Feeding Multiple Rodents vs Feeding ONE Right-Sized Rodent

[Charles8088]

I'm considering buying rodents online, but have the same problem as everyone else with only 1 or 2 snakes... shipping. But, in some ways, if I actually purchased the right amount of the right sized rodents, it would still be cheaper than local prices. But, with minimal packs being as much as 50 rodents, I don't see "the right amount of the right sized rodents" happening. Pinky/Fuzzy/Hopper mice are all $2/each here locally.

So, question is, if I overbought the sized rodents I need, is it bad to just give the snake two rodents to feed the right weight quantity, or should I really strive to feed one?

And, second, IF I feed 2 rodents, how much time should I give in between feeding each rodent?

[JRust]

My bull snake was raised on mice and when she started growing I tried rats but she never took, so I gave her two mice instead, now 18 years later she eats 5 mice at a time. So to answer your question it's absolutely fine to feed multiple smaller rodents and I don't wait, I throw all 5 on a log and she eats them back to back.

[Booper]

In my opinion, it depends on the snake. Some will happily take multiples, and others won't. Wanda my normal has taken multiples with no problem, but the previous owner of Cinnamon my Spider said he refuses multiples. My suggestion would be to buy a few from your local store to see if they will take it, and if they do it's a win

[cchardwick]

I saw an experiment one snake breeder did and he fed multiple rodents vs one large one and compared growth rate of hatchling corn snakes. For some reason the snake that ate one large rodent grew twice as fast and was literally twice as big at the end of the experiment even though he ate the same weight of rodents. I found that fascinating. Both snakes were totally healthy though. I do notice when I give larger rodents to a snake it grows like a rocket!

[Craiga 01453]

I think you'll find that colubrids are very different from BPs, and definitely in this regard. My King wouldn't switch over to rats, but as far as mice, he will basically eat whatever I put in his enclosure. He's over 4 feet and 676 grams as of last week. He has eaten 3 lg adult (~20 grams) mice in one sitting, I just offered one after another (one was an unexpected BP refusal). He'll eat 2 lg adult mice often, he's even eaten a pinkie and a fuzzy refusal from my corn snake.

So I guess the point I'm trying to make is, if your new MBK outgrows a prey item and you have some left, double up and they will be eaten. Maybe even just keep them in the freezer until the next size prey is getting almost too small. Then feed one of each??

Honestly, with a King, I highly doubt they will go to waste.

[jbzapanda]

I've been in your position. I ordered 50 small mice when I first got my bp and then very quickly realized I made a big mistake since he grew rather quickly I didn't want them to go to waste, so at one point he was eating 5 (hopper?) mice. I offered it after he realigned his jaw and his tongue was flicking again. That was my indicator that he was ready to take another one. He now eats 1 small medium rats every 10-12 days

[EL-Ziggy]

I agree with what's already been said. I prefer to feed one prey item whenever possible but there's nothing wrong with feeding multiple prey items until your snake is ready to move up to the next prey size or if you have a few undersized feeders to finish off. My adult kings were pretty finicky when it came to rats so I gave them (2) jumbo mice or (1) jumbo mouse and a chick per feeding.

@ JRust- I couldn't imagine feeding my female bull snake mice. She'd need at least (6) jumbo mice for every meal vs. 1 large or jumbo rat. That would be a real pain.

[CloudtheBoa]

I saw an experiment one snake breeder did and he fed multiple rodents vs one large one and compared growth rate of hatchling corn snakes. For some reason the snake that ate one large rodent grew twice as fast and was literally twice as big at the end of the experiment even though he ate the same weight of rodents. I found that fascinating. Both snakes were totally healthy though. I do notice when I give larger rodents to a snake it grows like a rocket!

Interesting. I found the opposite to be true with my snakes (the ones I've fed multiples to anyways). When I fed my retic multiple weaned/small rats, she grew a lot faster than she ever did on a single large/colossal rat or x-small rabbit. She grew 1.5' in the matter of 2-3 weeks which she had never done before and hasn't replicated since (she's only grown 2'-3' in the ~1-1.5 years since). Other than that period in time, she hasn't gotten any multiples. I also noticed this in my BRB Sanji. When I was feeding him multiple hopper mice, he grew faster than he did on a single jumbo mouse or weaned rat, though not to the extreme of the retic. My garter Demigod gained weight extremely quickly on multiple pinkie mice and grew in length, too. Though at just over 4 years old, his growth has finally plateaued.


So for that reason I myself choose to avoid multiple prey items where possible, and prefer to feed an undersized meal until they grow large enough for the next size up. Which I have not had a problem with any of my snakes growing even on smaller meals, though I don't get the young monsters that other keepers do. Not that that's my goal.


As far as the feeder package size Charles8088, try ordering from a company that offers smaller package quantities, like Layne Labs or Perfect Prey.

[scalrtn]

If you want to feed one prey item at a time, you can also play with feeding frequency. Last week my 3 yr. old King shed (8 days without feeding), and she took took 2 Jumbo Adults afterwards. Normally, she gets 1 Jumbo adult every five days (or, if you prefer, 2 every 10). This is basically in keeping with Brian Hubbs ("A Natural History of Common Kingsnakes") recommendation to feed around twice a week, at which point you feed one (or even two) "appropriately-sized" prey.

She's currently around 53 inches, and weighs right around 1000g.