Quail???

[JimiSnakes]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge on feeding their snakes quail? They are considerably cheaper than rats or mice, but I don't want to feed my snakes something just because it's cheaper if it's not as good for them as rats are. I saw on rodent pro that 1 day old quail are about the same grams as medium rats, but are they the same size? Are they bigger? or smaller? Are they better for my snakes than rats are? I have to say I think they are better food as adults, but are the babies (1 day olds) the same? Anything at all relating to this topic would be great. Any experience at all on feeding quail and it's nutritional value would be helpful too.

Thanks all.

[xdeus]

They should be fine for the most part. I've read that fowl doesn't contain as much calcium as a rodent, but I'm not sure about the requirements of a Ball to begin with, so you may be okay there. Also, I've read complaints about the snake stool being runny supposedly from the lack of hair that would normally bind it together.

With that said, I wouldn't switch simply because a Balls normal diet consists solely of rodents. I don't think enough data has been gathered to determine the long term health affects of changing that diet to other animals like quail.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Personally, I don't like feeding any type of bird to a python or boa ... the resulting stool is always a very greasy smelly mess that just seems unhealthy.

I would also question the long term health of a snake fed a diet on strictly birds ... for one thing, unlike rodents, a birds bones are hollow which may or may not make a difference. Also, a birds diet may or may not be different from a rodents, and I do know that snakes digest and use the stomach contents of digested prey.

I think when used in conjunction with a primarily rodent based diet, health wise, birds can be fine ... if you can get past the horrible poop.



-adam

[elevatethis]

Never had any experience feeding quail or heard of any reputable keepers/breeders feeding them. Makes me wonder there's probably a reason why...I would speculate that a small rat or adult mouse is a much more wholesome meal than a 1 day old quail of equal size.

I saw the aftermath of a burm eating a large chicken one time...not a pleasant thing. I wouldn't want to deal with cleaning up after a poultry-eating ball python if the effects on their stool is similar to that of burm.

[JimiSnakes]

I think I've heard about the horrible poop part before...thanks for reminding me about that. Well, it was a thought...oh well.

Thanks.