How to locate a Rat breeder!

ok The local pet shop here only sells Mice that are live, Im not really looking to feed frozen thawed as live has been working very well and I do so responsibly, I am allways present at feeding times. Anyhow my ball python Naga is allready eating 2 mice a week and I want to look in to switching to Rats.

the local petco only sells adult rats which are way to large for naga and the only other petstore only sells frozen thawed I was wondering how i could go about find a breader in my area, I live in norther West virgina, Morgantown to be exact. Anyone know of a breader in the eare or how to locate one.

the pet store said they didnt know of anyone, but i think perhaps that is because they want me to continue buying from them!

I think you are gonna be hard pressed to find a rat breeder who will sell thier rats as snake food, unless thats what they breed for. Most rat breeders do so for the pet trade not for snake food. Becareful on your quest for this, as you may run up against a rat breeder (for pet trade) who will give you a hard time.

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Originally Posted by Kesosip

I live in norther West virgina, Morgantown to be exact. Anyone know of a breader in the eare or how to locate one.

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Our dear leader, Smulkin, lives in West Virginia. Unfortunately, being utterly unfamiliar with the geography of the state, I couldn't tell you how close he is to where you live. But it's not THAT big of a state. :P (Says the girl who grew up in Texas!) He's been very busy lately and may not see this thread, but if you shoot him a PM and let him know where you are and what you're looking for, he may be able to hook you up. He breeds rats for his collection and sells/trades his overflow with local petstores...so I'm sure he'd have extras for you to get if y'all can manage the logistics.

Stick with the mice ... your snake will be fine. :sweeet:

-adam

am I not correct that feeding multipule food items is much harder on the digestive system? Naga has been on 2 mice for 2 weeks now and the little pig still contiues to look for another mouse to fall from the heavens lol.

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Originally Posted by Kesosip

am I not correct that feeding multipule food items is much harder on the digestive system? Naga has been on 2 mice for 2 weeks now and the little pig still contiues to look for another mouse to fall from the heavens lol.

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That is a myth ... ball pythons are opportunistic feeders by nature ... whether it's a small adult rodent or a litter of baby rodents, when they need to eat, they will seize the opportunity without regard to numbers.

I have MANY adult male and female ball pythons that are thriving on multiple mice per week ... usually only 2 - 3 is all they need.

-adam

Have a look also at Rabernet's snakes. They are all mouse eaters, some eat multiple mice and they are in just lovely condition. I feed all our BP's but one on rats and ours aren't growing any bigger or faster than hers when we've compared them. Stick with your mice or go to rats if you wish but either way your snake will do fine if fed appropriately.

Frankykeno: I wasnt concerned with naga growing faster, however i was concerned about having to feed her mutiple mice being tough on the degestive system and the amount of time.

it seems feeding mice would take alot more energy then 1 rat, should 3 be the most i ever need to feed her even as an adult?

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Originally Posted by Kesosip

it seems feeding mice would take alot more energy then 1 rat

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I'm telling you from experience ... they don't. :sweeet:

-adam

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Originally Posted by Kesosip

am I not correct that feeding multipule food items is much harder on the digestive system? Naga has been on 2 mice for 2 weeks now and the little pig still contiues to look for another mouse to fall from the heavens lol.

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Maybe you're mixing up feeding multiple prey items with feeding multiple times a week? So far as I know, it's perfectly fine to feed more than one prey on a given feeding day.....but to feed your snake every 2-3 days or something...THAT is hard on their digestive systems.

ADAM: I was in no way trying to say your experince was wrong I just wanted to let franky know my concern wasnt with growing. after your response I felt more at ease about feeding multiple prey items. Thanks for taking the time to reply, and I opologize if you thought I was trying to shrug of what you said.

Sorry maybe I worded that wrong (I'm melting in the summer heat and I think my brain is turning into goo!). What I meant by that post wasn't that you were wanting to grow your snake fast but that Robin (rabernet) and I recently compared a few of our snakes that were the same sex and general age. We found that me feeding single rats and her feeding multipe mice hadn't created snakes with any real appreciable size difference.

Just my convulated way of saying your snake would grow fine on either. (please somebody up there break this heat wave before more of my brain cells fry!)

i know the feeling with the heat its not much better here in W.va lol I know that ball pythons can stay on mice there whole life how ever rats would be more convinent also. I wait about 10 mins between feeding each mouse off so if i end up feedin more then 3 thats alot of time to do so. I have no problem with naga being a mouser but I do want to keep my options open right now taking the time to feed multipule mice is not an issue however that could change later on, I am hoping to have naga with me for many years to come!

I have live rats in Fairmont if that does you any good.

If so shoot me a pm.

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Originally Posted by Kesosip

i know the feeling with the heat its not much better here in W.va lol I know that ball pythons can stay on mice there whole life how ever rats would be more convinent also. I wait about 10 mins between feeding each mouse off so if i end up feedin more then 3 thats alot of time to do so. I have no problem with naga being a mouser but I do want to keep my options open right now taking the time to feed multipule mice is not an issue however that could change later on, I am hoping to have naga with me for many years to come!

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Kesosip, as Adam said - mice are just fine. All of my juveniles (over a year old) are eating 2 mice each week (on the same day) and are growing quite well.

I also think you're confusing feeding on several days in the same week with feeding multiples on the same day with being hard on the digestive system.

I generally wait until they've re-adjusted their jaws and are back in hunt position before offering the second. I'd say that's 3-5 minutes after the tail of the first is gone. My largest female that's not on rats is almost 900 grams now and is only on two adult mice a week.

I don't see rats being more convenient if they aren't readily available.

I guess the good news is, mice or rats, your snake will do well with either!