which is better?

[jess6905]

What feeders do you find are better for your snakes? We now have 10 snakes 8 bps and 2 rtbs. Most are on rats, and one will only take white mice. I'm planing to start a small breeding colony of mice for my one girl, but I'm undecided if I want to breed rats or asfs for the rest. What do you find are pros and cons to breeding/feeding out rats and asfs?

[Mike41793]

Rats are big enough so that you would only have to feed your rtb one or two. ASFs stay alot smaller as far as i know. I would breed rats and try and convert your mouser to rats. I would not breed mice bc generally they smell worse and you have to clean the bedding more often. (this is a general observation from what ive read on here, not saying its true in all cases).

[RobNJ]

They all are more or less the same as far as breeding goes...you keep them clean, keep them well fed/watered and you'll be fine. As far as feeding goes, there's nothing to support any of them being better than the other, but as your snakes get larger, rats are of more convenience/efficiency than mice or ASF's.

[Anatopism]

NORWAY RATS all the way. Considerably easier to breed, FAR fewer aggression problems between each other, and much lower chance of a mother killing her babies. They also seem to breed MUCH more consistently than ASFs or Mice. If I miss a pregnant rat and am too late in moving to a maternity tub, male norway rats rarely ever harm the babies. If I have orphaned baby rats due to a first time mom not quite being sure of how to be a mom, I never have an issue with being able to plop the babies in with another mom to take care of them.

Mice are notoriously a pain in the rear, frequently are aggressive towards each other and are MUCH more sensitive/easily stressed, and therefore tend to have more issues being good mothers.

I like ASFs and have a very small colony, but they don't get large enough to be able to feed just a single one as a proper meal for a large BP, and you would need several to feed anything but the smallest RTB. They take FOREVER to become sexually mature, but once able, they produce produce produce, and then they stop entirely... in a norway rat colony you can very easily add 'new blood'. Very frequently with ASFs people have difficulty introducing new blood to the colony and unless you are adding very young ASFs, the adults will frequently attack each other.

As for nutritional value, I can't weigh in. I feed Norways, and only have ASFs to scent rats for stubborn eaters, or to start babies if they wont start on rat pinks (rarely an issue). My primary reason for keeping ASFs is that I would like to have a large enough colony to be able to sell to others for feeders, because otherwise they don't have much use for my snakes.

You couldn't pay me enough to breed mice.

[I-KandyReptiles]

ASFs also take generally longer to get to a bigger size. Rats would be your best bet.

[RobNJ]

Mice are notoriously a pain in the rear, frequently are aggressive towards each other and are MUCH more sensitive/easily stressed, and therefore tend to have more issues being good mothers.

This is obviously a strong(and misfounded) opinion...I've been breeding mice and rats for well over 2 years now and have never had an issue with mice being aggressive, having maternal issues, eating babies, etc... Maybe I'm just lucky, but after 1,000's of mice, I don't think so.

[Sama]

I breed mice, rats and ASF. The one I have had the hardest time with personally is the ASF by far. They are handy to have around for the stubborn feeder but if you have the option I would stick to rats, they are very forgiving of beginner mistakes and get the right size for the rtb. ASF tend to stay smaller and from my experience grow much slower. I love mice too by the way, awesome critters!

[jess6905]

The rtbs are my friends and only staying till he either finds a home for himself where he can have them again or a new permanent home for them. For that reason I don't mind buying them rats if need be. My picky eater refuses rats. I got her to take 2 when I first switched to rats and since then nothing. I tried offering rats after she goes off feed for about 2-3 weeks at shedding time and she refuses. I have tried putting the rat into a tank with mouse bedding and everything else I could think of still nothing. I even make sure they are the right color white as possible. It's hard to get rat pups here unless they are about a month old so trying smaller pups is a challenge. I'm open to suggestions on getting her to switch over.

I don't mind breeding the rats for everyone. My friend knows someone who breeds asf locally which is why I was asking about them. On the topic of breeding mice.... I've done it in the past with minimal aggression, and they were all very good mothers. Thanks for the in input much appreciated!

[punyhuman07]

To be honest with you ASF are only good if you have stubborn feeders. They are the crack of the rodent world. We Breed rodents and have had people that fed steady on them but never got them to cross back over to regular rats. Also if you can get them all feeding an the correct size rats then that's the way to go IMO. Mice are good but I still think rats are way healthier. More bone structure for more calcium and when they are still nursing then getting the milk from momma that is even more calcium. When we switched from mice to rats we notice a better healthier snake better clutches of eggs and everything else. That is my 2 cents lol....

[Stewart_Reptiles]

It's not about what's better because nutritionally gram per gram it's all the same, now on the convenience level it's obviously easier to feed one prey than multiples.

But ultimately it's about what works for you and your snakes.