When to offer multiple prey items?

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Joanna has a large female that only eats mice as well and the snake would probably insist that mice are "better" than rats to her!

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LOL yep you go ahead and tell Dori that rats are better! She's an 05 and at 1,152 grams is quite a nice sized female (might even be a bit heavier, I couldn't get her to let me stuff that last bit in the scale bowl). She's a mouser and does take multiples per week while steadfastly refusing to have anything to do with rats. Can't argue with these sorts of results though....:)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ghedJune07.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ramsJune07.jpg

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

LOL yep you go ahead and tell Dori that rats are better! She's an 05 and at 1,152 grams is quite a nice sized female (might even be a bit heavier, I couldn't get her to let me stuff that last bit in the scale bowl). She's a mouser and does take multiples per week while steadfastly refusing to have anything to do with rats. Can't argue with these sorts of results though....:)

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ghedJune07.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ramsJune07.jpg

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Agreed!! My Ball I thought switched over to rats after he very willingly took his first rat! After that he is afraid of them and will definatley only take mice....he currently gets about 2-3 hoppers a week.

I've tried everything...sent him memos..begged him.....showed him bar graphs....sent him messages.....said Look buddy mice aren't all they are talked up to be...he isn't having it.

So mice it is.


Mike

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Originally Posted by 8b8ll

I've tried everything...sent him memos..begged him.....showed him bar graphs....sent him messages.....said Look buddy mice aren't all they are talked up to be...he isn't having it.

So mice it is.


Mike

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LOL that's too funny Mike! Personally as long as they are aggressive eaters, and taking an appropriate volume of prey per week plus the prey itself is top quality...well then mice or rats isn't a big issue. I'm only trying to switch a few of my mousers to rats purely because I breed rats so I'd prefer they take prey I personally raised but some of them still prefer those store bought mice.

So is there a size (girth/weight) threshold? When do I know to add a second mouse to the menu?

When the first prey item doesn't make a "noticeable" lump then I would say you could offer another prey item of equal or lesser size.


Mike

Yea, there is a definate point where they just don't look very satisfied by a meal. A good meal puts my snake right to bed and he usually stays there the whole next day. When its not enough he stays active after the meal like he's trying to say "that was a nice appetizer, when's the entree getting here?"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 8b8ll

When the first prey item doesn't make a "noticeable" lump then I would say you could offer another prey item of equal or lesser size.


Mike

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I don't feed for noticeable lumps. The girl I posted gets 2 adult mice a week, no visible lumps from that. She sometimes gets 3 mice, but I feed for consistent weekly feeding (ie, smaller meals).

I am trying to convert her to rats, for the same reason as Joanna - I breed rats, not mice and it would be more convenient for me as a keeper. She ate a rat for me last week, and refused a rat this week (but was not offered mice instead - I'm going to let her appetite build more).

Bottom line - feed what works best for you as a keeper and what your snake will eat consistently. If this girl refuses to convert to rats after my best efforts, then so be it, mice she'll have.

None of our snakes show much of a "visible lump" either, maybe on some of them a bit of a thickening but nothing that could be remotely called a "lump".

Oi my boy wont eat anythin but mice right now

im thinkin this weeek buyin 2 an see what he does

Thanks guys, but keeping mice around is a no-go.