Alternating between feeder mice/rat ?

[Raf702]

I was wondering if this is will cause a problem. Reason being is, my BP(5-6 months old) has been eating Live rat-pups with no issues. By the way I just got him over 2 weeks ago. Well the source I go to doesn't always have Live rat-pups available. Since of course they serve to other customers who request for rat-pups as well. With that being said, will there be a feeding issue alternating between mice/rat when one is not available?

Yesterday was feeding day, and he ate a weaned to medium sized mouse without any issues. And the mouse was equivalent in size/weight to the rat-pup I gave him the previous week. I'm wondering if it's still fine to continue this pattern. Because I don't know any other rat breeders that are near my area who have large supplies of Live rats in various sizes.

By the way, I prefer and do Live(supervised), or pre-killed, not interested in F/T feedings at the moment.

I appreciate anyone's opinions or thoughts. Thanks!

[mdjudson]

Sometimes when they take a mouse they will want nothing to do with a rat ever again. This can become a pain when the snake is bigger and you have to feed 5-6 mice a week. If I had a snake eating rats it would never get again. I made that mistake before now I can't get her to have any interest in rats but if your snake will switch back and forth I can't see a problem doing it.

[Raf702]

Sounds interesting, thanks! Wow 5-6x mice a week seems like a lot. I would think maybe 2-3 large mice or 1 jumbo/xl mice and a large mice would make up the difference for an appropriate sized rat. Hopefully my BP won't have issues alternating back and forth, so far so good.

[TomC]

As long as the snake takes them it is not a problem. I have one now that prefferes mice and I am trying to switch her over. She will eat rats but she will only take one about every 14 days and I want her on a 7 day schedule. I am hoping she will come around.

[dkoehl26]

Sometimes when they take a mouse they will want nothing to do with a rat ever again. This can become a pain when the snake is bigger and you have to feed 5-6 mice a week. If I had a snake eating rats it would never get again. I made that mistake before now I can't get her to have any interest in rats but if your snake will switch back and forth I can't see a problem doing it.

I have a big female close to 1800 grams who only eats mice. It is a pain in the but.

[Raf702]

As of last week, my BP had his first Adult mouse. And it went well, though it took a lot longer for him to swallow the mouse compared to the medium sized mouse he had last week.

Well now that he's capable of eating adult/large mice, I want him back on rats again. But a weaned rat is a tad too big for his size right now. And the rat-pups I have access to aren't as big as the adult mice I had recently fed him. And looks to be lesser in grams than the adult/large mice.

Can I feed him 2 rat-pups in one sitting to make up for the size/grams of the adult mouse? If so, how soon do I give him the second rat-pup? Then eventually he will be grow big enough to take weaned rats, etc. Thanks everyone!

[karb0n13]

It is my understanding thar you should be shooting for 10% of your BPs weight at each feeding. E.G. If my bp weighs 300g I would feed him 30g of food wether it be 2 mice or one rat pup.

[stratus_020202]

Can I feed him 2 rat-pups in one sitting to make up for the size/grams of the adult mouse? If so, how soon do I give him the second rat-pup? Then eventually he will be grow big enough to take weaned rats, etc. Thanks everyone!

Yes, you can do this. I usually wait 10 min between feedings if I'm doing more than one. It shouldn't be a problem as long as your bp is still hungry.

It is my understanding thar you should be shooting for 10% of your BPs weight at each feeding. E.G. If my bp weighs 300g I would feed him 30g of food wether it be 2 mice or one rat pup.

This works for young bp's, but kind of tappers off as they get older. I have a 2000K gram girl that might take a 80-90 gram rat if she's hungry enough. There is no way I would ever get her to take a 200 gram rat. That is huge.

OP - I have one adult bp that is a mouse eater. He gets anywhere from 2 to 3 big mice a week. What he doesn't eat gets fed off to the younger bps. He is the only one I can't switch to rats. Usually the younger they are, the easier it is to switch back and forth. But, I really think it depends on how picky your bp is. Good luck!

[Raf702]

Sounds good, thanks for the info! I'll try 2 rat-pups on his next feeding, hopefully that goes well.

Also, how can you tell if the BP is still hungry? Thanks again

[Johan]

Sounds good, thanks for the info! I'll try 2 rat-pups on his next feeding, hopefully that goes well.

Also, how can you tell if the BP is still hungry? Thanks again

They usually do a lot of licking and move around quite a bit if in a tub. Sometimes you just have to try a second