hairless rats?

I was wondering what the difference would be to a snake with a hairless rat or a regular rat. Does it have any different nutritional value? Or are they the same?

- Thanks

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and take a guess. I'm thinking an occasional hairless won't hurt....but I believe the hair/fur of their prey plays a roll in their overall digestive health. Sorta like fiber in our diet.

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Originally Posted by JLC

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and take a guess. I'm thinking an occasional hairless won't hurt....but I believe the hair/fur of their prey plays a roll in their overall digestive health. Sorta like fiber in our diet.

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I'm not so sure that it does as hair isn't really digested that well, however I do think it's convenient for the keeper as it will bind their stools instead of leaving you a runny mess to clean up. :tp:

Hehe....there's a "smiley" that doesn't get used very often.


I was pretty much thinking the same thing. Not that the fur gets digested...but that, as you say, helps to bind the waste together. Consistent, properly formed stools are an important part of any digestive system. (I can't believe I'm typing this while trying to eat lunch! LOL)

I may be erroneously applying what I know about mammals to snakes...but from what I understand...a long period of time having loose, runny stools (when an animal was designed to have solid "logs") can weaken the intestinal muscles and eventually make it very difficult to pass "normal" stools.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

Hehe....there's a "smiley" that doesn't get used very often.


I was pretty much thinking the same thing. Not that the fur gets digested...but that, as you say, helps to bind the waste together. Consistent, properly formed stools are an important part of any digestive system. (I can't believe I'm typing this while trying to eat lunch! LOL)

I may be erroneously applying what I know about mammals to snakes...but from what I understand...a long period of time having loose, runny stools (when an animal was designed to have solid "logs") can weaken the intestinal muscles and eventually make it very difficult to pass "normal" stools.

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TMI! TMI! Especially so close to lunch. :8:

Hairless are good for monitors, but for snakes, the hair of their prey is an important component of the digestive process.

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Hairless are good for monitors, but for snakes, the hair of their prey is an important component of the digestive process.

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How so? I mean, besides the binding aspect. I'm wondering about all the snakes that consume other snakes, reptiles, eggs, and fish?

Besides the nutritional value, because I have no idea (lol), they are pretty worthless to try to get into feeding them to your snakes on a regular basis - even if it's for one snake. They are expensive, hard to come by, and ridiculous to try to breed as well.

why i was asking was because a few of my rats gave birth to several hairless rats and I was wondering if they would be okay to feed to snakes and thought maybe if they were good or even better that maybe I would start breeding them.. maybe I could try breeding them to sell live at local pet stores, you say they are expensive and somewhat rare? Thanks for all your help!

I know that hairless mothers are, well, bad mothers. But if you happen to have two breeders that have the hairless gene but actually have hair, then I dont see why you couldnt continue breeding them and try selling the hairless babies to a pet store, or even locally. I saw them at a shop around here for $20 a pop, so you could make a little bit of money on the side... for as long as they are willing to breed.


just read up on them because they do require a little more care then "haired" rats, and if you do get stuck with a few for a while, you'll want to know what those requirements are :)