Why do people feed boas mice?

[boadaddy]

Just wondering why people would feed baby boas mice? I start my neos on new-born pink rats and they grow so much better on rats then mice, so why mice?

[TheWinWizard]

A little more available I'd presume?

[Skittles1101]

Not sure, my boy really enjoys fat rats. Maybe because they are much easier to switch to rats whenever needed?

[Evenstar]

I am not an expert, but I will tell you what I was told by an expert. I bought my baby boa from Tim Koppenhoffer at Special K Reptiles. Now please don't flame me or Tim. It is important to remember that everyone has a different philosophy on these things and neither "way" is right or wrong. By sharing this info and what I was told, I am trusting that you (all of you) will recognize that and accept it. There. That's my disclaimer, lol. Now for what I was told when I bought my baby boa...

Tim had me start Peaches on mouse fuzzies. He said that he felt the babies did better because the fuzzies are richer in calcium due to the higher bone content. Rat pinks may, and I do stress 'may', be too fatty for optimal growth. A baby boa should be grown slowly and a mouse fuzzy fed once a week will better accomplish that than a rat pink would.

I must say I do like how Peaches is growing. She is 8 months old now and just beautiful. She is very sleek and growing very proportionally. Her body is nicely filled out with that slightly squared appearance boas should have, yet she's not in the slightest bit skinny. She is putting on grams consistantly. She eats EVERY week and has never had an issue with regurge or any such sort.

So again, this is what I was told and what I did. I am quite happy with the results. Would I start every baby this way? Not necessarily. I think you have to evaluate each individual and each situation on its own and do what's best in each case. But I have no problem feeding mice to boas until they are ready for the size rats that are readily available in my area. I feel they get the nutrition they need. Peaches certainly wouldn't look so terrific if they provided poor nutrition. So, in answer to your question, why not?

[Skittles1101]

I was told by a NERD employee that I like and trust that they should be brought up on mice for the first year or so. I'm guessing it's for the same reasons Evenstar has listed. I switched him to rats probably about 4 or 5 months ago mainly because I didn't want to have to buy all different prey items. I don't notice too much difference, he'll pretty much eat anything.

[Evenstar]

I was told by a NERD employee that I like and trust that they should be brought up on mice for the first year or so. I'm guessing it's for the same reasons Evenstar has listed. I switched him to rats probably about 4 or 5 months ago mainly because I didn't want to have to buy all different prey items. I don't notice too much difference, he'll pretty much eat anything.

Yeah, I think Peaches would eat just about anything too, lol. Gotta love those garbage disposals! I'll certainly be switching her to rats eventually - probably next summer when she's about a year old. I'm kinda in your boat Leah - my BP is a mouser so right now I can get the same prey items. But Peaches won't live on mice for long!

[waltah!]

Mine would eat chili cheese dogs if I dangled them from tongs. I love how easy it is to switch their feeders as they aren't finicky. I've feed babies mice and rats and even alternated back and forth with no issues either way.

[Evenstar]

Walt, I love your analogies!

[Wh00h0069]

Mice are cheaper. If you are feeding many neonates, then you can save money until they are larger, and need prey larger than mice.

[Virus]

I fed Wrath mice fuzzies for now. Really I chose to do it because he is skinny, and I don't want to stress him with too big of a meal. The one time I offered a hopper so far, he killed it, and then dragged it around for an hour or so, but never ate it through the night.

Also, I remember readin that they are healthier when grown slower, so I'm just trying to take care of my young one.