Chicken necks and Drumsticks....

[Adzo]

Would you have to make sure they were organic? What would the growth hormones and chemicals do to your snake?

Snake boobs.

 

[BROWNS]

I never mentioned to feed your snakes soley on chicken necks or drumsticks but if you alternate from rats one week to necks n drumsticks the necks i don't see any problems with that whatsoever and it would definitely cut down on your food bill which isn't the main objective here but having a decent alternative food which has plenty of goodness in it wether it hasn't got all the gizzards etc doesn't mean it's still not good for them.You eat drumsticks and chips for a meal here and there many of you i'm sure but also eat different foods at other times if you are actually eating a decent diet full of all the necessary requiremaents which i bet many don't???

All i'm getting at is that they make a great alternative food source and if fed occasionaly such as rodents one week and chicken necks etc the next wek or even next 2 weeks then back to rats again i don't see how it would harm the pythons in anyway at all from not getting the right nutritional meals or diet!It also just happens to cut down on your food bill and the pythons absolutely love them.Using my adult black and white as an example which has always been a fussy finicky feeder with rats and it takes a heap of mice to make the same amount of feed as one decent sized lean rat i think the fact that she just hammered down some necks and a drumstick unreal and will be much easier to get condition on her now for breeding purposes which i'm hoping will go well this season if i get enough condition on her as she's pretty well right to breed now she just wen off her food for ages since last winter and only in the past couple of months has she been taking scented rats but even then sometimes she would spit them out after constricting and i thought she'd definitely eat the rat only to find it uneaten in the enclosure the next day which is a pain in the butt but now with necks and drumsticks to choose from i'm stoked!!

 

[Retic]

Browns, I totally agree, people have been feeding chicken necks and legs for years as PART of a snakes diet and there is certianly no reason I know of why it shouldn't be done.

 

[Australis]

Ive fed chicken necks to most of my pythons largely with great success.
Ill have to give the drumsticks a go...also.

Ive previously only used them when my rat colony slows down in the heat
and fails to meet demand!

 

[solar 17]

old wives tales

MEECHEE.. l would LOVE you to explain to me about the growth hormones used in poultry today as they have been outlawed for sixteen years and unavailable to the average person..there are very big fines in place for the use of these products today as apposed to 16 years ago the growth promotents used today come from the proteins used in the anti biotics which are used today......BUT what about the sprays that are used on our cereal crops where the cereal then goes to rat and mouse cubes and then to your rodents and then onto your snakes / lizards etc....l personally use only fresh killed rats and mice but l do have one female bhp that will only and l mean only eat chicken drumsticks as several people on this site will verify but what l do is hide a multi vitamin capsule in the flesh and on this feed plan she has bred the last 3 years in a row...my point is l am not immune either but facts are facts...cheers solar 17

 

[The Devil]

The is an old saying that goes something like this......a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous ...... and having read some of these post I would have to agree with it.

I've seen the bhp Solar17 refers to, seen it many times since he got it about 6 years ago and know that it will ONLY eat chicken.
It came from a guy in Toowoomba who had a chicken farm just down the road from him and was feeding most of his snakes day old chicks ect.

This female bhp looks great, she is about 5kg and has laid the past couple of years, I'm sure if requested Solar would post a pic.

Anyone who thinks that meat be it white or red meat has no nutritional value needs to have a triple flat black coffee.

Also I guess those that say if you can't afford or complain about the cost of rodents you shouldn't keep so many snakes......well I guess they are the same people who NEVER buy anything on special or sale and NEVER worry about trying to buy say petrol at a reasonable price.

Yes feeding chicken is cheaper than feeding rodents, it's human nature to try and save money. Also buying and defrosting drumsticks is a lot simpler that raising rodents.

 

[Earthling]

Whats the deal with not saving money as the reason to feed roo or chook?

I will admit to feeding chook necks and roo to my snakes to save money. Whats wrong with that? Is saving money bad?
I have 'rat breeders' which at certain times of the year fail to produce the quantity of rats needed for python food. Rather then spend my money on exorbitant 'feeder rat' prices, I will use roo or chook for an alternative feed. Alternatively, I sometimes choose to not feed the snakes at all for that period of low rat numbers.

As people have said in other threads, you can feed just roo, or just chook but you must give supplements. If thats what it takes for someone to feed their much wanted python who am I to say they are wrong?

 

[The Devil]

Earthling.....your bit about roo meat is interesting, hadn't thought of that and will look into maybe getting some.

 

[Earthling]

Earthling.....your bit about roo meat is interesting, hadn't thought of that and will look into maybe getting some.

Yes great stuff roo. Low fat. Organic too! I have a couple working on some arms as we speak.

Most Vets Ive spoken to only advise roo tails for the larger pythons as of the large amount of calcium in the tail.

I usually try to give them fur as well...not sure if it gives them much, but may assist somehow in digestion/flow. Otherwise just strips of meat. They pythons have a bit of difficulty sometimes with the meat bunching up into a ball but they soon work it out.

 

[Lozza]

I think its a great idea - especially for species like BHPs. They don't eat many rats in the wild and large fatty rats aren't very healthy for them at all.
Atm I feed several smaller rats in one feed to my BHPs so I think adding a bit of chicken to cut down on the amount of rats is awesome. They would still be getting rats, just not as many and it would also add a leaner component to the mix as well as a different flavour
I certainly wouldn't want to eat the same thing for every meal - what's wrong with adding a little variance, they eat a wide variety of foods in the wild.

 

[wokka]

Do you ever consider the environmental cost of food or for that matter keeping reptiles. it does worry me that we are invoved in a hobby which chomps through power in order that we create artificial environments for animals. How many heat a cage which lives in an airconditioned cooled room? Roo meat is definitely kindedr to the environment than Chook meat or for that matter rats. Let us know how the roo meat goes. I hear they are culling 400 roos in Canberra but doubt that they have considered recycling them through snakes.

 

[tempest]

Do you ever consider the environmental cost of food or for that matter keeping reptiles. it does worry me that we are invoved in a hobby which chomps through power in order that we create artificial environments for animals. How many heat a cage which lives in an airconditioned cooled room? Roo meat is definitely kindedr to the environment than Chook meat or for that matter rats. Let us know how the roo meat goes. I hear they are culling 400 roos in Canberra but doubt that they have considered recycling them through snakes.

Wokka, that is something I have thought about often. It isn't the most environmentally friendly hobby and that causes me concern, however, I love my snakes dearly. Roo sounds like it could be a good occasional substitute for larger snakes. My diamond is a little too small for that but small chicken necks or wings sound good when interchanged with mice especially given his fussiness.

Solar17, would you please post up a pic of your BHP? I'd love to see it and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Thanks

 

[cris]

Do you ever consider the environmental cost of food or for that matter keeping reptiles. it does worry me that we are invoved in a hobby which chomps through power in order that we create artificial environments for animals. How many heat a cage which lives in an airconditioned cooled room? Roo meat is definitely kindedr to the environment than Chook meat or for that matter rats. Let us know how the roo meat goes. I hear they are culling 400 roos in Canberra but doubt that they have considered recycling them through snakes.

Well i voted for a government that would have provided clean nuclear power, i blame the government for the polution caused by electricity production. I dont really think the impact of keeping herps would come close to the impact of many other hobbies or lifestyle choices.

You are spot on about saying roo is great choice if you are concerned about the ethical issues and environmental impact of chicken and rat farming. Using other wild harvested foods is the same. I often catch fish to feed my herps too.

I use roo meat occasionally.
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/australian-snakes/snake-eats-kangaroo-45523

 

[solar 17]

Bhp Female

This pic was taken this morning, she;s 6.1 kgs and has produced 22 off-spring in the last 3yrs. and only eats chicken drumsticks as she WONT eat anything else....cheers solar17

 

[The Devil]

Earthling......I love it....forgotten that roo meat would be organic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[geckodan]

Nev, whats the smallest snake that can happily accept a chicken neck?? Would you offer a chicken neck to a stimmie or mac???

 

[NicG]

What size python (say diamond) would you (occasionally) feed the following to:
a) chicken mini-drumsticks (half-wings)
b) chicken necks
c) chicken drumsticks
d) kangaroo limbs

And where would you get kangaroo limbs from?

 

[cris]

Danny what are your thoughts on using them as a regular food for snakes as far as nutritional value goes?

I feed my macs chicken necks, i just use necks that arnt much wider than the snakes head. A 2' python can easily eat a small neck(the sizes vary alot). You could probably get away with feeding larger necks but i think it may be a bit risky with the vetebrae that can stick out.

 

[Fester]

it does worry me that we are invoved in a hobby which chomps through power in order that we create artificial environments for animals. How many heat a cage which lives in an airconditioned cooled room?

Very valid point! I was just in the herp room, 40C outside, 26C inside and the enclosure heating is on. I have tropical fish in the air conditioned house, not much difference I suppose. I was looking at a 1KW solar system, still too expensive to justify. Back to the chicken. I tried a neck on my oldest Bredli last week and he loved it.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

Nev, whats the smallest snake that can happily accept a chicken neck?? Would you offer a chicken neck to a stimmie or mac???

Dan, my hatchy childreni happily took a piece of chicken neck that i had cut down last night..Looks like it wants more today to.
When feeding it to the smaller snakes its a good idea to make sure the bone inside the neck has been crushed a bit..I do this with the back of a large knife.
You dont want to have a large chunk of bone inside your snake as this could cause problems.