Quail for food?

[Spirit]

A friend of mine is interested in buying a snake (she's unsure, but will likely go ball) for her son. She asked me today if they can eat quail. I would assume they can, but how would the nutritional value be compared to mice or rats?

The reason is because she works at a "holistic" pet food (supply) store and always has frozen quail available (convenient!). The ones in the store right now are roughly the size of a small adult rat.

Opinion?
Thanks in advance. :)

[mannannan]

I have a friend that breeds quail for feeders. He says they're supposed to have the best nutritional values, better than mice or rats.
I'm unsure as to how hard/sharp the bones are, or if they could harm the snake.

I'd be concerned to feed a bal quail though, as I made a mistake once and fed a ball a hamster, and then it wouldnt go back to rats.

/Daniel

[boywithscales]

Quail will give your snake runny stool, as far as I know rats and mice are better nutritionaly then birds. If you do feed your ball quail then you dont have to worry about bones being sharp. However I would worry about your snake becoming picky and only eating quail.

[Spirit]

I was hoping one of the regulars would reply, as these replies conflict about quail being good in nutrition.

Mykee? Jeff? Where you guys at?

[iLLwiLL]

is your friend planning on getting an adult ball for her kid?? a meal the size of a small rat is a meal for an adult ball python. i found an awesome spread sheet from a zoo awhile ago that had all kinds of nutritional info of prey species. i'll poke around and see if i can find it and post it here.

~Will.

[iLLwiLL]

as promised . . .

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf

if you have adobe and some time, its well worth a read for anyone feeding mamals to reptiles.

~Will.

[Spirit]

Hey, that's great! I can't view it here (I'm at work), but I'll email it to my friend now, and view it later when I get home.

Thank you. :)