what to feed a pet snake

by Jerel Lakin DVM Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Purchase mice or rats. In the wild, most snakes eat mice, rats, or other small rodents. ...
Choose between live or frozen. As snakes' popularity as pets has risen, more food product options have become available in pet stores.
Get the right size food for your snake. Mice and rats are sold according to their size. ...
Provide water as well. A bowl of water large and deep enough for the snake to completely submerge itself is good.

Some eat warm-blooded prey (e.g., rodents, rabbits, birds), while others eat insects, amphibians (frogs or toads), eggs, other reptiles, fish, earthworms, or slugs. Snakes swallow their food whole. The most popular pet snakes usually eat prey such as mice, rats, gerbils, and hamsters.

Full Answer

Why do snakes eat themselves?

Why Do Snakes Eat Themselves?

Incorrect Environment. Your snake could be feeling stressed because something in its environment is not meeting its needs. ...
Insufficient Space. Another issue that could be causing your snake to bite its own tail is if its enclosure is not large enough.
Lack Of Hiding Spots. ...
Too Many Changes. ...
Shedding. ...
Impending Death. ...

What human foods can snakes eat?

Whole Grains

Brown Rice. Cooked brown rice is okay to offer to your cat if it is plain. ...
Barley. Barley is a great digestive grain for cats and the greens can be offered in sprouts to help aid your cat's digestion.
Corn. Corn is often used in pet food and is okay when cooked and ground. ...
Millet. ...
Oatmeal. ...
Wheat. ...

Do snakes eat once a month?

That all depends on your snake’s age, size, and activity level. Smaller or younger snakes usually eat twice each week, while larger, more mature snakes typically eat once every week or two. Female snakes approaching breeding season can be fed more frequently.

What type of birds eat snakes?

What Birds Eat Snakes?

Owls Eat Snakes. Sure, you may already be aware of this fact, but may not even think twice about it. ...
Red-tailed Hawks Eat Snakes. ...
Snake Eagles Eat Snakes. ...
Laughing Falcons Eat Snakes. ...
Secretary Birds Eat Snakes. ...
Chicken and Turkeys Can Resolve a Backyard Snake Problem. ...

What can I feed my snake other than mice?

While rats are a popular food source for some snakes, snakes will eat what's available to them.Insects. Smaller snakes, such as the garter snake, will eat a variety of insects, including crickets, cockroaches and insect larva, such as mealworms. ... Small Rodents. ... Eggs. ... Birds and Fish. ... Snakes and Lizards. ... Larger Mammals.

What human food can snakes eat?

Snakes can consume human food like eggs, poultry, fish, pork, and beef when they are unprocessed. This means that the food should be given in its basic and raw form. You cannot give fried or saucy food to your snake as there are already other ingredients in the food that may make your snake sick.

Do pet snakes need live food?

Snakes don't require live food to be healthy. Most snakes will accept a meal that has been killed just prior to feeding, though some must learn to do so. Constrictors, which make up the vast majority of pet snakes, suffocate their prey before consuming it anyway.

What do small snakes eat?

Smaller snakes will stick to primarily insects and worms, but as the species gets larger, the food it eats does, too. Some of the bigger snakes can consume large animals like deer, but they primarily stick to smaller prey like rabbits, squirrels, and rats.

Do pet snakes recognize their owners?

Snakes don't have great memory or sight, so won't recognise the look of their owner. They only have a good memory for smells as they rely on smell to locate prey in the wild.

Can snakes eat scrambled eggs?

While most snakes can eat an occasional small egg without any negative health issues, we recommend avoiding it unless you own an egg-eating snake.

Can I feed my snake a dead mouse?

Snakes should be trained to eat dead prey. It is more humane for the prey and safer for the snake. Snakes can be offered either thawed, previously frozen prey, or freshly killed ones. You do not have to kill the prey yourself, as most pet stores will supply freshly killed or frozen rodents to feed.

Can snakes eat vegetables?

Snakes do not eat plants, fruits or vegetables. They evolved from a long line of terrestrial lizards who, similarly, did not eat any plants. Even pet snakes will never eat plants. Sometimes, they may get plant matter in their gut because of the herbivore prey they ate, but this is consumed unintentionally.

How long can a snake go without eating?

A baby snake will begin to seriously starve after roughly a week without food — and once that baby grows into an adult, members of most snake species can comfortably get by for at least two to three weeks. But the time it takes for a snake to starve can depend significantly on the species.

How do you know if a snake is hungry?

You can tell a snake is hungry when it exhibits specific behaviors such as: Prowling the front of the tank, being more active, focussing on you whenever you are near the enclosure, flicking its tongue more often, and hunting at a similar time each day or night.

Will a snake starve itself to death?

Yes they can and will starve them selves to death.

Do snakes eat cat food?

Leaving cat or dog food in your garage could attract snakes. "Snakes do not like cat or dog food, but these foods usually attract rodents, and a snake's primary diet consists of eating mice and rats," Tabassam explains.

What do Snakes Eat?

All snake species are carnivores. However, their diet varies from one snake species to the other. Some snakes may prefer to feed on rodents, including birds. Other snakes like to eat amphibians, including toads and frogs. Smaller snakes opt for insects and bird eggs since they can’t eat larger prey.

Where to Get Food for Your Snake?

Now that you know what snakes eat, you are probably wondering which is the best place to get food for your pet snake. First, you can start by finding live prey to feed your snake. Or, you could also opt to buy frozen mice at various pet stores in your area.

How to Feed Your Snake?

Now you know the best diet for your snake pet. While in the world, snakes are fantastic natural hunters. While in captivity, these reptiles depend on the food they get from their pet parents. Feeding a snake is paramount to its survival and growth. Here are some tips on how to feed your pet snake.

How Much Should a Pet Snake Eat?

All snakes need a different amount of food depending on various factors. There is no definite amount of food you can give your pet snake. However, it would help if you considered a couple of factors while determining the amount of food to feed your pet snake.

How Often to Feed Your Snake?

Now you know what snakes eat, where to get your pet snake’s food, and the amount of food to feed your pet snake. Now, you might be asking yourself how often you should feed your pet snake. First of all, snake pets don’t eat daily like their wild counterparts.

Why is Your Snake Not Eating?

Your pet snake’s refusal to eat can be a cause of alarm. But you need to know exactly why your pet snake isn’t eating. Stress can make your snake stop eating. Snakes may refrain from eating once they are stressed.

Do Snakes Drink Water?

Yes. Snakes need to drink water, especially when they are dehydrated. But they only drink water in rare instances. Snakes have a unique way of generating water from their bodies. However, consider placing a water bowl in your snake’s cage so that it takes a drink whenever it feels dehydrated.

What do snakes eat?

Typically, snakes in captivity are fed mice or rats. They may be live, freshly killed, or frozen. Rodents are a popular choice for snake food as they serve as a balanced, nutritionally complete meal. Many snake experts recommend that you feed snakes only dead rodents to prevent injury to handlers or the snake. Also, frozen rodents should be thawed prior to feeding. Some species of snakes do not eat rodents, however. They might eat fish or snails instead. Yet others consume eggs or insects.

How much does it cost to feed a snake?

If your snake eats mice, they range in price from 20 cents to $2 each. Frozen mice can be bought in bulk to save some money. The larger the snake, the more their food will cost, since they have to consume larger rodents. Snakes that eat food other than rodents sometimes cost more to keep, since their food is not as widely available. Sausage-shaped snake food, which can only be fed to some snakes, costs about $1 each. Insects like crickets, which are usually given to snakes as treats, can be bought for pennies.

What to do when a snake strikes?

When the snake strikes, let go with the tongs and the snake will do the rest. Be sure you don’t jerk the rodent away when the snake strikes. If the snake does not strike when you wiggle the rodent in front of its head, you might try “running” the rodent around the cage — back and forth in front of the snake.

How to give a snake life?

Then use the tongs to hold the rodent inside the cage near the snake’s head, and wiggle it a bit to give it some “life. ”.

Why do snakes move into separate containers?

The logic is that this prevents the snake from developing a feeding response every time its cage is opened. Thus, when you simply want to remove a water bowl or pull the snake out for a cage cleaning, the snake won’t think that it’s feeding time. It will only associate the separate feeding tub with food time. Rubbermaid tubs are commonly used for this purpose.

What should I feed my snake?

How should I feed my pet snake? What’s the best feeding technique to use? These are common questions we receive here at Reptile Knowledge. How you choose to feed your pet snake is really a matter of preference. There are several different techniques you can use, and each of them has distinct pros and cons.#N#In this snake care lesson, I’ll explain three of the most common feeding techniques used by keepers. Here they are, in no particular order: 1 Simply drop the food in the snake’s cage. 2 Put the snake into a separate container for feeding purposes. 3 Use a pair of tongs to offer the food.

What size tongs do snakes need?

Basically, the work and look like a giant pair of tweezers. A pair of 12- or 15-inch tongs will work well with most pet snakes. The goal here is to make the dead mouse or rat appear alive, thus enticing the snake to strike the rodent.

How to feed a snake in the wild?

Option 3 – Feeding Your Snake With Tongs. In the wild, snakes capture their prey by active hunting or by ambush. Either way, the prey animal is usually moving when the snake strikes at it. You can duplicate this natural behavior in captivity by offering thawed rodents with a pair of metal tongs.

What to do if a snake doesn't eat?

Don’t be worried if your snake doesn’t eat right away. Just leave the snake alone, and it will find the food eventually. If the snake is in shed, it probably won’t eat. This is normal, and that’s why it makes sense to check on the snake before thawing out a rodent.

What do snakes eat at PetSmart?

The snakes sold at PetSmart are carnivores, which means they eat meat — specifically, mice or rats. PetSmart recommends “Arctic Mice,” which are frozen. Feeding your snake frozen prey as opposed to live prey reduces the chances that the snake will contract a disease or parasites, or suffer an injury while trying to eat.

How to keep snakes from shedding?

Don’t be surprised if your snake isn’t hungry around shedding time. Give your snake some private digesting time after a meal. Don’t handle snakes directly after they eat; they might not keep their meal down and might not enjoy being fed in the future.

How to get a snake to shed?

Water. Provide a shallow, heavy, stable dish for drinking and the occasional snake-soak. (If you notice your snake seems to be spending a lot of time in the water dish, that’s a clue that your pet might be getting ready to shed. Be sure the tank is humid enough to make the shedding process easier.) Shop for water dishes.