Raising Ball on Mice?

I have this bias against mice, so I am fine with throwing them into the jaws of my Ball Python (Thomas) when he gets hungry (he's on live). But people tend to think that mice are bad for balls, and that you're supposed to feed them rats.

I like feeding my ball live because it provides him with still some natural sense of being an animal, and I get to know what it's been eating and how it has been living, and to me it's like fresh vs. frozen vegetables. But the problem is, I'm fine with giving him live mice but I honestly love rats and think they're absolutely adorable and hilarious little things. I would never want a mouse as a pet, but a rat would be something I would grow an emotional attachment to.

Can my BP thrive on only mice (multiple mice per week, he's been getting hungrier lately) and still be healthy? I want him to be healthy and happy (if snakes can even feel 'happiness'), but at the same time I don't want to be feeding him something that I find cute. Which may mean I just shouldn't have a ball. :P

He's been getting very hungry lately, so I don't know if I should just give him multiple mice or feed him rats...I'm at a crossroad right now. Does anyone have experience with this?

All BS about rats are better for him. The problem is mice is small. When snake becomes 2kg you might need many mice to feed him. Which is time consuming and expensive

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Originally Posted by VIP CONSTRICTORS

All BS about rats are better for him....

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Agree 100%. If anything I say mice are better nutritionally. The diet mice prefer is much leaner vs the diet rats prefer and is more similar to the diet of African Soft Furs = mice are a leaner protein source.

Yes your BP will do fine on mice, gram per gram it's all the same, the only difference is that with rats you can feed one with mice you need to feed multiple.

People prefer rats because of the convenience (feeding one prey vs multiple) and because the cost is lower to feed one rat vs multiple.

At the end of the day feed what works for YOU and YOUR animals.

I'm no expert, but I feed mine mice. They are both around 300 grams so they are on the brink of outgrowing an x large mouse. I feed them mice because they are cheaper. As soon as they will take small rats I will probably switch them over rather than feeding 2 mice.


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I'm very confused it's been said on here numerous times feeding rats is better?

I'm very confused it's been said on here numerous times feeding rats is better nutritional ? Now not so much?

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Originally Posted by Sonny1318

I'm very confused it's been said on here numerous times feeding rats is better?

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Not better nutrition wise. They are pretty much the same as far as nutrition goes.

Rats get significantly bigger than mice so a single rat can equal many mice.

It is quicker and cheaper to feed a single rat than multiple mice. So therefore, better.

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Originally Posted by Sonny1318

I'm very confused it's been said on here numerous times feeding rats is better nutritional ? Now not so much?

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mice and rats are almost equal nutritionally. the reason most of us push for switching over to rats is because once the animal gets older, the largest mice will not be a big enough meal for the snake. rats are bigger, so you will need only 1 appropriately sized rats vs however many mice. this is also cheaper. also, feeding multiple feeders in very taxing on the snake's digestive system, and their digestion is already a big deal on them.

No no no It has been said multiple times rats are nutritionally better. Sorry it has. Sad.