Feed chicken to Milk Sake? - Page 2

SnakeyJay · 09-25-11, 11:57 PM

Awwww, what a cute little guy.

blindfireak40 · 09-26-11, 12:03 AM

It should be fairly easy to keep him happy and healthy. Native Colubrids are about as hardy as you can get. At his size, he'll probably only need a pinky a week for a little while, but they DO grow quite quickly. Regardless, there are larger and larger available sizes of feeders. Best of luck!

SnakeyJay · 09-26-11, 12:05 AM

Awwww, what a cute little guy.

**millertime89** · 09-26-11, 12:42 AM

Cute little guy! Hope you can keep him. I would probably just order some online or find a breeder somewhere close that will ship to you as you don't necessarily have to buy in bulk then to get the same prices.

ZARADOZIA · 09-26-11, 03:19 AM

I buy all my rep food from RodentPro.com. It's cheaper than buying at the pet stores and they smell better. I buy in bulk so even with the shipping charges, it is still cheaper than buying from the pet stores.

Pinky mice are .16 cents each and pinky rats are .39 cents each.

They sell Mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, quail, and chicks.

Little Wise Owl · 09-26-11, 11:47 AM

I don't think Rodentpro ships to Canada or else I'd be ordering from them too.

**Aaron_S** · 09-26-11, 04:29 PM

Don't keep it. All native reptiles to Ontario are ILLEGAL to keep without proper permits.

Secondly, if you are wanting to attempt to feed it chicken, which isn't even possible, maybe you should re-think keeping it?

Valvaren · 09-26-11, 04:56 PM

I second that you shouldn't keep it. Imagine the stress on the little guy to be pluck out of his home and stuffed into a tank, plus the fact that it will affect the balance, no matter how small still has an impact.

ZARADOZIA · 09-27-11, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little Wise Owl

I don't think Rodentpro ships to Canada or else I'd be ordering from them too.

I just read their terms and you are correct, they don't sell to Canada. Sorry

Will0W783 · 09-27-11, 08:05 AM

It's a very good-looking snake, but wild caught snakes of any kind are notoriously hard to acclimate to captivity, especially if you arent' familiar with the species. Milk snakes will not survive on store-bought chicken- they use chemicals to wash the meat that will harm the snake, and the snake cannot get all the nutrients it needs from chicken. Snakes have evolved to glean calcium from the bones of their prey, nutrients from the meat, the blood, the skin, etc. They need a whole prey item in order to get all the nutrition they need, so your snake would not live for very long on tiny strips of chicken. If you cannot bring yourself to feed it rodents, you should not keep any snake. I'm not trying to be harsh, only realistic. It's not fair to the animal to keep it if you cannot feed it what it needs.
Also, most wild caught snakes have moderate to heavy parasite loads, and these can overwhelm and kill them in captivity, where the conditions are less than optimal in many cases. In the wild, snakes can get away from their waste, shed and leave the skin behind, and in so doing they can keep parasite loads down a bit. When you take a snake that has parasites and confine it to a cage, it cannot escape its waste, and therefore builds up parasites until it succumbs. In my opinion, ALL wild caught snakes should have a fecal sample taken to a qualified herp vet for testing, and the animal should be treated with Flagyl and Panacur. If you're not experienced in dosing snakes, and don't have a reptile veterinarian and medicines available, let the little guy go and save up for a quality captive bred and born baby....provided you can feed it its proper diet.

**Pareeeee** · 09-27-11, 03:06 PM

I released the little guy back into the forest yesterday. Thanks everyone for your varying opinions and responses.

After much research I learned that Eastern Milksnakes in particular can be difficult at times to feed and may always be skittish, even with handling. Especially wild caught.

The legality issue...let's just say I've raised wild animals before, several species, several times.

I don't care about feeding it rodents. I just wouldn't like them to be live or raised by me, lol. If they are already dead and frozen I don't care. It's just another form of meat in my freezer. I don't want to kill the cow but I love to eat steak!! If you know what I mean :P

Anyway, I am still considering buying a snake. Not sure which species though.

totheend · 09-27-11, 03:45 PM

Great to hear that you did the right thing!

Good luck in your CB snake hunt

**Aaron_S** · 09-27-11, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pareeeee

The legality issue...let's just say I've raised wild animals before, several species, several times.

This somehow makes breaking the law ok because you've done it before?

No one should be condoning the breaking of laws especially on a website that is and can be viewed by minors!

Aaron

**Pareeeee** · 09-27-11, 08:27 PM

No it's just my personal view that the humane and proper rescuing and/or raising of an animal is not wrong. I once saved a baby bird's life from being killed by a bluejay by taking it and successfully raising it myself. I do my research before ever undertaking something like that - and that is why I decided not to keep the snake. After the research I realized that this was not something I wanted to attempt. Also the fact that I discovered the Eastern Milk's status is currently "Threatened".

As you have seen I am being responsible about this.

ZARADOZIA · 09-28-11, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pareeeee

As you have seen I am being responsible about this.

You did good Paree. I know how it is when you live in BFE and the backyard is your personal zoo & playground. lol

Late one night a couple of weeks ago I caught a baby snake (It was no bigger than 6 inches long) at my best friend's driveway. (She lives next door and isn't much of a reptile enthusiast, but she actually helped me catch it, I was very proud of her.)

We showed it off to all our kids and they wanted to hold it. We told them no because but I wasn’t sure if it was a copperhead or not. (I have never seen a baby copperhead before and the colors were very close. I couldn’t remember what the markings looked like.) Sandy asked if I was going to keep it if it wasn’t poisonous and I told her I wasn’t sure. It was so cute!

We couldn’t release it right away because I wasn’t going tromping through the woods when I couldn’t see. So I went inside to ID it and learned it was a Northern Water Snake. I debated with myself all night as to whether I was going to keep it or not. I really liked the little guy.

What finally made the decision for me was the Cardinal Rule I have drilled into teach my son’s head since he was two, “You may catch it to examine it and learn about it, but you must let it go home. Most wild animals die in captivity and it’s not fair to the animal if you take it away from its habitat and sentence it to death. The only exception is when you have to nurse it back to health and then you must release it.” I wouldn’t be much of a teacher if I broke my own rules.

So I can fully understand where you are coming from. And in the end you made the right choice. That’s all that matters.