Hey guys I was wondering if I could feed my snakes chicks/ducklings as a staple diet or at least part of the year. I couldn’t find any recent posts about it, but if there is one let me know. Maybe I missed it in my initial search.

I am considering it for a couple reasons:
Price - the rodents I buy are from a family owned small business but are $4.50/ rat pup and $5.50 for a small/ md rat. I will only shop at petco/PetSmart as a last resort for rodents as the quality wasn’t what I’d prefer.

Availability - I live in a farming community and an hour from the nearest pet store. So I haven’t been traveling to the “big city” as often because of corona. I also try to avoid it during fire season. I have easy access to farm supply stores to purchase chicks/ ducklings. I could also buy eggs practically year round and incubate them myself.

I will not sacrifice their health just to save a little money though. I read somewhere that they wouldn’t get enough calcium from the chicks. Is this true? I wouldn’t be feeding day old chicks, probably a few days to a week old depending on their weight.

I also have no intention to breed any of the snakes.

I thought about ordering rodents but it doesn’t seem practical because I only have 5 snakes. Between the shipping and bulk price I wouldn’t save any money and I don’t want to be stuck with a freezer full of rodents during one of California’s power safety shut offs.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. My point is: is it healthy to feed snakes primarily birds? Any feedback is appreciated!

BTW I would be feeding a ball python, a pacific gopher snake, and 3 king snakes.


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