thinking about breeding mice

[RichsBallPythons]

IMO I'd stop thinking about breeding mice and start thinking about breedng rats or ASFs. Rats dont smell as bad as mice, and ASFs dont smell as bad as rats. Also rats get up to size faster than mice, plus if you think about the future you're going to need a heck of a lot of mice(4-7 full sized mice per snake) to feed adult sized ball pythons whereas if it were rats you'd only need one medium rat per snake.

Just my

This is whats wrong with a lot of information out there. One pushing ones opinion on another. ALL ANIMALS STINK if not taken care of. If they stink CLEAN THEM. I have about 500+ mice in a 84F room at any given day and it hardly ever stinks unless its day i clean them. Have members here that can vouch that.

For one ASF is illegal in some states so to feed that as a sole diet to some hatchlings that could be sold off IMO is dumb. Rats do get to size faster, But if overwhelmed to fast they will out grow the biggest ball and then your stuck with something wasting food.

Gram per gram mice, rats, asf are just as good as one another. Considering NO ONE knows what these snakes nutritional values are. I have breeders on mice bigger than ones on rats. They all grow differently no matter what their fed on.

Most adults do well on one small rat a week, 2-3 breeder mice a week , or 1-2 adult ASF a week.

And when talking about hatchlings, Mice are easier to get them going, cheaper and easier for customers to get their hands on. Not everyone buying a snkae will have access to live rats of all sizes or as stated ASFs.

All snakes i dont plan on keeping are fed live mice for ease of purchasing food when with new owners.

[mainbutter]

im just worried i wont be able to get them to switch to rats

And this is why I never feed mice to any python.

It's ridiculous to think that you can sustain a 2000+ gram snake (or worse, an entire breeding group) on mice, you'll need to feed them rats or ASFs eventually.

[RichsBallPythons]

And this is why I never feed mice to any python.

It's ridiculous to think that you can sustain a 2000+ gram snake (or worse, an entire breeding group) on mice, you'll need to feed them rats or ASFs eventually.

Says who, again show me documentation that says they must be fed larger meals like rats inorder to thrive and grow. I have 2 mouse eaters who are 2200+g and only eat 3 adults mice a week. Both have laid 5 and 9 eggs, so tell me where its a must.

FEED WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. Dont pawn off your opinion on others saying if they dont get their snake on rats its a shoe in they will never breed or get of size.

[shorty54]

I breed Mice and Rats! Started with 1.2 now have babies.....lol!

[Powerspythons]

This is whats wrong with a lot of information out there. One pushing ones opinion on another.

I'm pretty sure thats exactly what you just did in your post...All I did was provide my point of view on this subject. And I dont appreciate people like you who think they know everything about everything coming in and discounting my opinion because you disagree with it. This entire forum is based on people asking for help on certain subjects and others sharing their opinions on those subjects.. who are you to decide who's opinion is right or wrong??

[RichsBallPythons]

I'm pretty sure thats exactly what you just did in your post...All I did was provide my point of view on this subject. And I dont appreciate people like you who think they know everything about everything coming in and discounting my opinion because you disagree with it. This entire forum is based on people asking for help on certain subjects and others sharing their opinions on those subjects.. who are you to decide who's opinion is right or wrong??

When you come in and tell someone to stop thinking about mice as its not good or beneficial to their snake, thats when i came in to tell you your wrong. Mice are just as good as rats or any other prey item for snakes.

And my posts didnt tell the OP to do this or that, i gave him information that can be compiled to get their answer. You do what works for you, not tell someone not to do something cause YOU think its not good.

[jasbus]

Popcorn anyone?

[Powerspythons]

When you come in and tell someone to stop thinking about mice as its not good or beneficial to their snake, thats when i came in to tell you your wrong. Mice are just as good as rats or any other prey item for snakes.

And my posts didnt tell the OP to do this or that, i gave him information that can be compiled to get their answer. You do what works for you, not tell someone not to do something cause YOU think its not good.

The very first thing in my post said 'IMO' which in case you didnt realize means 'In My Opinion'...meaning that going with rats instead of mice was what I would do, I didnt tell anyone to do anything. I then went on to explain why I would choose rats over mice. But anyways, I dont want to hijack this thread with useless arguments. So that's all I have to say on the subject.

[Herp4life11]

Popcorn anyone?

Yes please! Oh and extra butter too