Cat food???

[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.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

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

to be perfectly honest, I am sure if I offered it to my garters, the would down it and not think twice. My garters are just too used to eating anything as long as it's held by tongs... but I still won't ever try it!