question about rats...

I have a male and female ball python, both eating small rats.
(well, the rats are big for 'small'... but the pet store has issues.)
Ok, so... the last time my guys ate was DEC 26th. I offered them
food on Jan 9th, and again last Friday, the 23rd.
They have just decided it's not time yet, and I know balls are sometimes
finicky.
Setup: (because I know someone's likely to ask) :)
They're in a rack, in 30qt tubs, on aspen bedding, and each snake
has a hide. temps are 83 - 92, humidity is 56%, in BOTH tubs.

My question is this... until the snakes are ready to eat,
how can I keep two rats happy and healthy?
Right now I have them in a 10 gal tank, with a water bottle, food bowl
(with Kaytee rat food) and aspen bedding, with a small snake hide.
I also got them 2 'cheese chews', which I guess gives them
something to chew on that's good for them.

They may be food, but I want them to be comfy and happy until
the end.

An exercise wheel and maybe a second story with a tube running up to it.
But exercise wheel will suffice :)

I have a couple picky snakes that just will NOT eat during the winter. Most eat just fine throughout the year. Are these adult snakes then? I've never had problems with juveniles not eating, since those guys are just eating machines. Your best bet is to double and triple check your temps, and then offer food once a week. You can even skip a week here or there.

Also 10 gallons is a bit small for two rats. That would be my biggest concern for you rats.

Yep, both adults. :) Female's about 3 years old, the male's about 6.
Last year when the temps dropped outside the female didn't eat
for about 4 months, but normally she's an eating machine.
Temps are spot on, always constant. I measure them with an
accurite in the tubs, and a temp gun every other day. So, I'm
99% sure they're solid. :)

I couldn't afford more than a 10 gal. atm... :( I kinda feel bad for them,
cuz tey look so bored! Right now one is in the hide, and the other
is outside the hide, just curled up on the the aspen.

I'd love to take them out and play with them.. but I don't wanna get attached, or get bit! :P

10 gallon is plenty of space for 2 rats. Add a wheel and you're set. A multi-level is cool too. Just put half of a cardboard shoebox in there, cut a hole the size of an empty roll of paper towel towards the front edge, stick the empty paper towel roll in there to use as a ladder, then put a little substrate on top of the shoebox and you're good. You might want to check that the rats are the same sex. You might end up with rat babies! Rats grow fast too. So, hopefully your snakes will eat soon!
Rats that age will bite, so you'll need to be careful petting them.

I keep 1 rat per small plastic container, with food, water, and a hide. Then I keep the container in a dark part of the room and never really bother to check on them or do anything with them unless I think the substrate needs to be changed (the water will last them a week, and the food is usually a heck of a lot for them. So there you go, I don't bother with large spaces or exercise wheels, and I don't keep them for more than a week. They, like the snakes, want tight dark spaces, food and water. Although, unlike the snakes, they want companionship. So I suppose keeping more than one together in a larger container would be better so they could have someone to spend time with.

They don't really "need" exercise wheels or climbing devices. They're happy as long as they have the basics for life; food, water, comfort. If you don't ant to keep more than one at a time then you can play with them yourself and they are EXTREMELY happy about it, provided you know how to show love to a small animal. Within 5 minutes I have them licking and nuzzling me... this is why I stopped feeding live rats. I like them, they like me, I can't keep them as pets since their presence puts my snakes in feed mode (which is uncomfortable over long periods of time). Either I get them the day I intend to feed them to the snakes, or I get frozen.

a 10 gallon is plenty of space for 2 small rats. i've bred rats 1.2 in 10 gallons for years. they do like a box or something to hide in.

I started buying my rats in bulk so to speak, I buy 3 weeks worth at a time(9 rats, 3 diff sizes) they go into a 20 gal tank w/water & food. works great for me....so far

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! :)
I actually have one more question, althought I'm pretty
sure I can guess the answer.

Is it normal for the rats to push their bedding up into their
food bowl? That seems to be the first thing they do when I
freshen up the food. :P

*note- both rats are female!* :D

Your rats will grow too big for any ball python in a week.

Are you planning on keeping them as pets? Otherwise, I see no reason to not gassing them and freezing, or taking them back.

Actually, my snakes won't have any problems eating either of these two
rats after just one week. Much longer than 2 weeks, yea...then there'd be
a problem. I realize that you don't need to feed a 'medium' rat to any size ball python, even though they might be large enough to safely swallow and digest them. But, as the only pet store here in town (other than petsmart,
which, IMHO, is a joke), They will not take any type of return, or exchange on feeders.
Perhaps it's a safety thing with feeders? The store doesn't know if the 'food'
has been exposed to mites, or a virus or fungus or anything of that sort.
Or... perhaps they just don't like the hassle of returns/echanges.

We'll just hafta see what happens... I plan on attempting to feed again tomorrow, so wish me luck! :P
If they don't get eaten... they may get donated back to a store.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Your rats will grow too big for any ball python in a week.

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not true. i have rats a bought 5 weeks ago as mediums and some of my balls could eat them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nova2door

not true. i have rats a bought 5 weeks ago as mediums and some of my balls could eat them.

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They could, but should they?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iFlingP00

I have a male and female ball python, both eating small rats.
(well, the rats are big for 'small'... but the pet store has issues.)
Ok, so... the last time my guys ate was DEC 26th. I offered them
food on Jan 9th, and again last Friday, the 23rd.
They have just decided it's not time yet, and I know balls are sometimes
finicky.
Setup: (because I know someone's likely to ask) :)
They're in a rack, in 30qt tubs, on aspen bedding, and each snake
has a hide. temps are 83 - 92, humidity is 56%, in BOTH tubs.

My question is this... until the snakes are ready to eat,
how can I keep two rats happy and healthy?
Right now I have them in a 10 gal tank, with a water bottle, food bowl
(with Kaytee rat food) and aspen bedding, with a small snake hide.
I also got them 2 'cheese chews', which I guess gives them
something to chew on that's good for them.

They may be food, but I want them to be comfy and happy until
the end.

---

If theyre male and female just put them together theyll be more than happy:gj::banana:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TMoore

They could, but should they?

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yes, i have some that are 8 and 10 years old and they eat med or large rats
i understand his are not as big as mine, but you said ANY ball

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nova2door

yes, i have some that are 8 and 10 years old and they eat med or large rats
i understand his are not as big as mine, but you said ANY ball

---

i have one that if i feed it a med you dont see much of a bulge

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nova2door

yes, i have some that are 8 and 10 years old and they eat med or large rats
i understand his are not as big as mine, but you said ANY ball

---

Actually I said any ball. ;)

Maybe others rats don't grow as fast as mine, but my 5-6 week old rats are big enough for my bloods and bci, whereas ball pythons might have a tough time but may still manage to get it down. Should I have worded it differently to say that a ball python doesn't need such a large meal to survive in captivity?

Perhaps for your's and others benefit, I'll remove the 'any' next time or couple it with an 'other than'. ;)


And to help illustrate my point, my rats at 9 weeks of age are anywhere from 175-250 grams. Thats a big rat for any ball, not many people will have ball pythons capable of easily eating a rat that large, though they may be able to manage getting it down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nixer

i have one that if i feed it a med you dont see much of a bulge

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my one that is about 8 or 9 years old ate 2 med rats last week and you coudn't see a bulge at all. i only feed it 1 but the other snake didn't want his and it was f/t so i didn't want to waste it.