How many rats to order???

[jhotch]

So my new lesser has been crushing mice which is great, but i just got my scale in and i weighed the first mouse today and it only weighed 14 grams.She weighs 184 grams btw, anyway there is only one store to get feeders from and their mice are small and they have a tiny selection of rats only large ones at this time. So i am gonna have to order some rats, my question is i know she needs something between 20-30 grams which is rat pups. How many should i order? should i get some rat pups and weaned rats because it probably wont be long before she will be needing those? I just don't want to have an abundance of pups when she is needing something bigger. I am trying to get the most bang for my buck since shipping is ridiculous!! Thanks for the help

[martin82531]

I have never ordered rats online, I would think about a 2 months supply would be good enough.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[Mike41793]

You can always feed smaller meals more often if you have to. Or double up and feed two smaller prey items.

[KMG]

Has it eaten a rat pup lately? Sometimes once a snake is used to getting mice with hair switching back to something like a rat pup does not work. It would be terrible to order a bunch of pups and not be able to use them. If it were me I would order some large mice, weaned rats, and maybe small rats if you have the freezer space and money.

I usually order six months at a time. But it goes alittle further because I don't feed during shed so each snake stretches the time out since I don't factor in shed time. As for what you should buy its hard to guess. Each snake will grow at a different rate. I would guess that a few months of large mice would get it up to weaned rats, and a few months there you would be ready for small rats. That is only my guess.

I can tell you my bp made the move from mice to small rats in seven months. Half way through I was feeding one mouse and a rat pup which would have been close to a weaned rat. I did this because I had extra rat pups and weaned rats were not available at the time. This was one feeding per week.

[KMG]

I have never ordered rats online, I would think about a 2 months supply would be good enough.

Shipping is really high and ordering every two months most of your money will be going to shipping charges.

You can watch your local reptile shows and usually you can order feeders and pick them up there to get rid of the shipping charges. The reptile expos will have a list of vendors. Just call and they will have your order ready at the show for pickup.

[jhotch]

Has it eaten a rat pup lately? Sometimes once a snake is used to getting mice with hair switching back to something like a rat pup does not work. It would be terrible to order a bunch of pups and not be able to use them. If it were me I would order some large mice, weaned rats, and maybe small rats if you have the freezer space and money.

I usually order six months at a time. But it goes alittle further because I don't feed during shed so each snake stretches the time out since I don't factor in shed time. As for what you should buy its hard to guess. Each snake will grow at a different rate. I would guess that a few months of large mice would get it up to weaned rats, and a few months there you would be ready for small rats. That is only my guess.

I can tell you my bp made the move from mice to small rats in seven months. Half way through I was feeding one mouse and a rat pup which would have been close to a weaned rat. I did this because I had extra rat pups and weaned rats were not available at the time. This was one feeding per week.

It hasn't lately but the breeder I got her from said that's what she mainly ate, that's another thing I was concerned with! I don't wanna get her hooked on mice!

[KMG]

If it turns out to only eat mice the rat pups will not change that. Rat pups could turn out to be a waste of time and money. What I do during a switch to rats from mice is this. I thaw them altogether and let the scent of each mix while in the zip bag thawing. I have switched a few snakes like this and it has always worked well.

[SnowShredder]

I order online, because even with the seemingly outrageous shipping prices, it always ends up cheaper than going to my local stores. I order a 6 month supply at a time so I get the most bang for my buck (shipping charge wise). I added it up, my 6 month supply with shipping is $300. At petsmart prices it would be $600 for the same amount

[BHReptiles]

I always order my feeders online (at least for my corn snakes and initially with my ball pythons before I started feeding them live). You need to order from a company that does SMALL orders. Some only do bags of 100. You need to find a place that does 10-25 per bag (I use Loxahatchee Rodents and LOVE them). I would get one bag of pups, one bag of weaned rats, and one bag of smalls.

Like others have said, if you find you only needed 15 rat pups before moving onto weaned rats, offer two in one sitting or feed more frequently until you use those up.

[jhotch]

I always order my feeders online (at least for my corn snakes and initially with my ball pythons before I started feeding them live). You need to order from a company that does SMALL orders. Some only do bags of 100. You need to find a place that does 10-25 per bag (I use Loxahatchee Rodents and LOVE them). I would get one bag of pups, one bag of weaned rats, and one bag of smalls.

Like others have said, if you find you only needed 15 rat pups before moving onto weaned rats, offer two in one sitting or feed more frequently until you use those up.

Awesome thanks I will check them out!