DavidAlthough a ball python can eat hot dogs. It isn’t safe or healthy for them.
Snakes like ball pythons get most of their nutrition from the organs of the animals, and eating hot dogs doesn’t have enough nutrients for your snake to keep it active, and healthy. Plus, hot dogs tend to have processed stuff in them which is bad for your BP.
Reptilinks are the hotdogs for reptiles. You can feed that instead. It’s safer and healthy.
Hot dogs contain plenty of spices, preservatives, and sodium that could negatively impact your snake’s life. It is also very low on nutrients your BP needs from organs, meat, and bones.
So, the short answer I’d say no, at best It will leave them dehydrated and short of nutrients, and at worst, it could kill your snake.
Will Snakes Eat Hotdogs?
Naturally? No, they won’t.
With the exception of eggs, wild snakes consume almost exclusively live prey. Captive snakes are typically fed dead rats, mice, rabbits, etc., but they have to be coaxed into doing it.
Usually, these dead feeds are stored frozen. So, before feeding time, they are placed in hot water until they warm up to approximately live body temperature. Even then they generally have to be held in tongs and wiggled to resemble live prey before a snake is induced to strike.
ALSO SEE: Can Ball Pythons Eat Anoles?
So hot dogs? It’s unnatural and I seriously doubt it. Once again, the additives in any processed meat product would probably be harmful to snakes. I also imagine it would be hard to get a snake to voluntarily feed on one.
I kept lots of snakes and can confirm that one of the biggest issues of owning one is getting them to eat. Sometimes, they eat eagerly, but if the surroundings aren’t the right temperature, the prey isn’t to their liking, or their biological cycles aren’t in hunger mode they can stubbornly refuse to eat, and occasionally even have to be force-fed.