i the only one
Interesting - keep us posted. Thanks!
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Re: am i the only one
My doctor feeds f/t chicks to his snakes. He says that it helps get picky eaters to eat, and when I asked him about poop being smellier, he said he didn't notice a difference. As far as nutrition goes, he had a clutch of bp eggs hatch this spring, so it seems to be good. Prices are cheaper too. :cool:
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by carlisleishere
My doctor feeds f/t chicks to his snakes. He says that it helps get picky eaters to eat, and when I asked him about poop being smellier, he said he didn't notice a difference. As far as nutrition goes, he had a clutch of bp eggs hatch this spring, so it seems to be good. Prices are cheaper too. :cool:
Thanks for the feedback and the validation. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, there seemed to be more calcium in the fecal material, if I'm right, that extra calcium could be absorbed by gravid females to provide better egg quality.
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by ezraIII
Thanks for the feedback and the validation. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, there seemed to be more calcium in the fecal material, if I'm right, that extra calcium could be absorbed by gravid females to provide better egg quality.
Is there a problem doing this? No not really your snakes are eating they are healthy and in the wild they will eat birds as easily as rodents. The reason we feed rodents is that they graduate in size as the animals grow. So from hatching to adult 3500 gram female there's a rat for that. With chicks there is considerably less flesh than a rat they are mostly legs and wings. So once you get past a 200 gram snake you might have to feed 4-5 chicks to equal the same food intake as feeding rats. And as the snake grows that number will increase.
Then comes the problem of if you ever for any reason have to sell or get rid of them. I can tell you I wouldn't even consider a BP who had been fed chicks for fear of having them get imprinted on them, I have enough trouble with Mousers.
Lastly comes babies. They don't make a chick small enough for a baby Ball Python and babies 99.99995% of the time have to have live prey to start. So your back to dealing with rodents.
If you never plan to breed or sell your current snakes then chicks will be fine..But it's when you plan to do anything else with them that a snag may happen.
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The other thing I didn't mention is that rats breed more prolifically than chickens so for people like us who breed their own feeders rats are both more cost effective and space effective and produce far more feeders quicker than chicken's.
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freakie_frog
Is there a problem doing this? No not really your snakes are eating they are healthy and in the wild they will eat birds as easily as rodents. The reason we feed rodents is that they graduate in size as the animals grow. So from hatching to adult 3500 gram female there's a rat for that. With chicks there is considerably less flesh than a rat they are mostly legs and wings. So once you get past a 200 gram snake you might have to feed 4-5 chicks to equal the same food intake as feeding rats. And as the snake grows that number will increase.
Then comes the problem of if you ever for any reason have to sell or get rid of them. I can tell you I wouldn't even consider a BP who had been fed chicks for fear of having them get imprinted on them, I have enough trouble with Mousers.
Lastly comes babies. They don't make a chick small enough for a baby Ball Python and babies 99.99995% of the time have to have live prey to start. So your back to dealing with rodents.
If you never plan to breed or sell your current snakes then chicks will be fine..But it's when you plan to do anything else with them that a snag may happen.
Very valid points all. I do continue to mix their diet between mice and chicks. I will move them to rats as size dictates. I will keep chicks on the menu as long as I can. I don't fear imprinting because all my pets take birds and rodents with equal abandon. Thanks
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Re: am i the only one
Related to chicks but a little off topic. I was wondering if anyone ever got their snake to eat a chicken EGG. Boy that would make life simple wouldn't it LOL. Baby Bps would have to eat quail eggs though lol. Just a silly thought.
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I used to buy f/t chicks when I had Solomon Island boas. (mine thought they were candy) I had some ball pythons who liked them and some who didn't. I occasionally fed them to the BPs that would eat them as kind of a treat. My RTB would take them too. I never had any health problems in either the boas or the ball pythons, but as I only fed them occasionally it's tough to say one way or another how well they would have done on them if it was I used chicks as a steady diet.
Tegus and niles love f/t chicks.
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Re: am i the only one
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freakie_frog
The reason we feed rodents is that they graduate in size as the animals grow. So from hatching to adult 3500 gram female there's a rat for that. With chicks there is considerably less flesh than a rat they are mostly legs and wings. So once you get past a 200 gram snake you might have to feed 4-5 chicks to equal the same food intake as feeding rats. And as the snake grows that number will increase.
This may be a valid argument regarding chicks but the thing about chicks is that they grow up to be chickens and an adult chicken would be too large for a ball python. Rodent Pro (first site I could think of) sells Quail of all sizes http://www.rodentpro.com/catalog.asp...l=feeder_quail
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freakie_frog
Then comes the problem of if you ever for any reason have to sell or get rid of them. I can tell you I wouldn't even consider a BP who had been fed chicks for fear of having them get imprinted on them, I have enough trouble with Mousers.
This would be my biggest fear with having my snakes on quail or chicks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freakie_frog
Lastly comes babies. They don't make a chick small enough for a baby Ball Python and babies 99.99995% of the time have to have live prey to start. So your back to dealing with rodents.
Again rodent pro sells quail at 7.25 to 10 grams as 1 day old. So clearly you could breed your own quail and service BP's. My understanding is that you can also store the eggs at cooler temps for quite some time and then incubate them later. This would allow you to control your prey size much more precisely. I have read about people doing will feeding quail to snakes. Another nice up side to breeding quail is that they are tasty for humans to eat. Its possible that a rat might taste well but I certainly couldn't admit to eating them in mixed company without having to answer a ton of questions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freakie_frog
If you never plan to breed or sell your current snakes then chicks will be fine..But it's when you plan to do anything else with them that a snag may happen.
Once again, couldn't agree with this part more.
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