And this, as always, is connected with global warming. Scientists led by Daniel Natush from Macquarie University in Australia have proposed a new method of animal husbandry – breeding snakes as a new source of protein. Discuss
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Scientists believe that breeding snakes for meat is not only a new, but also the optimal way to obtain nutritious protein, as close as possible to chicken, since snakes require less water and other resources for breeding. In addition, snake meat contains a minimal amount of saturated fat.
Researchers believe that by breeding not just snakes, but pythons, we can begin the path to reducing anthropogenic methane emissions and reducing human impact on the environment. Scientists settled on pythons because these snakes gain up to 42.6 grams of mass per day. As specified, for each gram of weight gain, a python requires about 4.1 grams of food, which is less than traditional farm animals and even insects.
Experts established this when they studied the growth of reticulated and dark tiger pythons for a year (Burmese) pythons in two nurseries in central Thailand and southern Vietnam. The reptiles were fed once every 5-7 days with wild rodents, one-day-old chicks, as well as protein waste from local pork, chicken and fish production. This is another “plus” in the treasury of breeding pythons as meat “animals”, because they can be fed with food waste.
Scientists say that in Southeast Asia, raising snakes for food has long been a tradition , but this is not systematic. According to experts, in order to combat global warming and to obtain protein against the backdrop of society’s possible abandonment of classical animal husbandry, residents of tropical countries should master the almost industrial cultivation of pythons for meat. Therefore, insects are no longer an exclusive priority.