Interesting article concerning day old chicks

[Light of Dae]

There was a thread on here about how Garters cannot handle 'kreatin' ?? (Spelled horribly wrong... ) Whatever. It is what fur and nails are made up of. All my garters will only ever get pinkies never fuzzies. Boas I believe have a way to 'collect' fur, nails, beaks and excrete them in a ball or save them up safely without getting blockages... Man I wish I could find that thread...

[guidofatherof5]

Keratin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin

You were close.
I'll see if I can find the thread.

[Rober10169]

Thats too bad as I raise chickens. I wonder if they would take some embryos that were not fully developed as the keratin would not be made yet. I hatch out a few hundred chicks each year, would be very cheap food for me to feed the snakes.

[Invisible Snake]

In case anyone wants to order chicks or other feathered feeders

Healthy Chicks and More Poultry Mail Order Hatchery

[katach]

I've fed chicken liver to my snakes and they loved it, but never a whole chick. Don't think I would either seeing as how they are practically interchangeable according to the article.

[Selkielass]

I occasionally see chicks, ducklings, baby turkeys and quail of various sizes at reptile shops and shows but they are being sold to feed larger species. I heard on a podcast that some of the australian snakes (womas?) Eat lizards in the wild and reluctant feeders take better to birds than rodents.

My two biggest might give a small chick a go, but id offer frozen/ thawed or pre killed and pluck them first.

Plucking is easy- especially w small birds. Dip them in hot, but not white boiling water just long enough to wet the feathers. The skin will change color slightly, but you don't want to cook the skin.
Put on vinyl or latex gloves, if you aren't wearing them already.
Rub off the tiny feathers. Pinch and pull off the larger ones. They should come out easily.
Dip feet and legs into the hot water next. 5 seconds or less for tiny birds. A minute or more for big old hens and roosters. Wring the leg and the scales should start to sluff right off- you may have to start the process by lifting a scale with your fingernail. Leg scales and foot skin will peel right off, and even the nails will pop off with a tug. (Pliers may help w grip.) Snip beak off w poultry scissors orcutter pliers.
Keratin gone.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

I think they could be good staple for Morelia and other arboreal snakes which would encounter birds more often than garters.

[Stefan-A]

I think they could be good staple for Morelia and other arboreal snakes which would encounter birds more often than garters.

I wouldn't underestimate how often they encounter birds. There are quite a few species of ground nesting birds.

On that note:
Hayward, J. L. 2002. Common garter snake predation on ring-billed gull chicks in Washington. Northwestern Naturalist 83:25-26.

[Thamnophis]

A one day old chicken every now and then is not that bad. But only feed it after you cut it in small pieces. I have fed it a few times now and most of my garter snakes liked it.

[JosvdB]

I haven't had the time yet to read any more than the summary of the article but the it got me very interested to read the rest as it goes against the commonly accepted "fact" that DOC's are nutritionally poor. Does it touch upon the rumors of DOC's containing anti-biotics which may cause problems for the snakes? because I've read that quite often on forums.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the article. Thanks for posting it.