The choice is yours but, as stated, there is absolutely nothing wrong with just rodents at this stage and for the immediate future.
BHP and Womas eat mainly reptiles in the wild. As a result, they are intolerant of high fat levels in their food and can develop a condition called “fatty liver disease” which is invariably fatal. This issue only arises once they get to the stage of eating rats of 200g or more. Whether rats of this size or greater carry a significantly larger percentage of fat than smaller rats will depend on how they have been fed and raised. So when you get to that stage you basically need to either speak to the breeder or do an internal examination and comparison with a smaller rat.
Feathers, fur, skin and chitin (nails and beaks) are not digestible and are called roughage. In combination with thick bone that are not completely digested, as it would take too long and the amount of bone already digested is sufficient, they make up the faecal wastes that are passed out of the bowel. All vertebrates need this for their large intestinal to function properly. It actually produces certain essential chemicals from these wastes, such as Vitamin K. Pinkies provide little to no wastes, so are suitable only in the short term, although frequent feeding of young pythons i.e. once a week, tends to provide more food than is required and the excess is expelled as wastes.
Contrary to the belief of some, day old chicks do provide sufficient wastes. The faeces does tend to be smelly and high in liquid. Week old chicks do not result in the same problem, the wastes being firmer and having less odour. I have seen carpets raised on a diet of both and there was no difference in health, growth rate etc.
Things like chicken necks and kangaroo sausages are only suitable as an occasional alternative. The internal organs of feed items contain some essential nutrients for snakes. For example, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, like A, E and K, and is stored in the fat cells of the liver. So to maintain good health, whole vertebrates should be the mainstay of the diet.
Just a final comment on the Olive. At 60 kg it is an extremely snake. If it is bromated, it is only going to eat for 6 months of the year. Rabbits vary markedly in size and there are some very large varieties around. So one particularly rabbit every 6 weeks during the active season may be well and truly adequate for that animal. You need to take into account how active the animal is and therefore what its energy requirements are. Kept in a restricted enclosure, that feeding regime may well be well and truly adequate.
Once olives reach a size where rats are no longer really adequate as a food item, then guinea pigs make a good alternative until rabbits can be used.
Blue
