A few quick questions

[jess6905]

Alright I've got a small breeding colony going of 7 breeding females(split into groups of 4 and 3), 1 male that gets switched between the 2 groups, and 7 young girls that are still growing before breeding. I plan to get another male in a few weeks, and give all my girls a break between litters if that makes any difference. My first question is how many females should I have breeding to feed my 11 ball pythons? Next question which foods do you find to be the best for your breeding colonies? I am currently looking at getting the Mazuri rodent pellets, but wanted to see if there are any other recommendations before I order it on Friday.

[Andybill]

I like the 1 female rat per snake rule. I use mazuri rodent breeder and I love it. It comes highly recommended from other folks on here too. My rats have no health issues and I have noted good growth rates. I clean tubs every 5 days and check on them daily making sure that their water is always full and fresh and ensuring they always have food. I have enough rats that I can give my breeders a couple months off between litters which many folks would recommend in order for you to get the best litters and production out of your rat colony.

[MikeM75]

I breed rats and ASFs for my ball collection and sell some as well for local herpers. I have read the 1 rat for each BP rule of thumb deal and it sounds about right.

I also love the Mazuri 6F rodent feed, I have quite a few rats and ASFs and all of them are VERY healthy, no greasy looking coats. Fresh water all the time is very important as well.

I have a maternity rack I made that stays full, it has 10 tubs in it, so I give most of my females at least a month off in between breeding but some of my females give birth in the tubs and I am sure get pregnant pretty quickly after giving birth. I have not seen anything bad with it yet, but I am sure it will decrease how long they will give good production.

[jess6905]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be ordering some Mazuri. Is there any real difference between the f6 and other rodent pellets(excluding the mouse based ones)?

[snakesRkewl]

f6 is lower fat content which imo is better for feeding to rats.
If you are also breeding mice you might want to use f9 as it's for mice and rats.

[jess6905]

No mice. Thankfully ive done away with the need for them hopefully for a very long time.