Quails or day old chics?

[Snakelove]

Which one is better for a feed every month or so? i read somewhere that day old chics have too much vitamin A, therefore it's not healthy for the snake? is that true? thanks =)

 

[Zoltag]

Rats

 

[Snakelove]

Rats

lol thanks? haha.

 

[snakehandler]

Quail if you have access

 

[montay]

Hi - this depends upon why you are feeding day old chicks. I feed a day old chick every month or so, not for its nutritional value, but because of its cleansing properties. If you are feeding, say, rabbits who have a large amount of fur for the snake to break down, this can lead to some intestinal blockage.
Feeding the occasional day old chick actually cleans out the snakes system, having a mild aperient effect. The result isn't pretty, but I find it keeps my snakes clean on the inside!
It's all about mimicking what is available in the wild - you rarely find fat, 'bunged up' pythons in the wild.

cheers

 

[Splitmore]

I have fed most of my smaller snakes (childrens, adders etc) exclusively on day old chicks for a number of years without any problem. I have some adders here which haven't seen a rat or mouse since they were still very small, I raised them on chick legs, then onto gutted day olds and now eat 2-3 days ols chicks per week.
All my snakes are as fat and healthy as can be and breed consistently. I even have a few adult olives that will happily eat 30 odd chicks in one sitting.

 

[Snakelove]

I have fed most of my smaller snakes (childrens, adders etc) exclusively on day old chicks for a number of years without any problem. I have some adders here which haven't seen a rat or mouse since they were still very small, I raised them on chick legs, then onto gutted day olds and now eat 2-3 days ols chicks per week.
All my snakes are as fat and healthy as can be and breed consistently. I even have a few adult olives that will happily eat 30 odd chicks in one sitting.

gutted? you gut the day old chics?

 

[Snakelove]

Quail if you have access

yeah i have quails nearby. it's from pet city at mt gravatt. they're okay right? lol

 

[Splitmore]

gutted? you gut the day old chics?

I only gut them if they are too big for the snake to swallow. the belly of the chick is mostly yolk and removing it reduces the size of the chick considerably. Once the snake is big enough they get the whole chick

 

[Snakelove]

Hi - this depends upon why you are feeding day old chicks. I feed a day old chick every month or so, not for its nutritional value, but because of its cleansing properties. If you are feeding, say, rabbits who have a large amount of fur for the snake to break down, this can lead to some intestinal blockage.
Feeding the occasional day old chick actually cleans out the snakes system, having a mild aperient effect. The result isn't pretty, but I find it keeps my snakes clean on the inside!
It's all about mimicking what is available in the wild - you rarely find fat, 'bunged up' pythons in the wild.

cheers

lol yeah i'll try them on both and see what happens. i'll probably try quail first coz a lot of people seem to feed their snakes quails. so i just wanna try something different. =P

 

[Snakelove]

I only gut them if they are too big for the snake to swallow. the belly of the chick is mostly yolk and removing it reduces the size of the chick considerably. Once the snake is big enough they get the whole chick

oh okay i get it. lol thanks hey =)

 

[adfel]

Which one is better for a feed every month or so? i read somewhere that day old chics have too much vitamin A, therefore it's not healthy for the snake? is that true? thanks =)

Quail have more nutritional value than chics, rats, mice etc. Rats help with weight gain and feeding them up if they're underweight but I would def go with quail... And you can get them from day old right up to fully grown....

 

[Snakelove]

Quail have more nutritional value than chics, rats, mice etc. Rats help with weight gain and feeding them up if they're underweight but I would def go with quail... And you can get them from day old right up to fully grown....

yeah i've got day olds, week and adults at pet city. i'll just try some day olds to start off with. see if they both take em. lol

 

[Nagraj]

Day old chicks are neither particularly high in Vit. A or fat. Judge their nutritional value for yourselves.

Nutrient Composition of Whole Vertebrate Prey - RodentPro.com

 

[Snakelove]

Day old chicks are neither particularly high in Vit. A or fat. Judge their nutritional value for yourselves.

Nutrient Composition of Whole Vertebrate Prey - RodentPro.com

thanks for that! pretty cool info there. =)

 

[Snakeluvver2]

Is it ok to feed a stimsons python on birds only ???
My partner would really love a snake now
after seeing mine every weekend and handling them
But her mom is extremely scared of rodents hahaha
Like really scared even dead ones

 

[junglecarpet]

I feed my atherton rats and day old chicks and alternate between them for each feed and she is really happy and healthy and growing at a wonderful rate

 

[Snakelove]

I feed my atherton rats and day old chicks and alternate between them for each feed and she is really happy and healthy and growing at a wonderful rate

oh thats good to know. i've always thought quails and chics are bad for them. thanks!

 

[baxtor]

the amount of misinformation getting about regarding day old chicks is staggering. They are at least as good nutritionally as any other food source and the loose craps only occur for a few feeds after the change from rodents.
I don't know what the yardstick others use in determining what is or is not a healthy food but I reckon if you can grow, keep and breed healthy animals for decades then there can't be very much wrong with what you are feeding them.

 

[adfel]

Is it ok to feed a stimsons python on birds only ???
My partner would really love a snake now
after seeing mine every weekend and handling them
But her mom is extremely scared of rodents hahaha
Like really scared even dead ones

A lot of the pythons in the wild would only feed on birds so quail and chics are actually quite nutritional for them....