Pythoness saved my Woma python

[Pking]

Thanks Pythoness...

I've got a woma python who had turned off its food mid summer and towards winter she feed once, was looking pretty grim. I went and saw pythoness today and bought some day old chickens off her for next to nothing considering how many i got.. I defrosted the day old chicken and put it in the womas enclosure at first she didn't seem interested so i left the room in hope she would feed. When i came back about 15minutes later she was into it and about 5 minutes after that she was straight into another. Definately don't discount day old chickens as a good feeding source, pythoness souly feeds her pythons on these little fellas and they have really nice shinny scales and aren't obest like a lot of snakes i see out there in private collections.

[RedEyeGirl]

pythoness ur a hero!!

[Brigsy]

how old(big) are your snakes when you start them on day olds?

[itbites]

Picking some up myself this week, i'm sure my boy will be super stoked! to get something a little bit different. I'm glad your woma's doing better pking

[Pking]

just started today shes 3-4 years and about 120cms i've had so many problems with her feeding, I'm very confident now that she will continue feeding seeing she took so easily to the day olds, Once I see her getting back up to where I think she should be I'll try to alternate feeds between rats and day olds.

[Brigsy]

My atherton goes off her food all the time and i was wondering about day olds but she is only a year old and prob too small to take one.

[Brigsy]

Have got some pics but having trouble putting them on here. glad to hear that my cirl isnt the only stubbourn one. There is a place in town that sells them so i might get one first and see how we go. Thanx heaps

[Pking]

nps try www.photobucket.com upload to there and put a link

[Pking]

oh another thing what are you currently trying to feed your girl?

[pythoness]

Thanks so much Pking, i am so glad your girl took a feed, it is always so worrying when a snake starts to lose condition due to going off their food.

I have been feeding most of my snakes completely on chickens for over a year now, and am happy to bust some of the myths out there concerning the feeding of birds to your snakes.

Considering a snakes diet in the wild is made up of mainly birds, i find it amazing that most people feed nothing but european rats to australian native snakes, that have not evolved to eat such large amounts of this type of prey, as they are fed in captivity.

I am hearing of more and more snakes that are obese, have fatty liver, are lathargic and go off the food due to being constipated or impacted with rat fur. I believe this is due to over feeding of the wrong food type in captivity.
As most snakes will eat a great deal of nestling birds in the wild, needing to climb to get them, it's little wonder that caged snakes fed on fatty food are getting riddled with health problems, everything from non-feeding to bad sheds, and considering many (not all) comercially bred food rats are fed mainly on cheep dog food, you are basically feeding your snakes on dog food you probably wouldn't even feed to your dog.

I have customers constantly supprised at how much their snakes seem to like the new bird diet, and also the change in the condition of the snakes.

In the time i have been feeding birds to my snakes i have noticed that they have a much greater scale shine and are much more active than rat fed snakes. their sheds are always intact and they poop with no trouble or lengthy constipation.
As for the Myths sourounding the feeding of birds to snakes, i will do my best to negotiate around lol.

1. It makes their poo stink........................A) As compared to what snake poo stinks anyway, and yes the scent does change, but it's no worse than rat fed.

2. It makes them have the runs................A) This can sometimes SEEM to be the case, but it is a misconception, due to the fact that the poo isn't bound up in undigestable rat fur.

3. I need to cut off the beaks and feet.......A) Have you even seen a snake with a pair of scissors? Beaks and feet of fully grown birds pose no problem to snakes in the wild, so the rubbery beaks of day old birds pose no problem to captives.

4) they are not nutritional enough..............A) this couldn't be further from the truth. Being full of yolk and bone, with virtually no fat, this is the best form of nutrition for your snake. Many species of Australian snakes live solely on young birds, and many eat nothing but eggs.

I am not just saying all this to get sales lol, considering all proffits go to helping wildlife carers in the GSE, i am not in this for personal gain, but i am constantly saddened to hear of illness' in snakes that are preventable with a more appropriate diet. All the reptile books tell us that wild snakes add a proportionately large number of birds to their diet, and yet we feed them european rats exclusively in conditions where they neither have to defend territory, not hunt for food or shelter, in short we spoil then, and sometimes to their detriment.
Birds are a great addition to any snakes diet, and they realy DO love them lol

[reptilegirl_jordan]

Originally Posted by pythoness

Thanks so much Pking, i am so glad your girl took a feed, it is always so worrying when a snake starts to lose condition due to going off their food.

I have been feeding most of my snakes completely on chickens for over a year now, and am happy to bust some of the myths out there concerning the feeding of birds to your snakes.

Considering a snakes diet in the wild is made up of mainly birds, i find it amazing that most people feed nothing but european rats to australian native snakes, that have not evolved to eat such large amounts of this type of prey, as they are fed in captivity.

I am hearing of more and more snakes that are obese, have fatty liver, are lathargic and go off the food due to being constipated or impacted with rat fur. I believe this is due to over feeding of the wrong food type in captivity.
As most snakes will eat a great deal of nestling birds in the wild, needing to climb to get them, it's little wonder that caged snakes fed on fatty food are getting riddled with health problems, everything from non-feeding to bad sheds, and considering many (not all) comercially bred food rats are fed mainly on cheep dog food, you are basically feeding your snakes on dog food you probably wouldn't even feed to your dog.

I have customers constantly supprised at how much their snakes seem to like the new bird diet, and also the change in the condition of the snakes.

In the time i have been feeding birds to my snakes i have noticed that they have a much greater scale shine and are much more active than rat fed snakes. their sheds are always intact and they poop with no trouble or lengthy constipation.
As for the Myths sourounding the feeding of birds to snakes, i will do my best to negotiate around lol.

1. It makes their poo stink........................A) As compared to what snake poo stinks anyway, and yes the scent does change, but it's no worse than rat fed.

2. It makes them have the runs................A) This can sometimes SEEM to be the case, but it is a misconception, due to the fact that the poo isn't bound up in undigestable rat fur.

3. I need to cut off the beaks and feet.......A) Have you even seen a snake with a pair of scissors? Beaks and feet of fully grown birds pose no problem to snakes in the wild, so the rubbery beaks of day old birds pose no problem to captives.

4) they are not nutritional enough..............A) this couldn't be further from the truth. Being full of yolk and bone, with virtually no fat, this is the best form of nutrition for your snake. Many species of Australian snakes live solely on young birds, and many eat nothing but eggs.

I am not just saying all this to get sales lol, considering all proffits go to helping wildlife carers in the GSE, i am not in this for personal gain, but i am constantly saddened to hear of illness' in snakes that are preventable with a more appropriate diet. All the reptile books tell us that wild snakes add a proportionately large number of birds to their diet, and yet we feed them european rats exclusively in conditions where they neither have to defend territory, not hunt for food or shelter, in short we spoil then, and sometimes to their detriment.
Birds are a great addition to any snakes diet, and they realy DO love them lol

thanks for that info,very interesting

[FNQ_Snake]

Nice job mate.

[Pking]

Totally agree with pythoness Birds should be a part of our pythons diets and quote pythoness "I am not just saying all this to get sales lol," Trust me as someone whos bought of her you can tell shes all about the animals and its a good to see.

[Dipcdame]

Well Pythoness, that's given me food for thought, pardon the pun!!!!!!!

[PilbaraPythons]

I can personally vouch for value in feeding day old chicks to pythons. I have been feeding near exclusively chickens to many pythons for years which have gone on to successfully breed and still a picture of health. It makes me chuckle at the amount of people who continually rubbish the use or value of day old chickens, I just quietly continue with what I know has proven to be very successful for me.