Switching to Rats

[rmune0750]

I think I'm going to switch to feeding my snake rats now b/c the mice are too small now compared to the girth of the snake but when I ask to see the sizes of the rats, should i say this: "Can I see the sizes of your feeder rats?" or just "Can I see the sizes of your rats?", r they called feeder rats or are they just called rats....i kno this is a stupid question....

[xdeus]

It probably depends on where you get them. If you go to a reptile store, you could just ask for rats. If you go to a regular pet store like Petco, I think they keep a seperate supply of feeder rats.

[Freakie_frog]

I think I'm going to switch to feeding my snake rats now b/c the mice are too small now compared to the girth of the snake but when I ask to see the sizes of the rats, should i say this: "Can I see the sizes of your feeder rats?" or just "Can I see the sizes of your rats?", r they called feeder rats or are they just called rats....i kno this is a stupid question....

this is my guy

And he eats a adult rats if you go by the sizes on the www.rodentpro.com web sight

[Freakie_frog]

I am a big http://www.rodentpro.com fan. Check out their sight for sizes of different types of feeder. Even if you feed P/K and not F/T this will still give you a good siz to judge by.

[Naf Eeknay]

I think I'm going to switch to feeding my snake rats now b/c the mice are too small now compared to the girth of the snake but when I ask to see the sizes of the rats, should i say this: "Can I see the sizes of your feeder rats?" or just "Can I see the sizes of your rats?", r they called feeder rats or are they just called rats....i kno this is a stupid question....

Hey all! I was in Petco the other day and wanted to see their feeder rats. The lady got offended and said they no longer call them feeders but rather common rats. I guess the rats were getting a complex!!

Peace

[xdeus]

Hey all! I was in Petco the other day and wanted to see their feeder rats. The lady got offended and said they no longer call them feeders but rather common rats. I guess the rats were getting a complex!!

Hmm... How about 'Dinner Rats' or 'Juicy, plump Rats'? Would that be more PC?

[SatanicIntention]

Why would you need to switch? All of my girls are on mice and have been their entire lives. The smaller '06 girls have one large adult per week, and the big girls (1300-1600g) eat 4-5 adults per week. With the mice, I can feed as many as I want to. Plus, I can judge how hungry the snake is that week and base the feeding number off of that.

Feeding large rats to Ball Pythons only sets the snake up for a long fast in between meals. Small rat should be all you need to maintain proper body weight and health. Large rats are just major overkill IMO. I would rather my girls eat once per week on smaller meals than fill them up once or twice per month and have them fast on me later on down the road.

Ryan, if your snake takes mice easily, and you feel that it needs more, feed 2. Feed one, wait for the snake to swallow the first one and start slithering around, then drop the second one in. Especially if your snake is a male, it will only need "maybe" 2 adult mice per week to sustain him and put on a bit of weight.

I find mice to be easier for me to find, but since I breed them and have all sized readily available, I don't have a problem. If I were to feed rats, I would go broke. Rats around here go from $2.50-$7.99, depending on size. I can't buy live rats as I have pet rats and proper quarantine would be an ongoing issue. I can't bring unquarantined animals into my house. My girls look at f/t like it is the plague and would rather be on the opposite side of the tub that the f/t rodent. Bring mice into the room and they all head to their hides with their little heads poked out.

I have no problem feeding multiple mice as that is what is easy for me to get and what my snakes will take. Just do what is convenient for you and what your snake will take. If two mice are more convenient, feed that. If one small, small rat is more convenient, go for it.

[Emilio]

I'm a rat guy all the way , I'd rather feed one prey item to each of my snake's. Sometime's when I can't get smaller rat's my bp's will take mice with no problem. No more of that though I'm already breeding my own rat's.

[rmune0750]

Well, I just got back from the pet store and I asked to see what size feeder rats they had and they only had medium and jumbo rats and they were very expensive and medium and jumbo rats are way too big for my BP right now so I just bought 1 feeder mouse like I always do but do u suggest next time I just buy 2 mice and feed my snake both??

[Emilio]

Go with the mice then.