Would you feed a ribbon snake to a king snake?

[Bogertophis]

A question for all the people that have made the argument of "snakes eat rodents in captivity so that is all you should feed them."

Do you honestly feel that this is the best thing to do for species that have evolved to eat non-rodent? Especially with all of the very experienced breeders that are reporting high rates of things like obesity, fatty liver disease, metabolic failure, poor clutching, generally shorter life-spans, etc., in species like this when fed on exclusively rodent diets?

If you really, truly believe in doing what is best for your animal then would it not be best to feed them what most closely resembles their evolved diet, be that something simple like supplementing with the occasional non-rodent item to something more complicated like going with an entirely non-rodent diet?

That's a great point: I don't think it's just that we're feeding captive snakes the same thing either, but that they are DOMESTIC rodents, which have more fat than
their wild counterparts because they eat "better" (or at least more grain, which fattens them up, not the variety of insects & plants they'd consume in the wild) and
also because they have a "cushy" life.

Part of the problem is with us, the keepers: we love these creatures & naturally want MORE, but that works against us doing the best practices. It's not just the rodents
that sit around too much...so do the snakes. Their cages cannot begin to duplicate the activity they'd have in the wild. And then either we buy or breed domestic rodents
to feed them, and they too are fairly inactive. Rodents love to run in wheels, but do you know any breeders that set up cages for them that allow that? I breed my own &
I can answer that for you: no! There's a fairly good reason for that too...running in a wheel becomes sort of an addiction...and I've seen nursing mom-rodents try to get
in a wheel with nursing babies tumbling off them...they are oblivious to the danger to their babies, so while they may "run themselves lean", it's very counter-productive.
At least I do supplement my rodent's diet with things like kale, mealworms, bits of fruit/veggies & seeds for better nutrition...it's not just the commercial rodent chow.

Snakes in the wild get a bit more natural sunlight too & while I cannot prove it, I'm willing to bet that's a positive influence on their immune system & metabolism. Like us!

Eating varied wild prey also brings a wider variety of trace nutrients to snakes, and might even enhance their immune system because they'd have gradual exposure to
more pathogens (in & on their prey) so that their bodies may then be better able to fight off infections...? Again, I'm speculating.

So...anyone feel brave enough to surprise your BPs with new & exotic w/c prey?