Day old chicks

[MCB]

A small holding near me said I can have their day old chicks and ducklings if I wanted them. Does anyone else vary their snakes diet? Mine are used to frozen rats, would you recommend trying these every now and again?

[EL Ziggy]

A small holding near me said I can have their day old chicks and ducklings if I wanted them. Does anyone else vary their snakes diet? Mine are used to frozen rats, would you recommend trying these every now and again?
Good question MCB. I was just asking about a varied diet of mice and rats for my critters in another thread. I can't imagine a varied diet would cause any issues and I have heard of others that feed different prey. I'm curious to see the responses you get.

[knox]

From what I understand (I have never strayed from mice), birds give smelly, runny poo. Certainly nothing wrong with giving them if the snake is known to eat them, though.

[Tsubaki]

I once fed my retics chickens, because my friend had too many roosters.. But o..m..g the smell.. It was horrid enough never to do that again, but those were adult chickens to large snakes (Smaller snakes, smaller poops, less smells i guess).. Chicks aren't all that nutritious either, so i wouldn't recommend feeding them often. But you could give them some, if you're not afraid of putrid smells :D

[MCB]

I may try a couple every now and then, I'll just look out for that smell!

[UwabamiReptiles]

I give a varied diet to all my snakes besides the bps. I feed rats, mice, chicks, and quail. The thing with chicks is to just use them as a supplement. If you only feed them chicks all of a sudden, then you end up with the smelly poo. The chicks don't have the fur that rats and mice do to bind up all the poo so you end up with a runny smelly poo. I usually either add a chick to a feeding or give a chick, then give a mouse or rat a couple days later. Its a little extra work but I have noticed that some snakes have a crazy feeding response with anything chicken related. My Japanese rats don't strike at the mice or rats I give them. I have to just leave them in their cage and they will slowly come over a eat it. If I give them a chick or a quail, I have to watch my hands because they will literally jump out of their cage to get to the chick.

Some people like to give varied diets, some don't. Its not something a keeper has to do to make the snake more healthy. The argument I've always heard is "a mouse or rat has everything a snake needs, so why give them something else if they can get all the nutrients they need from a rat or mouse.". There's nothing wrong with that either. I give my collection mostly rats and mice. I only supplement with chicks or quail.

[EL Ziggy]

I give a varied diet to all my snakes besides the bps. I feed rats, mice, chicks, and quail. The thing with chicks is to just use them as a supplement. If you only feed them chicks all of a sudden, then you end up with the smelly poo. The chicks don't have the fur that rats and mice do to bind up all the poo so you end up with a runny smelly poo. I usually either add a chick to a feeding or give a chick, then give a mouse or rat a couple days later. Its a little extra work but I have noticed that some snakes have a crazy feeding response with anything chicken related. My Japanese rats don't strike at the mice or rats I give them. I have to just leave them in their cage and they will slowly come over a eat it. If I give them a chick or a quail, I have to watch my hands because they will literally jump out of their cage to get to the chick.

Some people like to give varied diets, some don't. Its not something a keeper has to do to make the snake more healthy. The argument I've always heard is "a mouse or rat has everything a snake needs, so why give them something else if they can get all the nutrients they need from a rat or mouse.". There's nothing wrong with that either. I give my collection mostly rats and mice. I only supplement with chicks or quail.
That's nice to know U. I've only fed my snakes mice until yesterday. I got adventurous last night and offered one of them a rat fuzzy which she took with no problem. I was concerned that if I offered rats they wouldn't take mice anymore and I didn't want to waste my supply of mice feeders. Next time I'll offer one of the other snakes a rat and see how that goes. I've heard stories of snakes that will only eat one type or prey. It's good to hear from someone who offers a varied diet with no problems. I like the idea of mixing things up. I've also wanted to try chicks or lizards as supplemental feedings.

[Tsubaki]

Since it's pretty hard to come by decent snake food here, for large snakes at-least.. i used to give them whatever i could get my hands on. ( I could always go to the reptile store, but its long drive so i rather not) My retics did not only get rabbits, but also roosters, guinea pigs, And even stillborn: piglets / (pygmy) goats / lambs.

[philbyi-guy]

I have heard that they can get hooked on chicks and begin refusing rats. Not sure if its true, but something to consider

[UwabamiReptiles]

That's nice to know U. I've only fed my snakes mice until yesterday. I got adventurous last night and offered one of them a rat fuzzy which she took with no problem. I was concerned that if I offered rats they wouldn't take mice anymore and I didn't want to waste my supply of mice feeders. Next time I'll offer one of the other snakes a rat and see how that goes. I've heard stories of snakes that will only eat one type or prey. It's good to hear from someone who offers a varied diet with no problems. I like the idea of mixing things up. I've also wanted to try chicks or lizards as supplemental feedings.

I did have one of my carpets only want chicks for awhile but it was my own fault. I was new to feeding different things to the collection so I gave her a lot of chicks. She only wanted chicks for a couple months. She is back to eating everything now. I have a collection of over 20 snakes and she is the only one I had any kind of issue with. My Asian rats, tree boas, and carpets all do great with the varied diet. I feel like if anything it let me learn a couple different ways to try to entice reluctant feeders. Always a good thing to know how to do. I still feed a varied diet to all my snakes besides the bps. Just like I said earlier, I just give the chicks and quail like I said.

Mice, rats, chicks, and quail are all ok. I would personally stay away from lizards. Feeder lizards are usually full of parasites and aren't the easiest feeder to come by. Too many cons IMO for the lizards to be fed to anything that isn't a strict lizard feeder.

[EL Ziggy]

I did have one of my carpets only want chicks for awhile but it was my own fault. I was new to feeding different things to the collection so I gave her a lot of chicks. She only wanted chicks for a couple months. She is back to eating everything now. I have a collection of over 20 snakes and she is the only one I had any kind of issue with. My Asian rats, tree boas, and carpets all do great with the varied diet. I feel like if anything it let me learn a couple different ways to try to entice reluctant feeders. Always a good thing to know how to do. I still feed a varied diet to all my snakes besides the bps. Just like I said earlier, I just give the chicks and quail like I said.

Mice, rats, chicks, and quail are all ok. I would personally stay away from lizards. Feeder lizards are usually full of parasites and aren't the easiest feeder to come by. Too many cons IMO for the lizards to be fed to anything that isn't a strict lizard feeder.

Copy that U. I don't know where to find f/t lizard feeders anyway. I'll stick with mice and rats with an occasional chick or quail.