Is it true?

is it true that balls can get addicted to rat pinkies and only ever eat them? a fellow herp at a petshop (shocking some one at a petshop that actually cares about snakes and knows what their talking about) he told me that one of his adult snakes got addicted to rat pinkies and only eats them now nothing else.. is this true they get addicted

Thanks

I have never known any to get addicted to rat pinkies. I have seen some stick to only mice. I am not saying that it is impossible though. I just have never heard of it.

Some balls will only eat herbals after being offered one, some will not switch to rats from mice. Never heard of rat pinkies being an issue.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Some balls will only eat herbals after being offered one, some will not switch to rats from mice. Never heard of rat pinkies being an issue.

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do you mean they will only eat gerbals? after being offered a rat pinkie or being offered a gerbal?:)

Never heard of it, gerbils on the other hand yes very addicting.

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Originally Posted by Rob

Never heard of it, gerbils on the other hand yes very addicting.

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ok was just curious cause they guy said there addicting and i dont want my royal addicted to rat pinkies for ever

My ghost will ONLY eat gerbils, refuses everything else.
Never had a problem regarding rat pinks.

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Originally Posted by SRMD94

do you mean they will only eat gerbals? after being offered a rat pinkie or being offered a gerbal?:)

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After eating a gerbil.

The cool thing about rat pinkies is that they come in bigger sizes lol... If a BP will eat a rat pinkie, it will most likely eat larger rats as well.

Even still most BP's that eat rats will also eat mice.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Some balls will only eat herbals after being offered one, some will not switch to rats from mice. Never heard of rat pinkies being an issue.

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YES! Best typo ever! :rofl:

Yea guys Aaron has a few of his snakes feeding soley on pot, dont make the same mistake he did!:rofl:

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Originally Posted by SRMD94

ok was just curious cause they guy said there addicting and i dont want my royal addicted to rat pinkies for ever

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here is my thoughts on it, Depending on your shop where he works and you get your rodents from, it could simply be a ploy to keep you purchasing mice where the profit margin is a lot higher. i will just use my local numbers here on this.

you come in asking about rat pups, which will lead into larger rats for food. locally for me a small rat (sorry no pinks, fuzzies or hopper rats) are $5 each. where as a adult mouse is $5.99 each, knowing 1 Small rat will feed a snake for a good week or more for the average pet BP, a snake able to take a small rat cold easily eat up 2,3, or more adult mice at a meal.

with my average order of 200 rodents per order from Rodentpro, Including the shipping fee's, it roughly breaks down to about $0.72 an adult mouse, and about $1.10 for a small rat. not sure what your local store is getting them for, or re-selling them for. but a marked price from $0.72 to $5.99 for an adult mouse is a massive profit margin.

Just when I thought I'd heard them all...:rolleyes:

I think just a rat pinky is pretty specific... maybe they will imprint on a certain type of rodent, but I don't think they discriminate against age so much. The person who told you that was just misinformed.

Right--some ball pythons ARE picky, and prefer one prey type over another--but that's species, not age.

I have balls that will eat only rats, and a few that will eat only mice. Eating only rats is NOT an issue. If they have to eat 'only' one species, rats are the ideal.

Besides, the only ball pythons that ever eat rat pinkies are undersized brand new hatchlings. There's no reason to offer a pinky rat to a normal-sized hatchling, much less any older ball python. (Surprised no one else pointed this out).

60+ gram hatchlings, right out of their first shed, can start on fuzzy rats.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Some balls will only eat herbals after being offered one, some will not switch to rats from mice. Never heard of rat pinkies being an issue.

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Hmm I dont think I have ever encountered a vegetarian ball python before...

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Right--some ball pythons ARE picky, and prefer one prey type over another--but that's species, not age.

I have balls that will eat only rats, and a few that will eat only mice. Eating only rats is NOT an issue. If they have to eat 'only' one species, rats are the ideal.

Besides, the only ball pythons that ever eat rat pinkies are undersized brand new hatchlings. There's no reason to offer a pinky rat to a normal-sized hatchling, much less any older ball python. (Surprised no one else pointed this out).

my ball is 6-8 weeks old and is only 80 grams i got him about a week ago

60+ gram hatchlings, right out of their first shed, can start on fuzzy rats.

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I start some hatchlings on rat pinks. If they seem intimidated for the first meal, or they are small, rat pinks only wriggle, no crawling at the hatchling's nose to frighten him.

But they move on to the next size quickly and without issue. Haven't heard of a BP wanting to eat a tiny prey item like a pinky when they get larger.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Right--some ball pythons ARE picky, and prefer one prey type over another--but that's species, not age.

I have balls that will eat only rats, and a few that will eat only mice. Eating only rats is NOT an issue. If they have to eat 'only' one species, rats are the ideal.

Besides, the only ball pythons that ever eat rat pinkies are undersized brand new hatchlings. There's no reason to offer a pinky rat to a normal-sized hatchling, much less any older ball python. (Surprised no one else pointed this out).

60+ gram hatchlings, right out of their first shed, can start on fuzzy rats.

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^^^ especially. Most of our balls, unless a very shy, or small hatchling, don't even recognize pinks as food. They don't move enough, and are not at all enticing to eat. All of our hatchlings are started on fuzzies-chubs, or the stages just after they get fur to just before when their eyes open, both of which are considerably larger than a pink rat.

That actually makes sense because isn't that what they eat in the wild?

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Originally Posted by ball-nut

My ghost will ONLY eat gerbils, refuses everything else.
Never had a problem regarding rat pinks.

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I've never heard of that, and I honestly don't think they will get addicted to anything. Withhold food long enough and most of them will eat just about anything. I kept ASFs for a while and fed them to my ball pythons and none of them got addicted to ASFs.