The things we eat tell a lot about ourselves. Our dietary habits tell others about who we are, from which part of the earth, we belong, and It’s we celebrate our big days. Food not only informs us about eating patterns around the world but also connects us in mysterious ways.
Like human beings, animals of one kind share unique eating preferences and habits. Though it varies a little its essence remains intact. The animal that fascinates me the most is a snake. I always see it with amazement particularly because of its peculiar diet, eating pattern, and lifestyle. It’s natural that whenever we find an animal interesting we want to domesticate it. So that the positive energy we have associated with them may be felt all the time in our space.
But when your favorite pet to keep is a snake, it becomes an uphill task to feed it as per its need as in the wild environment, with which snakes are acquainted, is not easy to imitate. So, here I would discuss what can we feed our pet snake.
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Can snakes eat chicken?
Snakes are natural predators. Unlike human beings who prefer to be served with dinner in a nice and cozy environment, snakes love to hunt for their food. Sometimes we assume that our pets like the same things we humans eat. Myself often treating my cat or rabbit with vegetables and meat that I personally love. And you’ve guessed it, they don’t like it 95% of the time. And we fall into this trap time and time again.
If we stop and think about it logically for a second. Snakes are meat eaters and they like to eat raw meat, not a grilled cheese sandwich or whatnot. The dietary habits of the snake are linked to the wild environment they live in. And normally they do not come across chickens in the wild, hence that may not be their favorite cuisine. Even if you served it on a silver platter.
Though snakes can adapt to a new environment when domesticated but it will take time. So chicken for your pet snake at an early stage is a big no! As we know chicken is not one of the snake’s favorites, now the question is what is a snake diet then?
What is a snake diet?
Snakes are omnivores. Do not confuse with the term. It is just a fancy word zoologist has come up with to categorize animals that eat other animals. So snakes are natural meat-eaters. They live in the wild and feast on their prey.
The choice and techniques that they adopt to capture their preys vary with different sizes and kinds of snakes. For instance, smaller snakes like garter snakes feed on small insects cockroaches, earthworms, and slugs. While larger snake-like python can swallow larger animals for their dinner.
Another important feature of the snake’s diet is its unique mechanism of swallowing its prey and long time taking digestion. Its body muscles are so developed that help in swallowing whole prey into its long stomach besides their help in movement. After swallowing the prey, a snake takes even weeks to digest it. Therefore it is quite normal for a snake to go on for weeks even months in some cases without eating anything. It is evident from the fact that a younger snake only eats two times a week while the larger one feels the urge to eat only once per week. It is partially because of the time snakes require to break complex proteins they swallow in the shape of their and partially due to the availability of prey. Here one thing popes in one’s mind do any snake eat a plant?
Are all snakes meat-eaters?
I always wonder about the digestive system of snakes and their peculiarities. It is quite a wonder of nature. Although some snakes are meat eaters and do not eat the plants they require so I plant meat-eaters essential for their normal functioning. Given the meat-eating habit of all snakes can you answer the question where do snakes get plant nutrients? Like all of the other things associated with snakes, the answer is also very interesting. The snakes get the essential plant nutrients from the belly of the prey they eat. it is the reason why sometimes minerals and proteins particularly linked with plants are found in snakes. apart from this unorthodox channel of getting plants in their systems snakes are altogether meat-eaters.
Do all snakes eat chicken?
I think this question is already being addressed in the previous paragraphs but still, I would like to say that the snake can eat chicken only if it is domesticated and is adapted to do so. It requires a long period of adaptation.
Because eating chicken is as natural to snakes as it would have been to our ancestors who lived in caves among the beasts. But it is quite helpful that our pet snake should be adapted to eating chicken because all the rodents that are available in the market are dead and frozen.
Therefore it does not taste well on a snake’s taste buds. Also, I take great care not to feed my pet snake to live prey. Because it can result in unwanted injury or infection. Also, it can create a mess for you to clean up. Anyhow snakes need a lot of proteins that can only be provided through the meat.
Interesting Fact; People now adopt snake diet to lose weight
Given the uniqueness of the snake’s eating habits and digestion mechanism. It is interesting to know that some fitness enthusiasts are nowadays promoting a snake diet to lose weight.
On this date, a person has to go on for weeks without having a meal.
The duration of fasting depends on the pounds of fat one wants to burn proponents of the snake diet consider it national and reminiscent of our wild beginnings and history of dwelling in the world. This kind of diet has been highly discouraged by medical professionals, as it can create various health issues for not eating for such a long period. It is unnatural and can lead to muscle loss with potentially minimal fat loss.
