Day after day we get requests for recommendations for vegetarian snakes. Day after day we respond by telling people that there is no such thing. So we figured we’d just write a quick little article giving everyone who cares to read it the answer. In a word, no. We can’t recommend a vegetarian snake because there is no such animal. They just do not exist.
Snakes, like cats and like ferrets are obligated carnivores. In other words in order to live they must eat meat. Cats and ferrets have their meat processed into more user friendly commercial chunks but it is still meat. A snakes knows instinctively it isn’t meant to eat vegetables and won’t.
Some people when asked about vegetarian snakes will recommend ones such as Rough Green Snakes and Ring Necked Snakes that eat insects. While a bug might not be a furry little mouse it is a far cry from a vegetable. If you want an animal that eats vegetables a snake is NOT the pet for you. There are several lizards that would be more appropriate.
If you still want a snake but are unable to bring yourself to throw a living animal in with it then your only other option is pre-killed or frozen/thawed. Either way you will be feeding the snake meat and not vegetables.
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