newbie questions

[donkiez]

Ok so Im just looking into starting a rat colony for my snakes and i have a few stupid questions.

I have Ball Pythons, rangeing from new borns to large adults. Should I just breed rats or should I be looking into mice for my baby balls?

How long does it take a rat to grow to a small/jumbo feeding size?

Should my rat and snake colony be kept seperate? Seems like they should.

Thanks

[SlitherinSisters]

I would just breed rats, they are much easier to raise and they don't smell so bad.

It takes awhile for rats to bulk up to adult size. At four months old I'd say they are around medium size. Small I'm not entirely sure, maybe 2-3 months? They are roughly the size of mice at 1 month. Jumbo.....you're talking 6 months+

I keep my rats and snakes in the same room. I've had absolutely no problems other than all of my snakes LOVE feeding day How do they know it's feeding day? I take out everything in their tub, give them a few minutes and put in their food, I can hardly get my hand out before all six strike and coil their food!

[littleindiangirl]

If you have more than 10+ snakes, you can review this sticky and learn a basic set up for breeding rats.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=52894

Weaners are between 50-80 grams at 3.5-4 weeks of age.

Male rats are often the small size right at 4.5-5 week. Smalls being 80-130 grams. Males will reach 350+ grams at 12-15 weeks of age. I guess you could consider that jumbo, though most frozen breeders consider that weight to be XXL.

http://www.harlan.com/download.axd/e...Growth%20Curve

If you have less than 10 snakes, I recommend buying bulk frozen thawed, it is a lot cheaper, and does not include the work that goes into cleaning and keeping rats. And you dont have to deal with the SMELL.

Hope that helps. Once you get into the whole breeding rats thing, you'll quickly find what works best for you and the animals.