Is it ok to feed these chicks to my snakes?

[bigsnakegirl785]

Apparently my father bought a bunch of chicks to raise for food, but he got the glu and didn't catch an illness in time to save all the chicks and a few died from pasty butt I believe it's called. Where poop clings to the feathers around the cloaca and blocks off their cloaca, backing up their poop. I was just wondering, considering the way they died, if they were safe to feed as snake food?

[Minkness]

Eh...I wouldn't due to the backed up bacteria of the poo. I'm no expert though.

[Chris72]

Well, in the wild snakes will often eat carrion (dead, decaying stuff) they find.

Bactria and all.

However what if there was a 10% chance it could harm your snake.

Are you willing to take that chance to save the $$ on a few meals?

(Sometimes it's better to be safe)

[Minkness]

And what is the life expectancy of wild animals vs captive?

[Tsubaki]

I see no reason why it would harm your snake, every dead animal has poop inside its intestines?

[Minkness]

Lol so true. I was merely thinking of the excessive bacteria due to the fecal build up. But as mentioned above, snakes also eat carrion, so it's probably not a big deal.

I personally wouldn't feed carrion or dead by diseased animals to my snakes.

[Jim Smith]

While snakes are opportunist eaters, it sounds like the chicks died from coccidiosis which is an internal parasite that can easily spread to snakes. He's an article I cut/pasted with some information you should read before you make your decision.

Coccidia is a protozoa that is often present in very low numbers in healthy reptiles and is only a concern when the levels become more than just a few on a fecal float slide. The most common symptom of Coccodia is feces with an unusually bad smell that could "clear a room." Reptiles with untreated Coccidia will eventually stop eating and appear listless. Coccidia prevents absorption of nutrients and normally well-fed reptiles with higher numbers of Coccidia will not appear healthy or might begin to have a thin, malnourished appearance.

Coccidia is often acquired from infected feeders, and most commonly can be found on the outer shell and legs of feeder insects. Leaving feeder insects in your reptile's enclosure with fecal matter will increase the risk of coccidia infestation, as the feeders will often contact the fecal matter or ingest it, and then the reptile eats the feeder, and the coccidia then enters the reptile. Coccidia is easy to treat with anti-protozoal medications which can be obtained by your veterinarian. In order to diagnose Coccidia, your vet will perform a fecal float and look at the slide under a microscope. He will then determine the number of oocysts that are on the slide and decide if they are in high enough numbers to treat the infestation, and what medication would work best.

During treatment, it is very important to maintain a clean enclosure for your reptile. Often it is advised to remove all furnishings and use disposable furnishings, to keep fecal matter from contaminating the environment and reinfestation of coccidia. Disinfecting of the enclosure is extremely important during and after treatment for Coccidia and it is recommended to use disinfectants such as Quarternary Ammonia Compounts or Ammonia Chloride cleaners. Leave the disinfectant on the surface of the enclosure for 15-20 minutes to ensure that it has time to be effective. It is advised to spray the disinfectant onto the surface rather than use a porous applicator such as a rag or sponge, to ensure complete coverage of the disinfectant onto the surface. With disinfectants it is important to rinse the enclosure well before returning your reptile to its home. Soak any tank furnishings in the disinfectant for 20-30 minutes and rinse and dry well prior to placing back in the enclosure.

[prairiepanda]

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

While snakes are opportunist eaters, it sounds like the chicks died from coccidiosis which is an internal parasite that can easily spread to snakes. He's an article I cut/pasted with some information you should read before you make your decision.

I don't have any experience with this myself, but I Googled coccidiosis in chicks and it seems like something the owners would have picked up on sooner. It seems to be accompanied by several days of unusual behavior and bloody stool prior to death. The OP gave us limited info, so I can't say for sure, but I would think baby chicks would be checked on enough to notice something like that.

However, I did also read that pasty butt can be caused by any kind of infection or parasite that would cause diarrhea. While this is uncommon, considering the fact that several chicks were affected I think the possibility of internal parasites is a legitimate concern.

[Jim Smith]

Actually, I have had some experience with coccidiosis in chickens when I was in college. There was one chicken farmer near the college that had coccidiosis in one of his houses where he had the birds running free in the house. These were very large chicken houses that housed several thousand birds. His worker did not notice that the birds were ill one house, and he went from the infected house to another house that was not infected. He carried the coccidiosis to the second house on the soles of his boots. When the owner went back to the newly infected house that afternoon, all the birds were dead, several thousand of them. This disease is extremely contagious and spreads very quickly in a closed population. For that reason, I would never feed my snakes any animal that I knew died of a disease or parasite. Just my opinion...

[prairiepanda]

Wow, Jim, thanks for the insight! Definitely seems like the chicks in question would be a major gamble as feeders.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Well my father bought 15 chicks, which all came in together. I think maybe 5 died? All the others are alive and well a week to two weeks later and their cloacas are clear again. So I'm not sure if that's worth noting or not. I'm not taking care of them, so I also only have limited information.

I was pretty hesitant to feed them, which is why I made this thread, to get some second opinions.