Rats versus Mice

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

I feed rats. I have heard that they have a higher naturitional (sp) than mice. But I feed mice when young and rats when older..

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totally agree with all of that. i heard that rats were better for them.

You have to remember anyone can post "facts" on the internet. Just because you can read information on something that doesn't mean its true. I have never seen a study or article written by anybody that could be proven to have any scientific background to say that rats are more nutritional for ball pythons than mice. Most people that feed rats to ball pythons "prefer" rats because they can give a larger single meal.


The internet is full of heresay. Anyone can make a site and informational page, doesn't mean they know what they are talking about.

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Originally Posted by Christina

totally agree with all of that. i heard that rats were better for them.

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I feed a ton of ball pythons every week ... some mice, some rats ... as long as their husbandry needs are being met I feel comfortable saying with great confidence that prey type makes absolutely no difference.

If you're trying to pump your snakes up as fast as possible, it can be done more efficiently with rats, but then you're in for a whole different set of problems.

For normal healthy growth, a ball python will do just as well on either rats or mice. Gram for gram, they are identical when it comes to meeting a ball pythons needs.

-adam

Rats vs mice, not an even fight (rat would win) :D

Rats seem to get them up to size faster as they are bigger meal. But I usually start them off on hopper mice and then get them on rats when they are around 250grams. Sometimes you are going to have a snake that won't eat rats but loves mice. It can be very frustrating. That is why I have to breed mice which stink way more than rats do!

Brock Wagner
Brock WagnerReptiles.com
402 202-8923:sabduel:

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Originally Posted by Brock Wagner

Rats seem to get them up to size faster as they are bigger meal. But I usually start them off on hopper mice and then get them on rats when they are around 250grams. Sometimes you are going to have a snake that won't eat rats but loves mice. It can be very frustrating. That is why I have to breed mice which stink way more than rats do!

Brock Wagner
Brock WagnerReptiles.com
402 202-8923:sabduel:

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I am not seeing the logic in saying a rat is a bigger meal. If you are feeding pinky vs. pinky then you are right. But I do not see the difference in a 25 g rat vs. a 25 g mouse

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Originally Posted by tmlowe5704

I am not seeing the logic in saying a rat is a bigger meal. If you are feeding pinky vs. pinky then you are right. But I do not see the difference in a 25 g rat vs. a 25 g mouse

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I am pretty sure he is talking about feeding adult snakes and that rats get larger than adult mice. Some people feed a small rat rather then mutiple mice. ;)

I think it would have been interesting to have seen how many people feed both if that option had been in the poll.

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

I think it would have been interesting to have seen how many people feed both if that option had been in the poll.

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I do! :D

We feed rats. We raise them so it's real easy. :) Good Luck!