Cat food???

[DrKate]

Hey gang, after reading the "trout mixture" thread I checked out Alan Francis' web site to see the original recipe. Right under that recipe is a suggestion to feed adult garters commercial cat food! He *must* mean canned food, and not kibble, right? Has anyone tried it?? Do you just put out a dish of the stuff like you would for a cat and let them munch away?

I don't think I'd feel right feeding my boys exclusively cat food, but if they'll go for it, it might be useful as an occasional supplement or when other foods aren't available - certainly full of vitamins and minerals and whatnot, so it might help with general dietary balance.

Anyway I'd love to hear if anyone has actually done this...

[ssssnakeluvr]

I have never used it, nor will I, it was designed for cats, not snakes.....a little probably won't hurt.....but I prefer to stick with the snake food... there's preservatives and such in it...

[Thamnophis]

As a part of a varied menu there is nothing wrong with catfood.
Only catfood is not good enough, to my opinion.

[gregmonsta]

I only used it in emergency circumstances years ago when I lived in the country and ran out of fish fillet ... or money lol ... but I only ever fed the trout and salmon mixture pouches about 3 or 4 times. Cat food also has other proteins and an unsuitable mix of vitamins/minerals as I read somewhere.
OK for an occaisional feed ... but not a staple diet.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

the only time I would ever consider using that stuff was if I somehow was out of EVERYTHING for them to eat. And even then, I would only buy super premium, holistic stuff, any of the cheaper or commercial brands are full of nasty fillers, by products, and loads of preservatives. I say, steer far away from cat food, it's cooked, it's processed, some of it's even salted, it's made for cats and there are a ton of other things to feed your garters!

[GartersRock]

What she said!!! Accept I think she said it nicer. lol!

[garterchick]

I tried it last night, all of my snakes turned their noses up and won't have anything to do with cat food. Oh well, back to mice, worms, and fish fillet.

[DrKate]

Thanks for trying the experiment, Tina! Mr. Francis says adult garters usually switch to it "readily" - I was pretty skeptical of that, myself. (Looking at it again, I think he's maybe using something chunky rather than the smooth pate-style stuff. Maybe a snake used to taking dead items would be more willing to try chunks than a plate of pate.)

Well anyway, I was just curious if anyone was feeding cat food regularly, since Francis' Homemade Trout Jello is so legendary. For the sciencey types out there, the Merck Veterinary Manual mentions cat food as being too high in protein for carnivorous reptiles in general. Interestingly, this also suggests to me that feeding fillet strips (i.e. no organs or gut contents) as the majority of the diet might not be the best long-term strategy either, even if you're careful about keeping calcium intake up. Maybe deep-freezing whole guppies to minimize parasite risks would be a good base diet.

Anyone tried deep-freezing wild-caught earthworms to minimize *their* parasite loads? In my mind, a thawed earthworm just turns to gray mush. But maybe it works better than I imagine...

-Kate

[ssssnakeluvr]

earthworms would turn to mush right away.... have never had any parasite problems with feeding worms either.

[drache]

I seem to remember reading some years ago that a european member fed something like beef heart cat food, and that this stuff apparently is pretty chunky
I bet it's just american cat food that's this gross mush - probably because some fool sued the cat food industry when their cat choked on something