Feeding Mice VS Rats

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Originally Posted by Expensive hobby

And it is "wacked" for what reason?

150g-265g is considered a "large" rat. You don't have any beepers on large rats? And lest us not forget that weight is not directly proportionate to prey size either.

You can have 2 rats that weigh exactly 150g and one can be physically much larger than the other. That's why I don't feed primarily based on weight. The snakes get the correct sized prey items by me looking at them, and choosing what physically is the best "fit."

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I have one BP on large rats...an adult female. I don't know how much she weighs as my scale doesn't go high enough. But the male she's locked with in the pic below was close to 1500 grams...I have a few more females who take mediums, but no way could any of my 1500 gram balls take a large rat.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...IMG_2004-1.jpg

Wow! That is a big girl. Any sub-saharan in her?

Mmm I'll chime in with my own data on this.
Firstly I have a lesser and a spider girl, the spider girl prefers mice but will eat rats, the lesser is the opposite. (I keep carpets as well so I like feeding BIG meals!) on feeding every 5-10 days (I breed my own feeders so my production dictates my feeding schedule) the mouser is sitting at 12 months old and 650g, the rat eater is the same age (within a week or so) and is 1100g.
Now with carpets, carpets get bigger when you stretch their mouths and throat. When I start feeding them med/large rats and feed every 2-3wks that's when they really start to grow!!


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I really don't think there is a right or wrong way when it comes to mice or rats. Just comes down to personal preference and what the snake wants to eat.

I just take out whatever animal/size is in the freezer for that day. Although I mainly use multis, with the occasional rat, gerbil and mouse. Personally, I won't feed mice again as the majority of the diet! Not unless was breeding my own, pet shop sizes are really small! Having a seasonal fasting mouser just creates a big headache/worry, especially if they only eat one at a time.

On the occasion they do get something larger, I'll wait 2 weeks before feeding again. One of my adults still seems to enjoy, well inhales baby rats! I like reading about how other people feed! Just comes down to personal preference and what works for you and yours!

Call me crazy, extremist, or whatever. I order quantities of F/T rats that are basically around 10% of my snakes body weight. When I get them in I weigh each one and put it in a ziplock bag with the weight wrote on the bag and put them in a freezer with the biggest to the bottom and smallest to the top. My snake starts with the smallest and eats her way to the largest. I only have the one snake right now, so it's not much work. I track everything more than needed, but it's just fun to me to be able to see how she is progressing. I do plan to breed her and plan to purchase more snakes, so I'm sure this will change with more animals to tend to!

OK, so I've had my 8-month or so old BP for about a month now. It was raised on pinkie/fuzzy mice per PetSmart and recently took his first "small" mouse. He's a great eater! How difficult is it to switch over to rats, and WHEN exactly should it be done? - thanks!

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Originally Posted by scalrtn

OK, so I've had my 8-month or so old BP for about a month now. It was raised on pinkie/fuzzy mice per PetSmart and recently took his first "small" mouse. He's a great eater! How difficult is it to switch over to rats, and WHEN exactly should it be done? - thanks!

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I would start with rats now if she will take them. My snake is only 4 months old and eats weaned rats now. They range between 40-50 grams each. A small mouse sounds like a really small meal for an 8 month old BP.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Wow! That is a big girl. Any sub-saharan in her?

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I'm not sure. Jon of coldbloodedaddiction would probably know better than I would. I acquired her in a trade from a buddy of his, but I believe Jon hatched her out...from what I remember she came from a line of wild caught females that Jon got from Ian G back in 2003'ish??? I believe she has something "extra" going on, so hopefully next year I'll prove that out...;) I gave her this year off, but the clutch she gave me last year looked promising. :D

Quick question for everyone here. Need a little help, kind of worried. My Ball is about three years old, never head a problem feeding although she just finished a fast about 5 weeks ago. I fed her on Thursday and took it immediately everything was normal. Well just now she threw it up. The rat was not completely digested you could definitely tell it was a rat(tail paws etc). Then right after that had diarrhea. Really worried, she's never been sick or had problems like this. Any help or suggestions?


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Originally Posted by socalvaping714

Quick question for everyone here. Need a little help, kind of worried. My Ball is about three years old, never head a problem feeding although she just finished a fast about 5 weeks ago. I fed her on Thursday and took it immediately everything was normal. Well just now she threw it up. The rat was not completely digested you could definitely tell it was a rat(tail paws etc). Then right after that had diarrhea. Really worried, she's never been sick or had problems like this. Any help or suggestions?


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What kind of heat are you providing? Does she have belly heat and what are your temps?