New prey items, what do you think?

So I'm thinking about trying different rodents for my ball pythons. But I want your opinions on the following:

1. Rabbits (kits not adults)
2. Guinea pigs (small ones)
3. Hamsters
4. Gerbils
5. Quail/chicks

How healthy are they? Surely in the wild they eat other things besides mice and rats. I would be purchasing frozen so no live. Also what are your experiences with these? Did your snakes prefer them over mice/rats? Did they go better on any of them?

Thanks in advance!


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Pound for pound rats are the second most nutritious meat on the planet.
Quail being number one.


And balls eat rodents in Africa so why mess with a sure thing. Surely all of the ball python breeders in the world are not doing it wrong ;)

You have a source selling those cheaper than mice or rats?

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Originally Posted by KMG

You have a source selling those cheaper than mice or rats?

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Maybe I just have the money


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In the wild, they nest in ASF burrows, eat the inhabitants, and move to a new ASF burrow. honestly why shell out extra cash for feeders when you can use it to buy another snake and feed them what they're born and bred to eat?

not to mention that getting a BP hooked on something like gerbils can end up in a much higher bill than i'd care to pay, seeing as they're mostly bred as pets. and it's a struggle and a half to get them back to rats, should you ever make that choice.

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Originally Posted by Wapadi

Pound for pound rats are the second most nutritious meat on the planet.
Quail being number one.


And balls eat rodents in Africa so why mess with a sure thing. Surely all of the ball python breeders in the world are not doing it wrong ;)

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I have a couple picky eaters. Trying something new could work. Of course they eat rodents in the wild. I just listed a bunch of rodents. It's not like ball pythons in the wild eat white rats. If I want to switch my prey items for my picky eaters I have that right. I Never said it was wrong to just feed snakes rats. Goodness.


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Originally Posted by Archimedes

In the wild, they nest in ASF burrows, eat the inhabitants, and move to a new ASF burrow. honestly why shell out extra cash for feeders when you can use it to buy another snake and feed them what they're born and bred to eat?

not to mention that getting a BP hooked on something like gerbils can end up in a much higher bill than i'd care to pay, seeing as they're mostly bred as pets. and it's a struggle and a half to get them back to rats, should you ever make that choice.

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Are ASF more appetizing do you think? I have a couple picky eaters that aren't eating for me since adopting them back in March. Honestly, I appreciate everyone trying to look out for me by telling me to do rats because it's the most effective and cheap. But rats aren't working and I will spend money on my snakes so they eat again. All my other snakes are on rats so I have nothing against feeding them rats. I just want to know which is the best prey items besides rats


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scirlygirl

Are ASF more appetizing do you think? I have a couple picky eaters that aren't eating for me since adopting them back in March. Honestly, I appreciate everyone trying to look out for me by telling me to do rats because it's the most effective and cheap. But rats aren't working and I will spend money on my snakes so they eat again. All my other snakes are on rats so I have nothing against feeding them rats. I just want to know which is the best prey items besides rats


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I've heard that ASF are like cocaine for BPs and once they're hooked on those, there's almost no going back to something else. I take it that they almost never refuse an ASF but will refuse everything else once they're started on them. Most people who feed them to their BPs will do so because they breed the ASF themselves and have an ample supply of them, instead of buying them so often for a higher price.

Hmmmm how would one aquire these ASF rodents? Sounds interesting.

Never mind for frozen ASF you can get them from americanrodent.com :)

If your picky eaters are turning their noses up at rats then yes, trying an ASF may just get them eating again if you have a supplier available. One of mine only eats live ASF and I will warn you that ASF are much nastier than rats are - I've seen several go straight for the snake and bite it within seconds of being put in the tub. It's like they know instinctively what a ball python is.

Most people avoid gerbils and hamsters due to the higher cost per feeder.

honestly if you do have an ample, cheap supply of ASF, or access to a starter colony for yourself, those will be great for your picky eaters. They're like candy for snakes.
they are MEAN if you feed live tho.

1-ASF are nippy to us with there babies, but to snakes they sit there and pray as they snake hunt them it feels(well the ones i feed do)

2- I find this stigma of ASF fed once, your stuck on them. False it depends on snake, i start most babies on them if they deny rat pup! 95% switch to rat pup after 2-3 feedings, some stay a little longer. I purchased a Hypo orange ghost at 800g strictly fed LIVE ASFs, after 2 weeks (first week denied meal) 2nd week ate a FT small rat. So they arnt addicting but i do feel help out the picky eaters.

3- Dont ever feed gerbils THOSE are satans spawns they are friggen evil!

They do not need variety in their diet and trying to feed alternative prey could backfire in the future if you want or need to switch back to rats and mice.

Stick to what is readily available, BP are picky as it is and you don't want to come back here and say "my BP refuse to eat rats and hasn't eaten for months"

Some of the prey listed are like crack to BP and it could be very hard to switch back (gerbils and hamsters)

Hamsters have a lot of fat and fur.

Quail will make runny stool, also bird bones density differ from rodent bone density, in other words not has much calcium.

You need to understand that BP are picky, will fast and that alternative prey aside from mice and asf is not really the solution, in most cases it is husbandry related or food related feeding too much.

More often then not there is also no issue just failure on the owners part to understand the snake metabolism and getting frustrated over fast. Fact is BP in captivity are over fed.

You have animals eating large rats which is way too much food I do not feed large rats not even to the biggest animals.

Feeding smaller preys (even smaller for males) on a regular basis will allow your animals to eat with more consistency.

You just adopted a 3000+ grams female, it is a common knowledge that adults takes longer to readjust to a new environment, 50% of the adult females I have receive have taken anywhere between 2 to 9 months to eat for me.

To me your animals are fasting to catch up and you need patience.

Now that is the problem I see, not sure about your husbandry.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scirlygirl

So I'm thinking about trying different rodents for my ball pythons. But I want your opinions on the following:

1. Rabbits (kits not adults)
2. Guinea pigs (small ones)
3. Hamsters
4. Gerbils
5. Quail/chicks

How healthy are they? Surely in the wild they eat other things besides mice and rats. I would be purchasing frozen so no live. Also what are your experiences with these? Did your snakes prefer them over mice/rats? Did they go better on any of them?

Thanks in advance!


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I feed mine chicks as part of their diet. Some of them like them and eat them very willingly, some of them don't. The ones who like them get them once every 4 or 5 feedings.