# Will non-mammals consume dairy products? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741 "2011-10-06T00:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/21 "2011-10-09T17:00:20Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > One well-known among Sherlockians because of its use in [The Speckled Band](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_speckled_band). > > The criminal trains a snake to respond to a whistle (though snakes are deaf) and climb a bell-pull rope (which would not be rigid enough for a snake to climb) by rewarding it with milk (which snakes will not drink). > > Arthur Conan Doyle was a brilliant writer, but cared little for research. Of course snakes can hear. Just because they lack an external ear, doesn’t mean they haven’t got a fully functional inner ear and cochlea. [Cite](http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/physik_astronomie/bericht-100983.html). A minute of cursory Googling also turned up a video of [snakes climbing a rope](http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-snakes-rope-unique-climbing-abilities.html). Perhaps it isn’t just Doyle who didn’t care to research his claims… The milk, however… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/22 "2011-10-09T17:09:06Z")
I once split a drop of milk on a park bench, and watched a ladybug drink it. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/23 "2011-10-09T18:08:08Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Of course snakes can hear. Just because they lack an external ear, doesn’t mean they haven’t got a fully functional inner ear and cochlea. [Cite](http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/physik_astronomie/bericht-100983.html). > > A minute of cursory Googling also turned up a video of [snakes climbing a rope](http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-snakes-rope-unique-climbing-abilities.html). > > Perhaps it isn’t just Doyle who didn’t care to research his claims… > > The milk, however… I didn’t realize that there was evidence that snakes could hear, outside of detecting vibrations in the ground. Thanks. I will deny, however, that a snake could climb a bell-pull rope because, unlike the ropes in the linked study, it is only secured at one end. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/24 "2011-10-09T19:32:07Z")
My pet chickens love diary…hard cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream cheese, etc and it does not seem to give them gastric distress. Never tried to give them milk, but once I gave them ice cream and they ate it. I also have a bearded dragon who likes smoked gouda. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/25 "2011-10-09T19:44:26Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Of course snakes can hear. Just because they lack an external ear, doesn’t mean they haven’t got a fully functional inner ear and cochlea. [Cite](http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/physik_astronomie/bericht-100983.html)…Perhaps it isn’t just Doyle who didn’t care to research his claims… Yes, but the point is that a snake wouldn’t be able to hear a _very high-pitched_ sound in another room–or at least, that it’s dubious one could “train” a snake to respond to one, especially by offering it milk. Even milk snakes don’t eat milk. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/26 "2011-10-10T00:55:22Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yes, but the point is that a snake wouldn’t be able to hear a _very high-pitched_ sound in another room–or at least, that it’s dubious one could “train” a snake to respond to one, especially by offering it milk. Even milk snakes don’t eat milk. Dammit, you’re not ruining one of my favorite stories. It was an exceptional snake, that’s all. “You see it, Watson? You see it???!?!” :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/27 "2011-10-10T07:19:49Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > My pet chickens love diary…hard cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream cheese, etc and it does not seem to give them gastric distress. Never tried to give them milk, but once I gave them ice cream and they ate it. I also have a bearded dragon who likes smoked gouda. Pet chickens? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/28 "2011-10-10T07:25:50Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Pet chickens? > **[Chicken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickens_as_pets)** > > Gallus domesticus L. > The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and has become one of the most common and widespread domesticated animals in the world. Chickens are primarily kept for their meat and eggs, though they are also kept as pets. > As of 2023, the global chicken population exceeds 26.5 billion, with more than 50 billion birds produced... ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/29 "2011-10-10T08:07:31Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > In general, things like yogurt and cheese are easier for them to digest. Some milk is apparently OK, but too much gives them diarrhea. Then again, too much of a lot of things will have that effect on a bird. Or me, for that matter. > > They may not be able to digest the lactase, but they might well be able to utilize other nutrients like calcium, protein, and fat. LactOse is the sugar in milk, lactAse is any proteic enzyme which breaks lactose up. Lactose ferments when yoghurt and cheese are made: that’s why the lactase-deficient will tolerate them much better than milk, because the lactase content is lower to non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741/30 "2011-10-10T23:30:29Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Pet chickens? You betcha. I’m a city girl and it’s all the rage to have pet chickens where I live (tho roosters are not allowed, due to noise restrictions). Btw they are awesome pets…they live outside, provide excellent fertilizer for plants, each has it’s own distinct personality AND they lay eggs. And back to the topic of this thread: they eat any and all leftover dairy products, even stuff with mold on it. I highly recommend chickens as pets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-non-mammals-consume-dairy-products/598741.md?page=1)