Dyeing Feeder Rats with Squid Ink?

[ScalingUpwards]

So, to begin this post, I have 2 ball pythons. My male never hesitates with frozen, pre-killed, doesn't matter. Very good eater, and strikes every time. My female however, is a constant worry for me. She only acts interested maybe every other week (she is 8 months old) and she has a preference for live. I supervise absolutely constantly if she gets a live weaned rat, but it is my last choice for feeding. She additionally only wants dark hooded rats, and 9 times out of 10 will refuse a white rat, which is all my f/t supplier can send me. Can I dye a frozen/thawed feeder with Squid Ink? Or food coloring?

[Charles8088]

Some snakes prefer one color over another. I've heard that before.

I don't think you want to be dying feeders for your snake. I can't see much good coming out of that.

However... depending where you get your feeders, you can get dark or black fur vs. white. I know at least one online seller that allows you to choose color. And, I wouldn't be surprised if you ordered online, and contacted the vendor and asked them to give you all black if possible.

With that said, with 2 ball pythons, you might now be ordering online anytime soon. Ask your local supplier to give you black rats (or move). For me, when I only had the two snakes, it was still cheaper to buy online in larger quantities and get rid of stock if I had it too long, vs buying local for likes times the price of each feeder. But, of course, you'd need a place to keep larger quantities.

[Bogertophis]

I'd say "no" to dyeing the rodents too. I have NO idea what's in squid ink that might impact (be harmful) to snakes, & food coloring isn't always harmless either- and especially not in the amounts you'd be feeding to a snake, whose body may be far less tolerant than ours, in part simply because they're far smaller than we are too.

Remember that while ingesting a tiny amount of food color by a human may not cause obvious harm, it might be something that a snake's body can't handle at all. You cannot assume safety for reptiles at all. There are plenty of ordinary foods that we can eat that some animals cannot, & vice versa, so I'd stick with ONLY what's natural for a snake to eat.

Dogs, for example, can get sick (& even die!) from eating chocolate, avocados, grapes, raisins, coffee/tea, xylitol (artificial sweetener), salt, yeast dough, or alcohol. Keep in mind that sometimes substances built up in an animal's body that they cannot process or eliminate- that's what happens with chocolate for dogs- it may not prove fatal right away, but it accumulates until it does. I would expect similar issues for snakes, but not with the same things- & no telling which ones. And there's virtually no research to see what things are safe for them- so please don't try it.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23026007/

I would check with other suppliers for a source of dark rodents.