Hopper Rat?

[Alexandra V]

So I recently posted a thread about whether I should be bringing my snake up to bigger prey sizes and the answer was yes. He's about 4 months by my reckoning (the store I got him from didn't tell me when he hatched) and he's been on hoppers since I got him.

I was told to bring him up to adult mice or even rat pups, and so I went to the pet store to get a rat to see if he'll take it. The person working there happened to be the person that sold him to me, and she told me that I could try him on rat hoppers. Was she right?

[dembonez]

whats a rat hopper?


for the size guide click this link its a very informative guide on how to tell the difference between sizes!

[Generationshell]

Hmm I thought the smallest rat size was a rat pup, which even then ranges in size.

What is a Rat Hopper?

[xdeus]

Your link didn't seem to work. It may have been this one.

I've never heard of a rat hopper, either. If you breed rats and mice, you'll know why they call them mouse hoppers! Rats don't hop around very much, though.

[saber2th]

Well, one idea is to just go by the thickness of the snake. Feed a food item the same thickness as the snakes body. Another is to feed a food item that is equal to 10-15% of your snakes weight.

[Alexandra V]

Well that's what they called it in the store. It's certainly bigger than a fuzzy, so maybe they were referring to the same stage as a mouse hopper but in rats? I don't know, that was part of the reason why I was confused.

[rimelame]

I usually feed the rat which is the same size as the widest part of the ball python.

[FireStorm]

Well that's what they called it in the store. It's certainly bigger than a fuzzy, so maybe they were referring to the same stage as a mouse hopper but in rats? I don't know, that was part of the reason why I was confused.

I have heard the term rat hopper used this way...I call them weanling rats (since they're just about ready to leave mom).

[MitsuMike]

Rats go:

Pinkie (pink skin)
Fuzzy (peach fuzz fur)
Pup (hairy but not fully weaned and has a body shape of a fuzzy still)
Weanling (A rat that is running around and smaller than a small rat)
Small (40-80 grams)
Medium (80-120 grams)
Larger (120+)