quail chicks and quail eggs for reptile food.....need help soon!

I raise coturnix quail for eggs and meat, but was recently offered 1/2 a table at a reptile convention to sell my eggs and maybe some quail chicks for reptile food. These eggs are fertile, non-hatching (refriderated). I tried to get some answers about which animals could safely eat them.....I'm assuming most snakes, even though google keeps sending me to the "african egg eating snake" and probably some lizards and turtles. I just can't seem to find any difinitive answers on the internet and i'd rather not got to this convention than show up with no information at all or even worse, offer bad information that could cause someone to harm their pet.

If anyone here feeds their pets quail chicks, eggs or even adults and can give me some information or just point me to a website i couldn't find myself i'd really appreciate it.

I don't think they would harm any reptile.

And basically I think that an owner who would buy the eggs, would probably know whether or not their animal(s) could handle it so I wouldn't worry about it.

I think most snake owners will kill the food first before feeding so that they will not hurt the snake/lizard/whatever. Size is the biggest thing.

Take along an assortment of sizes.

Most owners/breeders will want to know if the potential food has been well fed with good quality food and lots of vitamins.

Now you will need to post after so we know how it went.....

Coturnix chicks and teens are great for lots of constrictor snakes. Our ball python eats teens without a problem. I'm sure you'd get lots of business.

Fitsy Most Snakes Can And Will Eat Eggs And Birds Of Appropriate Size. I Keep All My Babies That Hatched But Didnt Make It, Or Had To Be Culled For 1 Reason Or Another And Freeze Them--- I Keep A Gallon Sized Zip Lock Bag In The Freezer And Just Deposit Them There. When Its Time For The Snakes To Eat I Just Get However Many Out And Place Them In A Sandwich Size Bag And Immerse In Hot Water Til Thawed And Warm--- Then Just Wiggle It In Front Of Mr Happy And Its Game On! Any Snake Can Consume These--- As Far As Size The Smaller The Better As Most Folks Will Have Rat Snakes Or Corn Snakes And They Stay Kinda Small--- Its The Snakes Mouth That Limits The Size Of Its Prey.... Take An Assortment, And If It Looks Like It Might Be A Do-able Sideline For Extra $$$ Then Start Freezing Your Cull Babies. As A Side Line There Are Many Commercial Sources For Frozen Mice And Baby Quail Specifically For The Pet Reptile Industry---- Just For Giggles Do A Search For "mice On Ice"

Now Many Pet Reptiles Will Eat The Frozen-thawed-reheated Foods, But The Really Picky Ones Want It Alive And Screamin' So I'd Take Plenty Of Live Birds In An Assortment Of Sizes Too.--- Note Frozen Food Isnt Cheap, Live Food Is Even More Expensive Than Frozen! Search The Web For Some Frozen Food Suppliers To Get An Idea Of What To Charge For Your "snacks".....

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this is exactly what I do for my culls. then I sell them to the snake folks! they are so happy to have anothe sourch of feed for thier snakes because they wouldnt eat just rats or mice in the wild they would eat what ever they come upon! a vaied diet is best! anyway good luck!

Hi,

In the UK, most if not all snakes are fed on frozen prey,thawed out of course and it is illegal for feed live chicks mice etc to them.

I supply a local pet shop/store with quail eggs, day old chicks and ex breeding stock, they go to feed a wide range of different species of snakes.

The owner also sells egg eating snake (don't know the species sorry) and people that buy them are directed to me to supply them with eggs while they are growing and as I'm the only person in this area who can supply eggs of a smaller size, I can charge very much what I want for them and they pay it too. I sell them for 50p (85c) each. (I only get £1.50 ($ 2.55) for them selling them as hatching eggs)

There are also the people that want something that is bigger than a half grown mouse but smaller than a full grown one, so here's where the day old quail are used, same with the larger snake that want something bigger than a rat but not as big a say a rabbit, they have spent layers.

I don't sell a great number of any them, but I make a nice profit from male day old chicks and birds that have finished laying.

Ironsun.

I don't know what it will be like for you guys in the States, but in Europe, not many people would feed their snakes eggs (apart from egg eaters and hognoses, but even quail eggs are too large for the hatchling snakes).We do occassionally feed chicks(chicken, not quail) especially to problem feeders such as royals, but due to their higher fat content a lot of people avoid them.I've heard of people feeding quail to boas, but they would be too large for most colubrids(corn snakes, king snakes etc.) to eat as adults.Chicks should be fine though.As I said, things may be different in the States, but I wouldn't be too hopeful about selling the eggs.The chicks probably will sell but you're better off selling frozen.Nobody is going to travel to a reptile convention to buy a few live chicks to feed their snake.They'd have to keep the others alive between feedings.If they're frozen though, you could sell more and it makes it worthwhile as they can keep the chicks in the freezer between feeds.

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i suppose i could take along my vacum sealer to make some "freezer packets" but death by vacum sealer seems kinda cruel....zip loc baggies maybe, but that doesn't seem much better.

anyone got a quick, humane way to kill them on the spot (in one piece)? i don't wanna kill a bunch beforehand only to find out no one wants them for whatever reason.