This guy has only had chicken and quail the left couple feeds and has definitely had some stinky poops, is that all I should worry about?
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Chicks shouldn’t really be used as a primary food recorce. They dont have the same nutrients as mice or rats. Chicks tend to be used as “treats”.
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Any insight, @t_h_wyman?
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It is perfectly acceptable to use avians as a primary food source. If you know your natural history, there are some populations of boa where that is their sole food source.
Yeah, their waste can be a bit stinkier and looser, but if you can deal with that then no worries
I do advocate you only buy feeders from a trusted source, avian chlamydia can jump to snakes
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Ah I was mainly going from my knowledge of corns where they arent usually a primary good source. @santana1995 sorry about giving you the wrong advice!
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You’re good I started feeding them chicks and chickens because I heard it was healthy for them I don’t know much about corn snakes I couldn’t imagine feeding them anything other than rodents lol
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Is this something that can be treatable? I read that it’s something that happens more with Turkey and ducks, I get them from a farmers market where people buy them for laying eggs and for eating the meat
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It is treatable but it can be a hassle. It is not something to be paranoid about as it in not particularly common for avian chlamydia to pop up in “home” domestic flocks as those breeders tend to have a sharp eye on their animals. When it does pop up it is usually in a large, warehouse/factory level breeder. I just throw the warning out because, many moons ago, there was a commercial source that was sending out feeder that were discards from laboratories (tattoos, sutures, stapled incisions, etc.) and that kind of stuck with me so now I pass forward the advice that feeders are best when they come from a trusted source.
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DO NOT FEED LIVE It is inhumane and dangerous for the snake
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I feel this needs to be addressed. But I am not looking to start a fight or what is right or wrong.
When it comes to certain situations, there may not be an option to feeding f/t or live. Sometimes alive is the only option. Some might only eat live regularly. In this case trying only f/t can be hard on the health on the animal. Forcing or skipping meals just to feed f/t can take its toll on them.
For many years (and currently), some owners and breeders have been feeding live without any problems to the snakes.
When it come to f/t, many feel it is more inhumane to cull them. This process can be done wrong (and is being done wrong all the time).
I am a true believer that what someone choose to do is the correct option for them. As long as it is being done correctly.
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You said it perfectly. I will always feed F/T when I can as it is safer and just a lot more convenient but live definitely is needed in some cases and has a very important place in the hobby.
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This. It took me far too long to get a little CO2 chamber set up to make sure I could make things as easy and as painless as I could make it while making sure they are also safe for the reptiles to eat.
Meanwhile you’ll still have many shop employees just giving them a good thump or two…or using the pencil trick when a customer asks for something pre-kill.
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I am now curious, what is the pencil trick?
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They hold the neck down to the table with a pencil and then yank the tail at and angle to dislocate/break the neck. It doesn’t always work on the first yank or it may not kill them instantly and just paralyzes them.
It’s maybe a bit more accurate than just the counter edge thump, but still not 100% effective
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Ok thank you. If I was in the rats shoes and I got a pick, I think I would rather get the wack on a counter. Don’t know why I just thought of them both happening to me but I did, oh well 
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I feed pre killed and live chicks and quails sometimes
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