Do Ball Pythons HAVE to Eat Rats?

[RustHeart]

I just asked my friend to weight her for me. We'll have to wait until she does.
I don't know why I didn't think of frozen. I just got upset and worried I backed myself into a corner. I really don't want to be irresponsible but I feel like I have been.

I'll do everything i can to get her switched to frozen rats now. If for some reason she just won't do it I will find her someone who can feed live so she can be healthy. I don't want my feelings to hinder her.

[Bogertophis]

Currently I feed her one adult live mouse a week because that's what the breeder told me. Is that incorrect? Does she need more?

I didn't think about frozen. If she would take it then it would definatly be easier for me to feed rats. I tried once to feed her a frozen mouse but she wouldnt eat it. Although it was the first feeding since I got her and maybe she was scared.

Please get her on f/t (or freshly pre-killed) adult mice A.S.A.P- as bites from mice OR rats can maim or kill a snake when the inevitable slip-up occurs. The veterinary
care to patch her up from such a bite & fight the infection can get expensive, not to mention painful for the snake. There are techniques to transition a snake that is
only wanting live, but please do consider this.

F/T -either mice or rats- is the way to go. You must thaw correctly though & warm the prey up just before offering (use a blow-dryer), so the snake thinks it's alive.

Mice have as much nutrition as rats...it's just that an adult BP may need multiples to be fed adequately...it's only a convenience issue. And btw, I had pet rats long
before I ever got into snakes, so I get where you're coming from. Plus live rats are far more dangerous to your snake.

Depending on what she weighs- her current size- she doesn't sound all that under-fed to me if she's been consuming one adult mouse per week. It's often
healthier for a snake to grow slowly & it's preferable they do not pack on excessive fat...some owners over-feed their snakes & that's not good either. At
a year old, I doubt that what you've been feeding her has been harmful (as in far too little) & you're obviously a caring owner. I'm glad you came here to
help you sort this out.

[Bogertophis]

No they do not and no it's not better for them.

Gram per gram of food it's all the same now the difference is, it will be better for YOU which ultimately is not the most important.


The advantage of feeding rats is that you will only have to feed one to an adult whereas mice you will have to feed multiples.

This ^ ^ ^ ^ ^! And I've seen charts analyzing the nutrients of rodents, rats & mice are very close & perfectly adequate either way, so don't worry about that.

[KevinK]

Ill say it again....Though it's minor, they are not the same in terms of nutrition. Especially when feeding adult rats vs adult mice. BUT to state the point that there's no need to feed multiples of mice is logical.

https://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

Different fat percentages, protein, crude matter. I listened to an hour conversation about this from the person who produced my female JCP....and he happens to be the head zookeeper of reptiles at the Santa Barbara zoo. Once again, minor differences....but there are differences.

[Bogertophis]

Ill say it again....Though it's minor, they are not the same in terms of nutrition. Especially when feeding adult rats vs adult mice. BUT to state the point that there's no need to feed multiples of mice is logical.

https://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

Different fat percentages, protein, crude matter. I listened to an hour conversation about this from the person who produced my female JCP....and he happens to be the head zookeeper of reptiles at the Santa Barbara zoo. Once again, minor differences....but there are differences.

Well the thing is, ball pythons did NOT evolve eating domestic rats either...just saying. And the Santa Barbara zoo is pretty small...I went to college in S.B.

I suspect that you could likewise come up with a PERFECT diet for humans too, yet we all survive without such a thing (some better than others, yes) and no one suggests we should all eat identical food. Why is that?

[RustHeart]

So I am thinking that my best choice is to keep her on mice for now but switch to frozen. Then when I get out of school, which will be 6 months at the most, I will switch to frozen rats. This is purely because I don't want to have to ask my friend to switch it up so much. Especially since she's already doing me a huge favor for caring for my snake and paying for her food for this long. Plus if young ball pythons can eat mice just fine it should be okay.

I am seeing two different options here about which is better. I think it'll be best to go with frozen rats just because it would be easier than doing multible mice. As long as its already dead I dont think I will have an issue emotionally to feed it.

Plus if it's healthier I defiantly want her to have the more healthy option. I understand some people say its the same health wise but more convenient and possibly healthier seems good to me. Sounds like a win win.

My friend doesn't have a way to weigh her so I have to wait until she gets one. So I probably won't get the weight today. I really hope she's still small enough for a single mouse and she hasnt been underfed. I'd feel terrible.

[Craiga 01453]

I just asked my friend to weight her for me. We'll have to wait until she does.
I don't know why I didn't think of frozen. I just got upset and worried I backed myself into a corner. I really don't want to be irresponsible but I feel like I have been.

I'll do everything i can to get her switched to frozen rats now. If for some reason she just won't do it I will find her someone who can feed live so she can be healthy. I don't want my feelings to hinder her.

I applaud you for trying to do things right. You've f0und a great place to learn.

My advice: read, read and read some more. There's a lot to learn, but once you've got it sorted out BPs are very easy to keep and make awesome pets.

Keep up the good work, you'll get there...and the end results will be rewarding for you and your snake.

[Zincubus]

They do not have to eat rats. I have several females that are strict mousers that reliably lay 10-12 eggs every year.

Yeah .... they can be easily fed on frozen thawed XL mice , rats , chicks or even Multies .. some people mix them all up to Lee things interesting...

Pretty sure recent studies show that Mice and Rats are virtually identical nutritionally-wise .

When the Royal gets to a decent size It's just easier to feed one rat rather than two , three or more XL Mice .

In my area frozen small rats are SIX times more expensive than XL mice - so feeding a rat is not really a saving much if anything .

Frozen thawed are much cheaper and more much convenient than feeding live ones ..


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[Zincubus]

No they do not and no it's not better for them.

Gram per gram of food it's all the same now the difference is, it will be better for YOU which ultimately is not the most important.


The advantage of feeding rats is that you will only have to feed one to an adult whereas mice you will have to feed multiples.

Exactly !


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[Bogertophis]

Actually there's something to be said for offering various prey items to our snakes...that is, if we truly want to replicate how they live in the "real world"?
And we haven't even included ASFs (African soft furred rats) in this discussion either? https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...46-ASF-VS-Rats

When I used to breed mice, rats, dwarf hamsters & a few gerbils, I did exactly that, but remember that all of our domestic rodents are much fatter than their
wild counter-parts (they have a "cushy" life & eat lots more grain instead of plants & insects), and in any event, BPs can be picky about food so offering them
variety can backfire. My rat snakes & king snakes were never fussy about variety though & it's probably good for them.