Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 853

1 members and 852 guests
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,905
Threads: 249,105
Posts: 2,572,113
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, Pattyhud
Results 1 to 10 of 11

Threaded View

  1. #3
    BPnet Royalty JLC's Avatar
    Join Date
    01-28-2004
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    31,651
    Thanks
    3,195
    Thanked 7,203 Times in 3,028 Posts
    Blog Entries
    37
    Images: 304

    Re: Fact or Fiction?

    1. Cage aggression due to feeding within the animal's enclosure is pure fiction. While there may be other reasonable considerations for feeding outside the enclosure (avoiding substrate ingestion, for instance) that is not one of them. And especially when considering big snakes, moving them to feed is not only unnecessary, it can be dangerous.

    If you think about it...you open the cage to refresh the water. You open the cage to clean. You open the cage just to visit. And you open the cage to feed. Why would the snake then suddenly associate opening with ONLY feeding? And if you DID only open the cage for feeding purposes and nothing else, then the snake has a lot more problems on its plate and of course it may be aggressive.

    2. While the nutritional composition of rats and mice can be compared...no one has ever done (to the best of my knowledge) a comprehensive study on exactly what a particular snake species NEEDS in regards to specific nutrition. You can't say rats are better than mice because they have more calcium per weight...because maybe the snake doesn't need that extra calcium. We just don't know. Ball pythons, for instance, seem to thrive equally well on either mice or rats as a lifetime staple.

    Your RTB, however, will very quickly outgrow mice. While it is a baby, they are fine...but as it gets bigger, even the biggest mice will simply be too small for it to consume. It may even cease to recognize them as a viable food source when its head is so big it could not easily draw the tiny rodent down into its throat...much less constrict such a tiny thing to kill it. And as it grows, you'll find yourself having to feed off a handful of mice at a time, when a single rat would get the job done just as well and much more simply.

    If you're heart-set on never feeding rats to a snake, then you may need to rethink your choice of species.
    -- Judy

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to JLC For This Useful Post:

    cecilbturtle (05-06-2011)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1