Choosing the right food for your pet snake is crucial, but you also need to know the specific species’ diet. While opportunistic feeders should have a variety of foods on hand, generalists should provide multiple types of food. Specialist feeders must keep special food on hand. Your snake will eat when it feels hungry, so it’s important to provide enough variety. Listed below are the most common types of food for snakes.
Contents
Prey sources
Some snakes won’t accept live prey, which is why you need to feed them dead prey. Even if they can defend themselves against live prey, many snakes do not like dead rodents, so you have to be extra careful in choosing your prey. Luckily, there are prey sources for snakes that you can buy in pet stores. Read on to learn about some of the best options available.
While snakes are primarily carnivores, some species are able to eat birds and mammals. Even baby chickens, guinea pigs, and young rabbits can be eaten. In addition to rodents, some snakes are able to eat insects, frogs, earthworms, and eggs. Others have even been known to eat birds and mice.
Nutritional needs
Most species of snakes should be fed once or twice a week, but large or inactive ones can go up to six weeks without a meal. Depending on their size, you can feed them more often if they’re nearing breeding season. You can follow your snake’s cues when it comes to hunger, but you should always feed them a nutritious meal. Your snake will let you know when it’s hungry and will increase the frequency of feedings.
Most snakes are obligate carnivores, which means that their diets contain protein from rodents and small mammals. Some snakes, like the rattlesnake, will even eat chicken, guinea pigs, and baby rabbits. Other snakes, however, may eat insects, frogs, earthworms, and even fish. Some species are egg-eating, which means they can eat small eggs.
Food sources
Most snakes are carnivores. That means they can’t digest a variety of different types of vegetables and fruit. However, a snake’s diet isn’t limited to meat and vegetables, and can include eggs and other large prey such as fish. While chicken eggs are not considered a good choice for a snake, quail eggs are perfect for your pet. You can purchase them at your local pet store, but they might be too expensive to feed them regularly.
Depending on the species of snake you own, the frequency of feeding varies. For example, worm-eating snakes should be fed once or twice a week, while fish-eating snakes can be fed weekly. Young garter snakes can be fed every other day on an earthworm diet. However, if you’re not sure what your snake likes, consult a veterinarian.
Choosing a snake that doesn’t eat rodents
Although the most common pet snakes eat rodents, you may be looking for a snake that doesn’t eat mice or rats. While these aren’t the only species of snakes that don’t eat mice and rats, most of them do. If you’re uncomfortable with the thought of keeping a rodent as a pet, consider a water snake.
Many snakes don’t eat rodents, and are more than happy to eat commercial prey instead. While feeding a snake isn’t necessarily unethical, you should consider how much food they can eat in a single sitting. While feeding a snake rodents is not a bad idea, it can get messy. You should also be aware of the dangers of warming up prey under a heat lamp.
Providing raw food
Providing raw food to your pet snake is not only healthy, but also beneficial. Snakes are carnivores, which means they cannot survive without meat. Human foods, such as eggs, poultry, pork, and beef, are safe to feed your snake, but you should avoid frying or saucing the food. If you notice that your snake is constantly prowling, it’s likely that he or she is hungry.
Many people feel uncomfortable providing their snakes with rodents, chicks, or vertebrates. This may be because of a number of reasons, ranging from a fear of snakes to the fact that rodents are cute pets. Others are simply uncomfortable with the thought of feeding rodents to a snake. No matter your reason for feeding your pet snakes, however, raw food is not an option for everyone.
