*Sigh* Some people...

[B. Saffles Farms]

The only reason Ive never fed quail to snakes, is because I dont like snakes.

 

[monarc23]

^ she's meaning her ball pythons

<---more people commented before i finished this...it was meant for the person asking what she meant by balls

I FEED DUMOR chick starter....and it says RIGHT ON It that it's for chicken chicks, ducklings and quail

I suppliment and my birds are GORGEOUS!

THAT GUY IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE WHO THINKS THEY KNOW THE WORLD BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES...well maybe THEY did something WRONG? Hum...im sure a person like that wouldnt think they could ever do something wrong though.

Dont listen to the JERK.

if you are meaning just feeding quails to your snakes instead of rats...i personally see NOTHING wrong with that. I have several DOA chicks in the freezer....im saving them up incase i get someone requesting frozen quails for their snakes. I've had requests for it before but i ddint have any...now i do and i see nothing wrong with that!

 

[ksacres]

Was he talking about EATING rats?

 

[byrandom]

I breed reptiles.. And have for about 10 years. I have a few reasons I wouldn't feed quail to BPs.

First of all, if you ever sell your snake, it may be a little harder for the next person to get the snake switched back to rats/mice. That is the problem people are having with imported specimen. They pretty much have to feed them ASF's (African Soft Fur rats) or Gerbils. Once BPs get on one particular food source, it is very hard for them to switch back.. At least - in captivity.

Secondly, if you decide to breed your snakes, and sell the resulting offspring, which you would then be feeding quail to as well... well, see reason number one.

I do not see any other problem. In this case, BPs in the "wild" of Ghana are not limited to rats. Especially pet store rats. (I have a particular rant about pet store rats, but that is neither here nor there...) They eat anything.. And I do mean ANYTHING. Birds, mamals, large reptiles, etc.

So, if you do not plan to get rid of your snakes or sell any babies.... Have at it!

 

[Bettacreek]

Thanks guys. I'm very tempted to send him the link to here, but, *shudder* I wouldn't want him trolling this place yet too. I did send him the links and information, plus the label of Dumor where it says that it can be fed to the different gamebirds. Thanks guys.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with using chicken grower, but figured I should probably make sure just in case, lol.

 

[Bettacreek]

Oh, thank you Byrandom. I do plan to breed in the future, but I can feed mice/rats to any hatchlings that I plan to sell, to make it easier on future owners. I know that they can be a booger to switch. I can't get them off of live prey, so I'm hoping that quail will convince them that prekilled is ok. Sad when I get better information from a bird forum than I do from a snake forum, when I'm looking for information on snakes... Lol.

 

[Lophura]

Quote:
I would say there was something else besides feed that was going on with the guy for a massive die-off. I wouldn't let him get to you. If it makes you feel better, I don't feed "gamebird" food either and the only massive die-off I have had as been at the hands (mouth) of a mink.

There shouldn't be any issue feeding them to the snakes. Quail (before they jumped in price) were on the "approved" diet list for reptiles at the zoo.

Dan

 

[spookyevilone]

If he's getting rats for $1/each, he's getting culls. It costs more than that per week to raise a rat.

As long as you mixed the diet, I think you'd be fine. Any bird feed will be fine - especially with button quail. Just make sure the breeding pairs have high protein and calcium. You'd be better off with quail than with rats just on the basis of tumor or cancer likelihood in rats. Also, live quail won't bite and damage the rats. Might peck, but even a hard peck won't break the skin.

-Spooky

 

[Bettacreek]

From everything that I've been able to find, quail are actually BETTER than rats. They have higher protein, lower fat and higher calcium than rats. They also cannot damage your snakes like a rat can. Their production rate is also WAY above rats. From what I know of the two species, quail seem to be such a better choice. Yes, you won't find button quail in the wild in Africa, but I hate that excuse. People and animals eat foods that are from across the world that they wouldn't have eaten in a natural and unmanipulated world, and they don't suffer from it.

I know that some monitors are actually recommended to be fed quail, but I just wanted to be 100% sure that I wouldn't be hurting the snakes by giving them quail. A lot of people claim that balls ONLY eat ASF rats in the wild, and so we should only feed them rats in captivity, but, well, nobody knows for sure what all a wild snake will eat. I hate when people flame others and basically assume that you're a terrible owner because in their opinion, you should do this or that.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I second your last statement....thers a lot of those types