Varied Diets

[Minkness]

I tend to like changing diets up from time to time or offer 'treats' if possible.

O have a place roughly 45 mins to an hour away that has loads of different feeder types. Rodents from pinky mice to XXL rabbits, but also day old chicks and quail, anoles, ect.

I know that kings eat pretty much everything out in the wild so I'm sure I could offer any of those things so long as they are the proper size.

I would like to know though if they like fish as well. Something like live guppies or goldfish, ect.

Does anyone else offer a varied diet or treats to their kings? Any information about offering live fish?

[EL Ziggy]

I've known kings to eat rodents, chicks, quail and anoles. I've only offered mine rodents and chicks. Neither of my kings have eaten the chicks yet but hopefully they will as they get larger. I haven't heard of kings eating fish.

[Tsubaki]

I've never seen a king eat fish either, but i do remember everyone advising not to feed goldfish. Since they are one of the main carriers of cold water TBC, not sure how it would affect a snake but still.

[Derek1]

I've never heard of a King eating fish, but they probably would. I wouldn't feed live feeders. I've read that they can carry a lot of internal parasites. There is a whole list of fish not to use because they have an enzyme called thiaminase. That destroys the B1 vitamin in their system and can be fatal. I feed my garter f/t Silversides. Which is a frozen fish sold at pet stores that are safe to feed to snakes.

[millertime89]

UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT!!!







Why not contact local snake breeders to get dead snakes? They're cannibalistic after all.

[CosmicOwl]

UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT!!!







Why not contact local snake breeders to get dead snakes? They're cannibalistic after all.

If I were breeding snakes, I would definitely keep a snake eater around to feed off deformed babies and non feeders.

[Minkness]

Well, I have never thought of that, though around here we don't have many reputable breeders let alone people who may cull some as every snake is $$$ to them. I'd like to say that I have a wonderful reptile community here, but I really don't. =/

There are people who love their reptiles here, just not a real 'community'. And the people who sell, are people I'd rather avoid. I don't want to let disease or a 'bad' animal into my home. (Take that as you will)

[Jim Smith]

While I have zero problems with feeding snakes that have been culled from a breeder, I would be concerned about the possibility of introducing diseases or parasites into my collection. Your thoughts...

[Aaron_S]

UNPOPULAR OPINION ALERT!!!







Why not contact local snake breeders to get dead snakes? They're cannibalistic after all.

I know kings will generally just eat whatever but I'd hate to have one who got stuck on snakes.

[Minkness]

While I have zero problems with feeding snakes that have been culled from a breeder, I would be concerned about the possibility of introducing diseases or parasites into my collection. Your thoughts...

Exactly. Same goes for Aaron's statement.

I was just wondering more about small feeder fish. I know garters eat them, and was curious of kings. =)

[Aaron_S]

While I have zero problems with feeding snakes that have been culled from a breeder, I would be concerned about the possibility of introducing diseases or parasites into my collection. Your thoughts...

What kind of diseases are you worried about? It's a valid concern. If I was to source this type of prey item I would definitely need a reliable and trustworthy source.

As for parasites it is highly unlikely that any reputable breeder harbours them. Parasites usually come from wild caught animals and people who are sketchy but like to call themselves "breeders".

[Minkness]

What kind of diseases are you worried about? It's a valid concern. If I was to source this type of prey item I would definitely need a reliable and trustworthy source.

As for parasites it is highly unlikely that any reputable breeder harbours them. Parasites usually come from wild caught animals and people who are sketchy but like to call themselves "breeders".


I'd love to throw some diseases out, but honestly, I have no idea, and would rather be safe than sorry.

And, for me anyway, as previously stated, there are no breeders in my area that I'd trust. This may be different if I was in an area where such people existed.

[millertime89]

I know kings will generally just eat whatever but I'd hate to have one who got stuck on snakes.

I agree, although I would think (and hope) anybody who decides to feed snakes as prey would feel comfortable in their supply source in case this happens. Although as we have seen time and time again this isn't always the case.

[eminart]

O have a place roughly 45 mins to an hour away that has loads of different feeder types. Rodents from pinky mice to XXL rabbits, but also day old chicks and quail, anoles, ect.


Where is this place? I'm in Huntsville, AL. I'd love to find a supplier of feeder reptiles for my indigo. I'm going to guess that this supplier is on the OTHER side of you, but it's worth asking. I have a local reptile store that has very good prices on frozen rodents. But, I'm wanting to get some more variety, and online shipping is just not cost effective.

[Minkness]

It's in Nashville. So quite a ride from AL. I'll double check on what they carry to make sure and give you a report of the cost and quality. =)

[SnoopySnake]

You could try to contact a reputable breeder and see if they would ship you the deformed baby snakes and such for a decent price.

[eminart]

You could try to contact a reputable breeder and see if they would ship you the deformed baby snakes and such for a decent price.


That's actually not a bad idea. Thanks!

[eminart]

It's in Nashville. So quite a ride from AL.

Yeah, it's about an hour and forty-five minutes away. So, too far for a trip specifically to get snake food. But, I might make up another excuse for a day trip - take my daughter to the zoo or something. ;)

[millertime89]

That's actually not a bad idea. Thanks!

Or animals that just don't make it for any variety of reasons. If your Indigo will eat f/t then that would kill off most problems. I know that's what Tom Crutchfield does. He'll get animals from all sorts of people that died to feed to his king cobras and other cannibalistic snakes. I know some water monitor owners that also breed snakes that will feed any animal that died to them if it's not too big.

[SnoopySnake]

Or animals that just don't make it for any variety of reasons.

Why I said and such :) lol. But yes something like that is exactly what I meant.

[eminart]

Yeah, he'll eat frozen thawed. I've actually been planning to start collecting freshly killed, dead on road snakes from any herping trips when it gets warmer. I can freeze those for a month or so then feed them. But, contacting breeders is a good idea too.

[millertime89]

Yeah, he'll eat frozen thawed. I've actually been planning to start collecting freshly killed, dead on road snakes from any herping trips when it gets warmer. I can freeze those for a month or so then feed them. But, contacting breeders is a good idea too.

Find retic and burm breeders. Bigger babies that don't make it and larger clutch sizes.

[Primal Rage]

You can get non feeding hatchling kings, corns and even ball python for as much as mice and rats or even cheaper. I know some breeders that will give all mentioned away. Personally, I do not nor would I feed my Milks anything other than rats or mice. I can only imagine the stink/mess after feeding my group chicks, snakes, or fish. GROSS! Funny side note... I had a teacher in middle school that had a healthy 4 ft Cal king that she fed crickets to its whole life!

[Minkness]

Will kings eat bugs? O.o

Makes me wonder how it got calcium.

[Primal Rage]

insects are highly nutritious! I would have not believed it either had I not seen it eating live crickets myself!

[Minkness]

Huh....I may try and see if mine takes to dubia roaches XD

Not for a permanent diet, just to see lol

[Primal Rage]

You better record it!

[Minkness]

Lol will do! It will have to wait though since she was given a rather large meal tonight lol

[eminart]

Will kings eat bugs? O.o




Probably, if they're starving.

[Obsidian_Dragon]

Gah, no bugs to kings. That's...no. Just because they will eat it doesn't mean they should. I've seen snakes try to eat towels for goodness sakes. At best it would be just wasting stomach space on useless food. At worst...

If I can ever convince my husband to let me breed garters, I'd probably try to feed my king anything that didn't make it. Not wasted that way, right? I don't think a king would have issues fixating on ONLY eating snakes. Other people introduce the occasional chick, etc without problems, so.

[ManSlaughter33]

Minky Im sure he'd like your fingers if you let him XD

[Minkness]

But...but....those are MY fingers!

[ManSlaughter33]

But...but....those are MY fingers!

Ok fineeee. you can keep them

[Minkness]

Yay! Thank youuuu!

^_^

[CosmicOwl]

I'd like to add that today, I got my grey rat snake to eat his first chick. He already regularly eats mice and rats, so I think the occasional mouse+chick combo(one chick isn't even 10% of his body weight) will be a nice way to mix things up for him. In the future, I'm hoping to find more variety of feeders for him, as he looks like he'll eventually reach a size when he can eat several different types of prey.

[Minkness]

Awesome! I can't wait till my girl gets that big!

[CosmicOwl]

Awesome! I can't wait till my girl gets that big!

I'm definitely going to look into quail. From what I've read, they are highly nutritious, especially when it comes to protein.

[ManSlaughter33]

I'm definitely going to look into quail. From what I've read, they are highly nutritious, especially when it comes to protein.
I can/can't wait. I'm sure thyre more expensive than rats.
But it will be neat to watch. I love birds more than rodents so feeding chicks,, that'll be a hard one for me to feed :P

[eminart]

I'm definitely going to look into quail. From what I've read, they are highly nutritious, especially when it comes to protein.


They are nutritious. I feed them to my hawks occasionally. But, you'd have to find young quail, or maybe button quail. An adult coturnix quail is pretty girthy.

[CosmicOwl]

They are nutritious. I feed them to my hawks occasionally. But, you'd have to find young quail, or maybe button quail. And adult coturnix quail is pretty girthy.

What age quail would be comparable to a 1 day old chick? I was think of getting some 2 week old quail, because the weight range seemed similar.

[eminart]

What age quail would be comparable to a 1 day old chick? I was think of getting some 2 week old quail, because the weight range seemed similar.

I honestly have no idea. I've only ever had adult quail. I've never even looked to see if the big suppliers sold young quail (mine were bought semi-locally). But, if they're a similar weight to a day old chick, they should be roughly the same size.

[Minkness]

Most frozen quail are sold as day old. They are about the same size between mouse fuzzies and hoppers, and are probably closer to a rat pinky. I saw that rodent pro has them but didn't look at the price. The shop I have here locally sells them for 89c each where as even a mouse pinky is 1 dollar.

I'm not sure of the breed of quail offered however. The day old chicks they had were almost 4 times the size of the day old quail they had. And they told me that the day old chick was about the same size as a week old quail (which they sometimes get).

Hope this helps!