Mice To Rats?

[wytchling]

Last weekend my BP ate his mouse backwards. I've been assured that is perfectly fine as long as he ate. I've just heard that BP's can sometimes eat their prey backwards when the prey is to small. So I was wondering if I should move him up to rat pups instead of the smallish white mice he's currently eating. I've also heard that rats provide more nutrition than mice to. Is this something I should look in to?

[RetiredJedi]

Yes you should get him to rats because they have more nutrition than a mouse and I hear tell it's easier to switch to rats at a young age.

[ODoyle90]

I just switched my BP (400g) over from large mice (all they have in pets stores around me before medium rats) to small rats. I bought them from laynelabs.com and he took them right away no problem. It may be a placebo, but it seems like he is getting noticeably bigger already. He just went from eating every 5 days to 7 now due to his recent weight gains. I'd heard about the nutrition aspect and since my BP is still relatively young, I hoped it would help the switch. So far, I'd say it was the right choice to get him switched over to rats as soon as I could.

[wytchling]

When I change him over (which I'm planning to do this weekend) would I still keep him on the 7 day feeding schedule he is currently on? And should I get a mouse just in case he doesn't take the rat?

He's already doing his "I'm starving to death, please feed me" windshield wiper dance. (He did the same thing last week about 2 days before he ate, then didn't do it afterwards and his husbandry is good, so I can only guess that is his way of saying "FEED ME, WOMAN")

[rperry03]

How old is he and how much does he weigh? Obviously as they get older they eat less often, my 1600 gram bp and picked up from someone who did not want him anymore and they fed him mice his whole life, I started feeding him rats and ate a small every 5 days for a few weeks and now he is up to a med every 10-14 days, sometimes 21, I still offer every 7-14 days.

So I guess after all my rambling my point is that they will typical refuse food if they are not hungry.

[Virus]

I just switched my ghost male over from mice to rats. He seemed to like them just fine, though they are noticeably more filling, as he didn't want to eat the second week, but I'm pretty sure he's ready for another round this week.

Good thing I have a snapping turtle that's a couple years old. Whenever my ghost doesn't feel like eating, then Dredge gets a quick snack.