more questions... on feeding

[reptile3]

Hope i am not coming across as being "annoying"....

I am supposed to be getting some dekayi's , before they arrive... I want to have the correct food for them. I already have a tank, clean & ready!

I know they eat earthworms, slugs... but is Canadian Night crawlers bad?
We don't have much of worms or slugs here at my house, we haven;t had any rain. our land is DRY, & the grass is brown.

Does anyone have any suggestions to what else I can feed the dekayi's & any online sites that sell, earthworms, & slugs?

Any help would be appreciated!! Thank You

[Zephyr]

Hope i am not coming across as being "annoying"....

I am supposed to be getting some dekayi's , before they arrive... I want to have the correct food for them. I already have a tank, clean & ready!

I know they eat earthworms, slugs... but is Canadian Night crawlers bad?
We don't have much of worms or slugs here at my house, we haven;t had any rain. our land is DRY, & the grass is brown.

Does anyone have any suggestions to what else I can feed the dekayi's & any online sites that sell, earthworms, & slugs?

Any help would be appreciated!! Thank You
Canadian nightcrawlers are fine; I've had them eat slugs as well. I believe they will also eat amphibians, but with nightcrawlers available it's best to stick to those. You can supplement nightcrawler bits with reptile vitamins if you want; I don't see it necessary.

[infernalis]

Stephanie, I am catching you a bunch of smaller slugs tonight to pack (in a separate deli container) with your DK's

Store them in your refrigerator with some salad greens, and they will keep for a very long time.

Your snakes are sub adult, and males. so any night crawler will need to be cut into smaller size bits.

[jitami]

Might as well add in the awesome night crawler tips that Shannon & Kyle shared in another thread :) To make cutting up night crawlers easier & less messy: First, hold the worm under hot tap water for a few seconds. This kills it and causes it to stretch out completely. Then using your thumb and index finger grab just under the thick band and slide them down the length of the worm wringing all the dirt/poo/whatever out of it. Worms are a pain, but these tips make it so much easier!!! Good luck with your babies! You're in good hands with Wayne :)

[Lori P]

So... just thinking here. In the wild, our snakes eat worms without them being "cleaned out" (obviously). Is it conceivable that they make use of the partially digested dirt that the worms contain? This worm "dirt" would contain minerals, beneficial bacteria, and enzymes... that perhaps the snakes need, or, at the least, benefit from. True, cleaning the worms out makes it less messy for us; but is it beneficial for the snakes to take away something that they would normally ingest??

[Stefan-A]

True, cleaning the worms out makes it less messy for us; but is it beneficial for the snakes to take away something that they would normally ingest??
Normally they wouldn't even ingest the worms. Well, some of them.

[ATNGUY]

Lori, that is what my assumption is. I don't bother cleaning.

[reptile3]

Thank You Wayne, I am super excited about getting those DK's... wooo hooo more males to add to my collection!! Your catching the slugs, awwww how cool is that. I owe you, Aundrea & everyone on the group, for all the help, and my questions.





Stephanie, I am catching you a bunch of smaller slugs tonight to pack (in a separate deli container) with your DK's

Store them in your refrigerator with some salad greens, and they will keep for a very long time.

Your snakes are sub adult, and males. so any night crawler will need to be cut into smaller size bits.

[reptile3]

Thank you again, for all the great replies! :)

[Aundrea]

Ohh your gonna LOVE them so much!!! Bennie is just so sweet. She loves to be held and eats like Chomper LOL. Max is alittle shy and is a brat LOL. Ohh but I still love him. He ate 3 huge slugs today. They were nice sizes. I hope to find more tomorrow. Now I just need to figure out this worm issue and then I can buy the worms online for winter LOL. Wish someone sells slugs. Hey Wayne??? LOL

I cant wait for you to get your Dekayis Steph. Your gonna LOVE them :D

[jitami]

So... just thinking here. In the wild, our snakes eat worms without them being "cleaned out" (obviously). Is it conceivable that they make use of the partially digested dirt that the worms contain? This worm "dirt" would contain minerals, beneficial bacteria, and enzymes... that perhaps the snakes need, or, at the least, benefit from. True, cleaning the worms out makes it less messy for us; but is it beneficial for the snakes to take away something that they would normally ingest??

I had actually considered this and for a worm that I'm not cutting into I wouldn't bother cleaning, but since worms aren't the sole source of nutrition for my guys I'm getting rid of as much goo as possible before cutting into them... remember my squirting story? :D