is it ok to keep live mice and snakes in the same room?

I was just wondering if it is ok to keep live mice in the same room as you keep your ball pythons .. I know there is alot to find about this on google but I wanted your opinion since you are the experts in the field
so does keeping mice in the same room as your snakes have any effect on the snakes breeding or feeding? if anyone has experience with this I would greately appreciate your help
best regards, Andrej

Tons of people keep the rats in the snake room. I have a personal theory about the scent dulling their feeding response because they stop getting excited by pre-scenting. That's not tested or anything though and I'm sure plenty of people would reply that they have no issues with feeding and keep in the same room.

I keep my snakes in the same room with live mice and I have seen no ill effects at all.

X2 my rat breeding rack is next to my snake enclosures and I have had no ill affects at all. All my snake eat F/T and are still eating great :P

I too have kept them in the same room. I don't now and have not seem much difference. My snakes have a really good feeding response, especially this time of year.

I have a dozen rat and ASF colonies in my snake room. I don't notice a definite feeding response issue. Some of them eat better, some of them don't. I have been struck at more often though. I got tagged by my 8 foot BCI last week.. and I've been struck at by two of my ASF eaters. If anything I have noticed an increased desire to feed. But no change in feeding response.

No, it is not O.K. to do. Just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean is right. Sure you can do it and be successful at it but you are asking for trouble. Once you acquire a finicky snake it will affect its feeding response and would be that much harder for the snake to accept a meal.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, it is not O.K. to do. Just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean is right. Sure you can do it and be successful at it but you are asking for trouble. Once you acquire a finicky snake it will affect its feeding response and would be that much harder for the snake to accept a meal.

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Actually some of my finicky snakes eat better now that the rats are in the room. For the most part I notice no difference. I don't have a single ball python that has gone off feed since I moved the rats into the room. Just a question, have you ever had rodents living in the same room as your reptiles? Just curious. I'm genuinely interested, I haven't seen any negative effects from my experience - Just curious if your speak from experience. I have always wondered if anyone has seen it effect feeding responses. I'm not trying to be a jerk, just trying to see if you've tried it and seen it effect them.

cheers.

I have a sometimes finiky bp and have done both. If anything her feeding response is better since I've housed in the same room. Do what works for you; your mileage may vary.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, it is not O.K. to do. Just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean is right. Sure you can do it and be successful at it but you are asking for trouble. Once you acquire a finicky snake it will affect its feeding response and would be that much harder for the snake to accept a meal.

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So many of your posts crack me up!

Anyway.. I too have some rodent racks in a room with BP racks. Have for a few years now. As long as you keep the rodents clean I don't see a problem. None of the snakes in that room have ever refused prekilled rodents. My only live eater is actually kept in a Boaphile display cage in the living room no where near the rats. There is no connection between having live rodents in the same room with snakes, and your snakes becoming picky eaters. The whole picky eater thing is just sometimes a BP thing.

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Originally Posted by decensored

Actually some of my finicky snakes eat better now that the rats are in the room. For the most part I notice no difference. I don't have a single ball python that has gone off feed since I moved the rats into the room. Just a question, have you ever had rodents living in the same room as your reptiles? Just curious. I'm genuinely interested, I haven't seen any negative effects from my experience - Just curious if your speak from experience. I have always wondered if anyone has seen it effect feeding responses. I'm not trying to be a jerk, just trying to see if you've tried it and seen it effect them.

cheers.

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Yep. It's not like all rats have the same scent. All of mine still know when I bring a meal into the room.

Rat rack on the right of my snake racks, and they have an awesome feeding response! :gj:

http://imageshack.us/a/img155/6576/img1000gi.jpg

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, it is not O.K. to do. Just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean is right. Sure you can do it and be successful at it but you are asking for trouble. Once you acquire a finicky snake it will affect its feeding response and would be that much harder for the snake to accept a meal.

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Upon what, exactly, do you base this opinion on?

I have kept multiple species of snakes in multiple rooms with mice, rats, both, and have not really ever noticed a big difference from ones that were kept totally apart from rodents. An eater will eat. A problem feeder is just that. Location may or may not make a difference for the problem feeders just as proximity to food may or may not make a difference for them, in my limited several decades of experience, anyway.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, it is not O.K. to do. Just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean is right. Sure you can do it and be successful at it but you are asking for trouble. Once you acquire a finicky snake it will affect its feeding response and would be that much harder for the snake to accept a meal.

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There are things that are definite in this world. 2+2=4 is one but keeping rodents in the same room as your snake collection is obviously not one of them.

I have a 6 year old bp that up until I started keeping rats in the same room about a year ago would NEVER take a rat let alone a frozen rat. Now he doesn't miss a meal of delicious thawed rat. I have had no negative effects of keeping rodents in the same room but I have definitely found a very positive result.

It's usually the first information people read when they are first learning a subject they are excited about that sticks as absolute fact. Don't let this happen. There is so much information out there and the things that work for someone may not quite work for you. Read, learn, experiment a little and then decide what is best for your animals and for you. Try not to make a solid imprint on the first google search you read.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Upon what, exactly, do you base this opinion on?

I have kept multiple species of snakes in multiple rooms with mice, rats, both, and have not really ever noticed a big difference from ones that were kept totally apart from rodents. An eater will eat. A problem feeder is just that. Location may or may not make a difference for the problem feeders just as proximity to food may or may not make a difference for them, in my limited several decades of experience, anyway.

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You obviously don't know what you are talking about. Clearly you haven't gained enough knowledge through that experience. What...were you sleeping through it all?

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Originally Posted by decensored

Actually some of my finicky snakes eat better now that the rats are in the room. For the most part I notice no difference. I don't have a single ball python that has gone off feed since I moved the rats into the room. Just a question, have you ever had rodents living in the same room as your reptiles? Just curious. I'm genuinely interested, I haven't seen any negative effects from my experience - Just curious if your speak from experience. I have always wondered if anyone has seen it effect feeding responses. I'm not trying to be a jerk, just trying to see if you've tried it and seen it effect them.

cheers.

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When I started I kept 8 ten gallon tanks (ASFs) in the room with them. They all ate fine until I got my male Pied. That is the only snake that I've had a problem with. I now breed thousands of ASFs so I had to dedicate a whole room for them. My Piebald now has had four meals in a row with a feeding response I've never seen before. I do not know if this is a direct correlation to the smell of rats not being present but it seems that it is for that particular snake. All my other snakes are voracious eaters on F/T and I am sure that they would be good eaters whether the room is full of rats or not. I just prefer to keep my reptiles smelling like reptiles and my rats like rats. Thank you for being so polite and for your interest we are all here to learn from each other!

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Originally Posted by luijibored

When I started I kept 8 ten gallon tanks (ASFs) in the room with them. They all ate fine until I got my male Pied. That is the only snake that I've had a problem with. I now breed thousands of ASFs so I had to dedicate a whole room for them. My Piebald now has had four meals in a row with a feeding response I've never seen before. I do not know if this is a direct correlation to the smell of rats not being present but it seems that it is for that particular snake. All my other snakes are voracious eaters on F/T and I am sure that they would be good eaters whether the room is full of rats or not. I just prefer to keep my reptiles smelling like reptiles and my rats like rats. Thank you for being so polite and for your interest we are all here to learn from each other!

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Wait...what?? So why would you be so adamant that it is not okay to keep them in the same room? I don't doubt your dedication or devotion to your animals but you definitely had a very clear opinion that you KNEW as fact not so long ago.

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Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

Wait...what?? So why would you be so adamant that it is not okay to keep them in the same room? I don't doubt your dedication or devotion to your animals but you definitely had a very clear opinion that you KNEW as fact not so long ago.

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Hence my query. This is a loooong and oft traveled road paved by good intentions and ignorance in almost equal measures held together with the glue that is the universal truth that everything posted on the internet is true.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Hence my query. This is a loooong and oft traveled road paved by good intentions and ignorance in almost equal measures held together with the glue that is the universal truth that everything posted on the internet is true.

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I'm reading this on the internet so is this truth or am I twisting this into a snake keeping bible?

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Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

I'm reading this on the internet so is this truth or am I twisting this into a snake keeping bible?

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Yes. Yes indeed.

A finicky snake is a finicky snake...

I keep my mouse rack 3 feet away from my corns. They all eat fine. I also have a couple rats now, too.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, it is not O.K. to do. Just because a lot of people do it doesn't mean is right. Sure you can do it and be successful at it but you are asking for trouble. Once you acquire a finicky snake it will affect its feeding response and would be that much harder for the snake to accept a meal.

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Exactly why is it not ok to house feeders and snakes together in the same room? If it works for some people, then it should be fine. Regarding this topic, there is no right or wrong way. It's all personal preference
.
I keep rats, ferrets, and snakes in the same room. My snakes actually have gotten a better feeding response since I started breeding rats. My most picky snake has actually been feeding more consistently each week compared to pre-rat breeding where that particular snake ate maybe once a month at best.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

When I started I kept 8 ten gallon tanks (ASFs) in the room with them. They all ate fine until I got my male Pied. That is the only snake that I've had a problem with. I now breed thousands of ASFs so I had to dedicate a whole room for them. My Piebald now has had four meals in a row with a feeding response I've never seen before. I do not know if this is a direct correlation to the smell of rats not being present but it seems that it is for that particular snake. All my other snakes are voracious eaters on F/T and I am sure that they would be good eaters whether the room is full of rats or not. I just prefer to keep my reptiles smelling like reptiles and my rats like rats. Thank you for being so polite and for your interest we are all here to learn from each other!

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How long did it take for your pied to eat consistently?
Could it just be that he needed time to adjust to the new environment?
Some snakes just take a while to settle and feel relaxed enough to eat.

just curious, did your ferrets ever go after your snakes?

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Originally Posted by cecilbturtle

just curious, did your ferrets ever go after your snakes?

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I have a door on my snake rack. So when the ferrets are out, the door closes out of precaution. So they don't have any interaction.

But I have had a snake out to show them once before just to see their reaction. They held zero interest. Didn't even care or know the snake was another animal. The ferrets sniffed the snake and just walked off.

Now rats? That's a whole different story. The ferrets circle the rat rack like sharks hoping for a tasty meal. They go nuts for feeders.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

We have gerbils in one room with my husbands ball and boa an my hairless mice live in the same room as my ball breeders and hatchlings, occasionally a rat or ASF will stay in a cage on top of the rack for a few days. Never had a problem with feeding or striking.

Use to keep them in the same room, never had a problem. I´m buying frozen rats now, I do have a problem with the smell!!

The main debate in this thread has been over feeding response. However, i have a different question on the pro/con.. Is there any diseases/parasites/chance of mites that live rats (cleaned weekly) could trasmit over to balls or boas when kept closely?

I have a reptile room with snakes and geckos but have been keeping my rat breeding at the other end of the house. Am i being too cautious or is there a risk of anything?

Thanks in advance

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Originally Posted by Sunnyvale420

The main debate in this thread has been over feeding response. However, i have a different question on the pro/con.. Is there any diseases/parasites/chance of mites that live rats (cleaned weekly) could trasmit over to balls or boas when kept closely?

I have a reptile room with snakes and geckos but have been keeping my rat breeding at the other end of the house. Am i being too cautious or is there a risk of anything?

Thanks in advance

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Most parasites are species specific. For example, rat lice will only stick to rats. It won't spread to mice, people, or snakes. Just like how snake mites are also species specific.

Most illnesses won't spread either. Sick rats with RI won't give a snake RI and vice versa.

The only type of possible transfer between the animals would be fleas, ticks, and internal parasites(i.e. worms). But if you're feeding infested rats, then your snakes would already have these... I deworm my breeder rats once a year and all new additions just out of precaution. You can use oral horse dewormer or ivermectin from the feed store to treat for ecto and internal parasites.

Feeding the occasional pumpkin seed is also a natural dewormer.

As long as you have a clean colony, I wouldn't be worried about any sort of transfer.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Exactly why is it not ok to house feeders and snakes together in the same room? If it works for some people, then it should be fine. Regarding this topic, there is no right or wrong way. It's all personal preference
.
I keep rats, ferrets, and snakes in the same room. My snakes actually have gotten a better feeding response since I started breeding rats. My most picky snake has actually been feeding more consistently each week compared to pre-rat breeding where that particular snake ate maybe once a month at best.



How long did it take for your pied to eat consistently?
Could it just be that he needed time to adjust to the new environment?
Some snakes just take a while to settle and feel relaxed enough to eat.

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If you are a larger scale breeder like myself it is not right to keep the rats in the same room.The snake room is kept at a range in the 80 to 85 degrees room temperature (day) and 60% to 70% humidity these parameters are uncomfortable for us humans just after a few minutes in the room. Rats, like us prefer cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Actually no mammal would be comfortable in the snake room. The rat room is kept at 72 to 75 degrees with a 20% to 30% humidity, these parameters do not even overlap those required for ball pythons. About it affecting the feeding response I am out of that discussion and I will keep that opinion to myself since it is my recent experience that this forum is full of uneducated people that have no idea as to how to carry a conversation politely, not to mention all the "experts" that seem to know it all. I do not claim to be an expert I have been doing this for 35 years and I am still learning but I've picked a few things here and there throughout the years.

Thank you for your genuine interest!!!
Louie

Note to everyone: I am open for an adult civilized discussions if you can not carry a discussion in such a way you will be placed in my ignore list.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

If you are a larger scale breeder like myself it is not right to keep the rats in the same room.The snake room is kept at a range in the 80 to 85 degrees room temperature (day) and 60% to 70% humidity these parameters are uncomfortable for us humans just after a few minutes in the room. Rats, like us prefer cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Actually no mammal would be comfortable in the snake room. The rat room is kept at 72 to 75 degrees with a 20% to 30% humidity, these parameters do not even overlap those required for ball pythons. About it affecting the feeding response I am out of that discussion and I will keep that opinion to myself since it is my recent experience that this forum is full of uneducated people that have no idea as to how to carry a conversation politely, not to mention all the "experts" that seem to know it all. I do not claim to be an expert I have been doing this for 35 years and I am still learning but I've picked a few things here and there throughout the years.

Thank you for your genuine interest!!!
Louie

Note to everyone: I am open for an adult civilized discussions if you can not carry a discussion in such a way you will be placed in my ignore list.

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Do you have REALLY small feet and a REALLY shiny dome? You sure write like you do.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

If you are a larger scale breeder like myself it is not right to keep the rats in the same room.The snake room is kept at a range in the 80 to 85 degrees room temperature (day) and 60% to 70% humidity these parameters are uncomfortable for us humans just after a few minutes in the room. Rats, like us prefer cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Actually no mammal would be comfortable in the snake room. The rat room is kept at 72 to 75 degrees with a 20% to 30% humidity, these parameters do not even overlap those required for ball pythons. About it affecting the feeding response I am out of that discussion and I will keep that opinion to myself since it is my recent experience that this forum is full of uneducated people that have no idea as to how to carry a conversation politely, not to mention all the "experts" that seem to know it all. I do not claim to be an expert I have been doing this for 35 years and I am still learning but I've picked a few things here and there throughout the years.

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No one said anything about the temperatures of a room. I'm pretty sure there are mammals everywhere that has snakes...so yes there are mammals that would be perfectly comfortable in that kind of enviroment. You calling this forum full of uneducated people is really polite. You set a good example.

Fyi...People like Wilomn might not know it ALL, but I'm sure he is closer than you..

I had a ratsnake escape today through mesh that came apart, and I handily found him wrapped around my ASF breeding bin. I haven't had any personality changes or differences in feeding since having them in the same room, and it seems like it's pretty handy to keep them in the snake room if they get out, hah! He was just gunning for those rats.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

If you are a larger scale breeder like myself it is not right to keep the rats in the same room.The snake room is kept at a range in the 80 to 85 degrees room temperature (day) and 60% to 70% humidity these parameters are uncomfortable for us humans just after a few minutes in the room. Rats, like us prefer cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Actually no mammal would be comfortable in the snake room. The rat room is kept at 72 to 75 degrees with a 20% to 30% humidity, these parameters do not even overlap those required for ball pythons. About it affecting the feeding response I am out of that discussion and I will keep that opinion to myself since it is my recent experience that this forum is full of uneducated people that have no idea as to how to carry a conversation politely, not to mention all the "experts" that seem to know it all. I do not claim to be an expert I have been doing this for 35 years and I am still learning but I've picked a few things here and there throughout the years.

Thank you for your genuine interest!!!
Louie

Note to everyone: I am open for an adult civilized discussions if you can not carry a discussion in such a way you will be placed in my ignore list.

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I can see your point if you do indeed breed on such a large scale.
But most people who occupy this forum are not. Can I assume that you just heat the room with no individual hot spots for the snakes?

I am not a large scale breeder. Just a hobbiest. My observations are based on personal experience as well as many other small scale breeders. I also don't heat my room to 85 as I don't need to. The snakes all get the proper heating and temp gradient in their rack(flexwatt). And as I do keep other mammalian species in the same room as the snakes, the room is set to 75. Ferrets do very poorly in warm temps.

The point I'm trying to say is that the OP was asking if they could house their mice in the same room. I am going to assume that they most likely do not heat their rooms specifically for the snakes. So if they have ~70-75, then it is acceptable to house the mice in that room.

Perhaps if you provided more detail in your initial post about why feeders should not be housed in the same room as snakes then it would have been more clear to us that in certain circumstances, housing feeders in the same room as snakes is not appropriate. (I.E. included the room temp or other housing requirements)

Everyone here is still learning. And I find it quite rude for you to call us uneducated. If you find our knowledge inferior, please try to remedy that and share your experience. If we can all benefit from it, I urge you to post more often and participate in thread discussions. After all, this forum is about learning and sharing our passion for ball pythons.


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Originally Posted by wilomn

Do you have REALLY small feet and a REALLY shiny dome? You sure write like you do.

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No, I do not as a matter of fact I wear 10.5 shoes and a full head of hair! My writing is a reflection of my education not my physical attributes. By you calling me a person with really small feet and a really shinny dome you are reflecting your education and manners. I have no idea how you look like but if I were to judge you by your writing skills like you judged me I get an image of the kind of person you are inside. By being an "ADMIN" you are representing BP.net and therefore you must conduct yourself with the highest degree of decorum. I believe that your personal attack and speech is intended to cause a "flame war" or personal vendetta. Therefore you are in violation of SITE RULE number 3. No Hate Speak. This includes, but is not limited to: cursing; threats of violence; racial, gender, religious, or sexual slurs; personal attacks; and speech intended to cause or further a "flame war" or personal vendetta. This includes vindictive use of the Reputation System and Private Messages. I strongly advise you not to contact me anymore or reply to any of my present or future posts.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, I do not as a matter of fact I wear 10.5 shoes and a full head of hair! My writing is a reflection of my education not my physical attributes. By you calling me a person with really small feet and a really shinny dome you are reflecting your education and manners. I have no idea how you look like but if I were to judge you by your writing skills like you judged me I get an image of the kind of person you are inside. By being an "ADMIN" you are representing BP.net and therefore you must conduct yourself with the highest degree of decorum. I believe that your personal attack and speech is intended to cause a "flame war" or personal vendetta. Therefore you are in violation of SITE RULE number 3. No Hate Speak. This includes, but is not limited to: cursing; threats of violence; racial, gender, religious, or sexual slurs; personal attacks; and speech intended to cause or further a "flame war" or personal vendetta. This includes vindictive use of the Reputation System and Private Messages. I strongly advise you not to contact me anymore or reply to any of my present or future posts.

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Quit acting like you run the place. He's not even an admin. By being a "new member" you should stop telling people what to do. Shocker that some people get offended when you call them uneducated.

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Originally Posted by luijibored

My writing is a reflection of my education

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I suppose that means you missed the Comma lesson in grade school then??:confused:


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by luijibored

No, I do not as a matter of fact I wear 10.5 shoes and a full head of hair! My writing is a reflection of my education not my physical attributes. By you calling me a person with really small feet and a really shinny dome you are reflecting your education and manners. I have no idea how you look like but if I were to judge you by your writing skills like you judged me I get an image of the kind of person you are inside. By being an "ADMIN" you are representing BP.net and therefore you must conduct yourself with the highest degree of decorum. I believe that your personal attack and speech is intended to cause a "flame war" or personal vendetta. Therefore you are in violation of SITE RULE number 3. No Hate Speak. This includes, but is not limited to: cursing; threats of violence; racial, gender, religious, or sexual slurs; personal attacks; and speech intended to cause or further a "flame war" or personal vendetta. This includes vindictive use of the Reputation System and Private Messages. I strongly advise you not to contact me anymore or reply to any of my present or future posts.

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Hopefully your observational skills will improve. And just because I made an implication, which you then took and ran all over the yard with, does not in any way qualify as hate speech, you wuss. Buck up, grow up, and quit falling for the easy ones. You should judge me by what I write. Then you should wonder why YOU fell for it so easily.

Now, behave yourself before I actually start paying attention to your drivel.

Lol for a "large scale breeder," You don't have a good PR attitude..

Walking around with your nose in the air, among potential buyers sounds like a bad business plan IMO.

There's a level of humble humility you must have in order to earn respect within the community. Your new to the site so you might not understand this, but this forum is full of members that are very influential within their own local communities. If you choose to post, than you can expect a response, whether it's positive or negative. The nature of the forum is to debate, especially in a thread based on experience.

You can't blame people for knocking you down a level when you show up out of the blue and act like the king of reptiles. Then kick your feet and ramble off site rules when people call you out on your nonsense. If you don't like where the conversation is going than don't participate, that's the adult action to take. Defending yourself is pointless, the damage is done and you keep digging yourself further into a hole by continuing. Especially to tell someone they can no longer post in response to your posts. That's ridiculous. You have a block option for members that you do not want to see in the forum, and I suggest you use it if you feel so inclined, but to tell people they cannot comment anymore on a topic is very incorrect.

Just some friendly advice to think about.

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With that said however, there really is no need to for name calling..
It's sad to see how many threads lately have been veering completely off topic, and turning into a pissing match.

I think we've reached a consensus on this topic.