Feeding Size for Age/Size estimate ?

I have heard that you should not keep f/t in a home freezer for more than 3-6 months. I am new though, and so I am unsure as to the validity of that statement.

That crossed my mind also, so I Googled "How long can Food stay in Freezer". It showed human food can stay in there for quite a long time. Here's a list http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...g/index.asp#19

I would think Rats would fall under the " Wild Game " category which is a year ! Ha

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Originally Posted by BillinIndiana

That crossed my mind also, so I Googled "How long can Food stay in Freezer". It showed human food can stay in there for quite a long time. Here's a list http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...g/index.asp#19

I would think Rats would fall under the " Wild Game " category which is a year ! Ha

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Since they will be uncleaned and have all the internal organs I'd put them somewhere between poultry (whole) and poultry (giblets).

But a lot depends on the rating of your home freezer too.


dr del

For what its worth I would start with a bag of 20 frozen appropriate sized rats for feeding. After it has consumed 10 rats weigh it and adjust accordingly for your next order. If you are feeding pups 10-15% of the weight of the snake on a 5 day basis it will definitely be ready for the next size up when the time comes for placing another order. At this rate you would go through 6 pups in a 30 day period so it would take about 3 months to feed off the bag of 20 pups. As I am not a fan of waste I would feed the entire bag even if the snake has outgrown the meal. It wont hurt it to be fed a pup every 5 days for a few more weeks until a larger meal is offered. In which case it may go threw a nice growth spurt when you do feed it a bigger prey item! :gj:

I know small orders are ideal, I was just trying to save a bunch on S/H

from 80-300 grams I weaned rats
300 and up smalls pre killed the biggest female I have is about 1100 grams so any larger IDK yet..

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When I dont have weaned rats I use 1 or 2 mice I dont see an issue unless you get a snake that doesnt want to go back to rats.. All mine dont seem to care much LOL

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Originally Posted by glk832

from 80-300 grams I weaned rats
300 and up smalls pre killed the biggest female I have is about 1100 grams so any larger IDK yet..

- - - Updated - - -

When I dont have weaned rats I use 1 or 2 mice I dont see an issue unless you get a snake that doesnt want to go back to rats.. All mine dont seem to care much LOL

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So if you do the 15% formula with a 1100g snake that would be 165g.. Is this what Smalls weigh? Or do you have to be that exact?

Justin Kobylka has a great video on his youtube account discussing feeding and ball python sizes. I would definitely check it out.

http://youtu.be/gFB3Pa1SDhs

Thanks for the video link. Although, it led me into an hour long chain of videos...

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Originally Posted by BillinIndiana

Reason I'm asking is I found a place that does Free Shipping(in a certain range) if you spend $100 or more.. Sounded like a decent deal compared to another one that wanted $40 S/H on a $40 order..
It's American Rodent Supply http://americanrodent.com/

Are there any better deals out there? Like my name says I'm in Indiana

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If you are close enough you can go the the Midwest Reptile Show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on August 26, 2012, 10am to 4 pm. American Rodent Supply will be there and you can look at the rats before you buy to try to determine the size you want.