Anurans or Mice: What is the Best Food Item for Young and Adults of Bothrops jararacussu (Lacerda, 1884) in Captivity?

Abstract

Good feed management in captivity is essential to animal survival and well-being. For snakes, most studies focus on the frequency of prey consumption and the types of prey that constitute their diets in the wild. Conversely, there is a notable scarcity of studies regarding their dietary habits in captivity. The prevailing trend involves feeding nearly all snake species exclusively with mice, barring the exceptions found in ophiophagic species. Considering that Bothrops species consume different diets in young and adults in the wild, we use B. jararacussu as a model to introduce other prey items in captivity. We use a generalized linear model (GLM) to understand if native and exotic anurans can be alternative items in the captivity diet of young and adult individuals. Our GLM showed that snakes had less weight gain and consequently less growth than those provided with other diet groups. However, our experiments indicated that native anurans could be an interesting food alternative to B. jararacussu and other Bothrops species with an ontogenetic diet in captivity.