[snakelover]

I now that some snakes eat mice AND crickets, like garter snakes I THINK, but can Rainbow Boas have 1 crasshopper, or cricket, or is it just rodents and birds? F/T..

 

[klair328]

the snake its self wouldnt eat it i dont think as i t cant smell it/see it/taste it. it has no value either....
the only thing that would happen is that the bug would prob nibble on the snake....
i think..

 

[PendleHog]

Nope a rainbow boa is very unlikley to even notice a grasshopper or whatever, nevermind attempt to eat it. I have never seen a garter eating crix either actually.. they seem to prefer things like snails and earthworms (and fish obviously!)

 

[snakelover]

ok, my Carr eat only thing that moves :smile: well anything that doesnt move aswell. My carr is a good feeder and thought he would love something a bit adventures and fast. but dont like the ideaof Live Mice! V.Bad!:-x Anyway hes bin fed today and all went good ok thanks for the help.

 

[Dan]

After a debate some time ago on another forum i tried to feed crickets and locust to a few diff colubrid species.
None took them at all.

However, to this day i stand by my assumption that freshly born colubrid snakes will likely look to "bugs" as a source of food when nothing else is available. It isnt easy to find a full birds nest or a full rodent nest out there in the wild so they have to eat something.

 

[snakelover]

yer thats what i thought, I'm sure snakes eat weird things in the wild. things that CB snakesdont eat.

 

[snakelover]

how many crcks do you get in those tubs you can buy? havnt got a lizard YET so dont now. :lol2:

 

[mark67123]

I've tried red sided garters and a plains garter with crickets, small spiders and slugs but no interst whatsoever - they actually seemed afraid of the crickets! Rodents, fish and worms with garters no probs, but for all other commonly kept species it's got to be rodents (and other mammals in some cases) and birds, with the exception of rough greens which are insectivores.

 

[PendleHog]

After a debate some time ago on another forum i tried to feed crickets and locust to a few diff colubrid species.
None took them at all.

However, to this day i stand by my assumption that freshly born colubrid snakes will likely look to "bugs" as a source of food when nothing else is available. It isnt easy to find a full birds nest or a full rodent nest out there in the wild so they have to eat something.

Analysis of the stomach contents of hatchling eastern hognoses, gophers and corns in N. America has shown that they do feed on invertebrates in their native habitats.
I know you'll want to see the paper, so I will attempt to find it for you

 

[Dan]

See, the "power" can be used for good after all

 

[masticophis]

After a debate some time ago on another forum i tried to feed crickets and locust to a few diff colubrid species.
None took them at all.

However, to this day i stand by my assumption that freshly born colubrid snakes will likely look to "bugs" as a source of food when nothing else is available. It isnt easy to find a full birds nest or a full rodent nest out there in the wild so they have to eat something.

Gotta say I agree fully with you here Dan.

I have seen racers chase and eat crickets, also seen a young indigo chase them. I always wondered about the idea that wild hatchlings will managed to take enough pinkies to survive, after all if most corn king or similar hatchlings got into a mouse nest I'd think the mother mouse would have it for lunch.

Mike

 

[PendleHog]

Makes a lot of sense mike.. cant find the corn paper yet but heres one talking about stomach contents of the western yellow-bellied racer
:http://plaza.ufl.edu/austinj/Racer.pdf

 

[PendleHog]

According to Schmidt & Davis, an analytical review of the stomach contents of 42 milk snakes from Pennsylvania revealed that their chief food was field mice followed by, in order of incidence, other small mammals, birds and slugs ( 1941).

An interesting snippet I thought.. I have heard of hatchling snakes (eastern hogs I believe) having their pinks scented with slug to get them feeding, apparently it is often successful.