Chicks instead of rats/mice?

[Little Wise Owl]

Originally Posted by Hyokenseisou

There's always the risk of the beak tearing up the insides of the snake. Personally, I don't use chicks at all unless it's a last resort to try and get a snake to willingly eat. I hear it's like crack to them and could possibly not switch back to rodents after. Raw poultry could also risk salmonella for both the animal or you (slim, but it does raise the risk versus a rodent).

Plus, a poultry diet makes for wayyyy stinker poops, so I hear. Poultry and fish make for big stinks (for snakes that isn't in it's usual diet.)

It always sort of baffles me that people think this. What about the large snakes that eat animals with horns or antlers? Or rabbit claws, rat claws, broken bones? Or snakes that eat eggs whole, crush them inside their body and yak them back up? It reminds me of when people ask if they can feed raw chicken feet to their dogs and are worried about the nails hurting them and asking "Should I clip the nails?"....

Anyway, I occasionally feed my BCI chicks that my tegu didn't eat and have yet to experience the awful poop people always talk about. Maybe it depends on the snake?

I wouldn't exclusively feed chicks but I would definitely add them for variety (given that the snake doesn't get addicted to one prey item).