Size of Rat?

[duffmanrc]

I got my first snakes 2 weeks ago and i have been feeding them 2 adult mice each. I want to get them on rats as soon as possible. I've been looking online at purchasing frozen rats but im not sure what size of rat to get. My snakes are all yearlings and are around 235-245g. They are around 1 1/2" in diameter, what rat is around that size? Weanling, small or medium?

Thanks for your help in advance.

[Kagez28]

what you feed them rats before. cause i would make sure they will eat them before you buy a bunch of frozen ones. some ball pythons never switch over, some do it very easily, just got to give it a try.

[duffmanrc]

no i havent fed them rats yet, but i want to try to switch them over. How would you suggest i try this? look for live rats first?

[Kagez28]

are they already eating frozen mice? if so just try a frozen rat and see if they take it. if they don't eat the frozen rat, there are many tricks to try and get them on rats. some may never switch over, just so you know.

[duffmanrc]

no, they are eating live mice, and they have been their whole life. I want to switch them to rats, frozen ones to be exact. They are real strong feeders, so i am hoping they will be ok with the switch

[dotc0m]

Well that's a two step process. Since you're feeding live, you need to get them to F/T, and you're feeding mice, so you need to switch them over to rats.

In my opinion, I would switch them to rats first while still maintaining a live feeding. I feel they have better feeding responses to anything that's live vs dead. Also there are tricks to get them to take the rat (ie. prescent the rat with soiled mice bedding). Usually they just take them.

The hard part from my experience is switching them to F/T. Some switch easily while others may be difficult. Again, there are tricks to doing this I guess (ie. prekilling a live rat for a few weeks, then trying a f/t one and etc).

Whichever you do first, is up to you. I would switch to rats first, then F/T.

[duffmanrc]

thanks for the tips


What size rats would you say to try tho?

[Kagez28]

i would say rat pups would be good.... they are about the size of an adult mouse.

heres a little growth chart for reference: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...9&postcount=32


Hope this helps.

[SGB_74]

hmm i posted a thread just now with the same question but in the feeders forum...

[BostonMacK]

Just wondering why you feel the need to switch over to rats so soon? Your snakes at 235-245g are not very big and two mice at that size should be fine. Why not try and switch them over to F/T mice while they are still eating mice and then switch over to F/T rats in the near future? My snake was about 800g before I switched him over to small rats (40g or so) and up until then he was getting 2 adult mice a week. He is now around 1200g and is getting one 70-80g rat a week which is where I plan to stay for the time being.