Breeding alternative feeders to supplement diet?

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

I agree with most people here commenting, anything cheap or easy is being done already. If you really want to breed something different as a prey animal, that doesn't get too expensive. How about Degu's? They're the right size feeder, with a low body fat content compared to rats or mice. Excellent as variation.

Why are they so far not popular as feeders? They breed easy but slightly slower than other rodents (3-10 babies per female per litter) They need food with a low nutrients value (Or they will get fat, stop reproducing, and die) And they destroy any wood and even flat surfaced plastic enclosure, so something chew resistant like glass is required to keep them. And they don't like to be held, other than that they're fine feeders. i've fed them to my snakes before.

Interesting, I don't think I've ever heard of them before, they sound like a good alternative though.

[CosmicOwl]

Originally Posted by Tsubaki

I agree with most people here commenting, anything cheap or easy is being done already. If you really want to breed something different as a prey animal, that doesn't get too expensive. How about Degu's? They're the right size feeder, with a low body fat content compared to rats or mice. Excellent as variation.

Why are they so far not popular as feeders? They breed easy but slightly slower than other rodents (3-10 babies per female per litter) They need food with a low nutrients value (Or they will get fat, stop reproducing, and die) And they destroy any wood and even flat surfaced plastic enclosure, so something chew resistant like glass is required to keep them. And they don't like to be held, other than that they're fine feeders. i've fed them to my snakes before.

But maybe they aren't being done as feeders. That's the point I was trying to make. I wasn't trying to be argumentative or anything, but I know there are some animals being bred as pets that could easily be bred as feeders. For instance, if you had king snakes and wanted to offer them snakes, you could get yourself a couple of corn snakes to breed. This is an obvious example, but when I started this thread I assumed there might be a few more similar situations.

Anyway, the Degus sound quite interesting. Gerbils and quails are other options that I might pursue. Quail are definitely commercially available, but breeding my own could result and birds of various sizes, as well as eggs and even animals for human consumption.

[toddnbecka]

Originally Posted by millertime89

Interesting, I don't think I've ever heard of them before, they sound like a good alternative though.

Possibly, but what purpose would an alternative rodent serve? Nutritional content would likely be similar to rats, but considerably more expensive up front for breeding stock and less productive of offspring. Not to mention that most snakes would probably have to be "trained" to eat them (how many posts are there concerning switching feeders already?)

Birds I could see as a good alternative feeder, particularly for arboreal or semi-arboreal species. Those would be more likely to take them instinctively, and they could be useful for scenting other types of feeders as well.