Do You Feed White Or Coloured???

I was wandering if people preffer white lab mice/rats ore colored?:banana:
COLOURED FOR ME

I really don't care. Either way it'll end up red.

No matter what color I try feeding, all of my snakes' mice end up brown :confused:

they all end up as snake poo... who cares?

just wondering, i saw chickens on the list of food options.
has anyone ever actually fed there adult snakes a chicken? or do you stick to large rabbits when they get that size?

I know some people claim that they've had snakes that show a preference to color, but I can't really say for sure that it's ever happened to me. For a while now in my mouse breeding rack, I've been using only white females and brown males. Not for any particular reason other then when I open the tub, I can immediately identify who is who. Since my brown mice are het albino, I get a pretty even split of 50/50 brown to white feeders. I really can't say that I've noticed any color preferences amongst my mouse eating snakes.

We will feed both, but we only purchase white mice. This way we can track and keep inbreeding in check by limiting the number of colored offspring.

It's amazing some of the diversity you can get after a few dozen generations though.

I feed whatever I have it does not matter.

I have Black, Blue, Beige, Patched, Albino, it's all the same and I can assure you that my snakes do not descriminate :8:

I heard somewhere that albino rats can be more aggressive than the coloured ones. I am not sure though!

Just depends what the pet store has. White for the most part, since I feed f/t, but every once in a while I'll get a couple with some spots or something. Snakes don't care in the slightest.

I feed whatever rats are of proper size that week. My snakes don't care.

Is it getting racial up in this piece??? :rofl:

I feed whatever color comes in the group. Never had any problems. :gj:

What are Gerbles?? ;)

Whatever i have at feeding time.

White, black, brown, gray, male, female, rat, mouse. Doesnt seem to matter they eat them all.

What kind of racial post is this!?!?!?


Just kidding. White here. That's all they have at my pet store.

I do not think snakes even see colors, but inferred? Mine eat anything i put in there tank.

most poeple dont feed chickens to there snakes but in some parts it is easyer and cheaper to buy baby chikens also bost snakes dont seem to prefer color for the most part but ive foud that when a snke refuses to eat the regular white mice a darker colored like solid brown or black will usualy trigger a feeding reaction but to tell you the truth pythons preffer gerbils cuz that is one of the most common rodent where they come from

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

I do not think snakes even see colors, but inferred? Mine eat anything i put in there tank.

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As to whether they see colors or not I dont know but they see with there eyes AND the heat vents on the front of there nose (infrared)

None of my guys are picky about colors, just as long as it's warm and rodent they're happy.

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but to tell you the truth pythons preffer gerbils cuz that is one of the most common rodent where they come from

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Actually, the Gerbils that you find in the pet stores come from Mongolia where there are no pythons.

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Originally Posted by COLDBLOODED262

tell you the truth pythons preffer gerbils cuz that is one of the most common rodent where they come from

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Actually, the Gerbils that you find in the pet stores come from Mongolia where there are no pythons.

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I was just going to say that!...

My snakes eat whatever color or type of rodent that is put in front of them!
They are an equal opportunity predator!

Whatever the guy at the snake shop gives me.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Actually, the Gerbils that you find in the pet stores come from Mongolia where there are no pythons.

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just because the gerbils from the pet stores come from mogolia does not mean that there are none in a pythons habitat. also you cant say tha evey gerbil in every pet store in the us came frome mongolia:colbert:

my girl used to not care, then she prefered only cream colored ones (we call them lattes lol), but now she doesn't even like eating!

Once known simply as "desert rats," the gerbil family includes 89 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats. Therefore, most are primarily nocturnal, and almost all are omnivorous.

gerbils are imported from mongolia only because there is gerbil overpopulation and the reason you dont get girbils from africa is because there are lots of snakes there to eat them and plus why would someone export gerbils when they can export pythons???:banana:

beside if you want to think about it that way mice and rats actually come from erope when the first settlers came here in the 1400's

I think gerbils are a bad habit, if you ever want to sell that snake that is stuck on them, your going to find it a heck lot harder to sell it.

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Originally Posted by COLDBLOODED262

just because the gerbils from the pet stores come from mogolia does not mean that there are none in a pythons habitat. also you cant say tha evey gerbil in every pet store in the us came frome mongolia:colbert:

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Your correct, every gerbil in every pet store are mongolian gerbils but they came from some animal breeder/wholesaler in the US. No gerbils are imported anymore for the pet trade.

So, the gerbils that you can purchase in US pet stores have never set foot in Africa. They are decendents of asian gerbils.

Yes, BP's eat gerbils, but unless you can collect wild gerbils from Africa, your not feeding them african gerbils, but asian ones.

This has to be one of the silliest questions ever...no offense op.

when I read this, the first thing that comes to mind is...How many of you care what color the chicken was before it was plucked? There is no difference in the flavor. :rolleyes:

My snakes eat whatever I put in there. Which means that their husbandry is correct and they are healthy. It has nothing to do with the color of the prey they are getting.

for the record..I breed all different colors of rats as feeders.

;)

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Originally Posted by COLDBLOODED262

beside if you want to think about it that way mice and rats actually come from erope when the first settlers came here in the 1400's

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Rats were not native to Europe. Like most rodents, they originated in Asia. (What is now Mongolia and China and spread from there)

They adopted us as a means of shelter and food and did cross the ocean with us to inhabit most of North America.

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Originally Posted by monk90222

Your correct, every gerbil in every pet store are mongolian gerbils but they came from some animal breeder/wholesaler in the US. No gerbils are imported anymore for the pet trade.

So, the gerbils that you can purchase in US pet stores have never set foot in Africa. They are decendents of asian gerbils.

Yes, BP's eat gerbils, but unless you can collect wild gerbils from Africa, your not feeding them african gerbils, but asian ones.

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the point im trying to get at is that it dosnt matter where the gerbil came frome the snake dosnt like it cuz it came from africa it is the cent that all gerbils produce that trigggers the feeding reaction

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Originally Posted by COLDBLOODED262

the point im trying to get at is that it dosnt matter where the gerbil came frome the snake dosnt like it cuz it came from africa it is the cent that all gerbils produce that trigggers the feeding reaction

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where did you get this information?

books websites and from watching my best frinds python refuse his mice for about a couple of months and the vet couldnt find anything wrong with him and had no ideas then a book he found at the library claimed that pythons eat gerbils in nature and probabley trigger a stonger feeding reaction because of the cent so we tried it and before the little guy knew which way was up that snake was all over him.

So you are generalizing an entire species due to one animal who responded that way? I'm sorry, but that is no proof of anything...

I've never fed Gerbils, won't ever (illegal here in Cali), and I don't see why most people would. There are a great number of better alternatives (aka ASFR).

And for the record, it's Scent.

Good job getting your friends animal feeding! :D

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Originally Posted by stormbourne

I heard somewhere that albino rats can be more aggressive than the coloured ones. I am not sure though!

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It depends on the line rather than on being albino or not. My rats will only bite once in a while if I grab a female that's on pinkies. Otherwise they're either shy or friendly, but never aggressive.

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

I think gerbils are a bad habit, if you ever want to sell that snake that is stuck on them, your going to find it a heck lot harder to sell it.

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Why? I'd be willing to take on gerbil eaters since like ASFRs, gerbils produce very little odor. The sooner I can phase out my rats, the happier I'll be.

Are gerbils banned in some parts of the country?

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

I've never fed Gerbils, won't ever (illegal here in Cali), and I don't see why most people would. There are a great number of better alternatives (aka ASFR).

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Illegal to feed gerbils or to possess? I'd think any authoritarian government that banned gerbils would ban other rodents including ASFRs.

they are illega cuz some cows were eaten by a giant heard af girbils crazy huh

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

So you are generalizing an entire species due to one animal who responded that way? I'm sorry, but that is no proof of anything... :D

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i am not sayig all gerbils are the same i am just saying they all produce a scent that seems to give the snake a stronger feeding reaction.

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Originally Posted by JeffFlanagan

Illegal to feed gerbils or to possess? I'd think any authoritarian government that banned gerbils would ban other rodents including ASFRs.

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Yes, it is illegal to own, posses, feed, etc Gerbils here in California. Same goes with ASFRs.

I don't own or use either. :D

if you think about it girbils had to come from one original species and evolved and spread out over the melllenia.almost every creature has a begining species that they started from and evolved from. or are you saying that the gerbil is an animal that does not share any traits with any other type of gerbil??

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Originally Posted by COLDBLOODED262

if you think about it girbils had to come from one original species and evolved and spread out over the melllenia.almost every creature has a begining species that they started from and evolved from. or are you saying that the gerbil is an animal that does not share any traits with any other type of gerbil??

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That may be true, but YOUR statement was that Gerbils were from Africa, so therefore better to feed to BPs. Which was incorrect. Common pet gerbils in the USA are from Asia.

And, with your reasoning, why not then feed Rats or mice, since they are also related to Gerbils???

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

And, with your reasoning, why not then feed Rats or mice, since they are also related to Gerbils???

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cause girbils have better cents?!?!

:oops:

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Originally Posted by COLDBLOODED262

also bost snakes dont seem to prefer color for the most part but ive foud that when a snke refuses to eat the regular white mice a darker colored like solid brown or black will usualy trigger a feeding reaction but to tell you the truth pythons preffer gerbils cuz that is one of the most common rodent where they come from

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see i didnt say all girbils come from africa what i meant was that gerbils are the most common rodent you will probably find in a pythons natural habitat so therefore the snake will be more apt to eat one its kind of like genetic instinct

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

Common pet gerbils in the USA are from Asia.

And, with your reasoning, why not then feed Rats or mice, since they are also related to Gerbils???

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it realy doesnt matter where it came from a gerbil is a gerbil as far as the snake is concerned

ohh and i do feed mice gerbils cost too much

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Originally Posted by MeMe

cause girbils have better cents?!?!

:oops:

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Good answer LOL:gj:

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just because the gerbils from the pet stores come from mogolia does not mean that there are none in a pythons habitat. Also you cant say tha evey gerbil in every pet store in the us came frome mongolia

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Yes I can actually, in fact I believe that every pet store gerbil in the US came from a small group of around a dozen individuals imported from mongolia to be used as lab animals

My point is, that the gerbils sold in Pet stores are a COMPLETELY different species and have a completely different smell then any rodent species from Africa that shares the range of the ball python. They are NOT a natural prey item for ball pythons.

oh so you know what an african scent is compared to a mongolian?? :colbert:

the main difference between african and mongolian gerbils is their size not cent. that is like saying a brown rat smells totaly different that a white rat

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Originally Posted by LadyOhh

And, with your reasoning, why not then feed Rats or mice, since they are also related to Gerbils???

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Or squirrels, they're in the rodent family..I'm sure there are african squirrels that have a "cent" that BP are used to.....:gj: