Hey everyone ,
I am new to the site so I am not sure if this has been posted before.
Does anyone know all the alternative feeding items one is able to give to rat snakes ? Specifically King Rats?
I’d love to vary my king rat - Tobi’s diet. I think varying diet is important for species that eat snakes/other things. Or if there are any vitamin additives used with mice.
I know that quail eggs can be fed , but what about salmon, shrimp, fish , crab , ect…
I’m not certain about the varying diet offhand. I’m sure you can offer something I just don’t have the experience with that species offhand to suggest anything.
As far as the vitamins though… I would be very cautious trying any supplementation without a vet’s guidance. Because of the food most of the large scale breeders keep rodents on, most of the nutrition needed is in that small package.
It’s rare for most species of snake to be deficient unless they are suffering from an ailment, parasites, malnurishment/starvation or I think IIRC some types of boas may be genetically predisposed to vitamin D deficiency. You would be more likely to overdose your snake which can lead to other issues
You could check out Reptilinks. They’re basically sausages made for reptiles. It’s whole prey, coarsely ground and stuffed into a collagen casing. They have options like rabbit, quail, iguana, frog, etc. Since they’re made from whole animals, they still get all the skin, bones, organs, etc. that snakes derive nutrition from. You can offer a wider variety in their diet without having to keep a freezer full of animal carcasses, which is always a plus.
I haven’t personally used them with my snakes, so I can’t give any first-hand experience, but I love the concept. I just haven’t gotten around to actually placing an order yet. You order them online and they’re shipped to you frozen.
Might be something to explore if you’re wanting to add more dietary variety.
I ordered the Repti Links once a couple of years ago. There are different sizes and I think maybe different kinds as well. They come vacuumed sealed In sheets of a dozen or so. You just drop them in warm water for about 2 seconds.
If your snake will eat them they are super convenient. However, my hognose nor my Pac Man frog would eat them, so it was a waste of money, and they are quite pricey……
@armiyana excellent point about overdosing vitamins! I forget you can have too much of a good thing lol
@jawramik reptiilinks 
I’ll definitely look into those! Thank you for the suggestion this is exactly what I was looking for
It’s just crazy for me that a mice indefinitely provides everything a snake needs , I may be crazy tho lol. It’s just like someone eating a burger everyday like you can survive but you could be eating better.
You could try feeding F/T chicks. I know that some people feed to vary up their diet. I wouldn’t feed it as a staple but once a month or so is probably good for them.
In the wild their diet consists of birds, rodents, lizards, and snakes. Chicks are a healthy option. Snakes would be good too if you can find someone with some frozen stillborns.
Everyone has already answered this one great! Just wanted to add that with a large species like that(when full grown) just be wary about some of the retired xxl breeder rats and Guinea pigs which can have a much higher fat content then others. Other then that like @logar and @ballornothing suggested chicks is a great way to change it up! Great luck with your stinking goddess! I love the head on them, so king cobra looking!
Thank you everyone for the replies! I will definitely include a treat or change up in diet every once in a while.
Let us know how it goes!
I do not keep king rats but if their reputation is is accurate than you could probably give them just about anything: chicken chicks, quail chicks and even up to sub-adults, fish, frog legs, any appropriately sized rodent, organ meat (pig hearts, turkey necks, kidneys, etc), lizards, other snakes, eggs… I would rotate between these rather than feed any one exclusively
I have been a heavy user of ReptiLinks and I like them as well. I highly recommend getting the ones with fruit/veg mixed in and I have also done the option to add egg or insects. One thing I do recommend is to pierce the casings on them when you feed. Over the years I have found that sometimes that casing is pretty resilient and sometimes everything does not get digested.
Thank you so much for the response, I plan on rotating the foods so thank you for a great list! They seem to have an extremely fast metabolism, I guess I would compare them to indigo / false water cobras. I am thinking I should feed twice a week to make sure he doesn’t try to eat his tail
If he did eat his tail then for him there would be no end. 