Prey - size question

[L.West]

I have to buy my feeders from our monthly reptile show since no pet stores in the area carry the size rat I need.

I usually buy the smallest live rats I can buy (6 at each show) with the hopes that they will feed my one live feeder for that month. I get six just in case one dies or something.

The problem I am running into is that they get too big too quickly then I cant feed them to her. Is it okay (humane) to limit their food supply in order to maintain them at a certain size until feeding day arrives?? Or, does any one have a better way for me to keep them small??

Thanks.

[ballpythonluvr]

The only thing I can tell you is that I never feed smaller then a small sized rat to my male normal. I only buy one at a time though so that I do not run into this problem. Maybe someone else will have better input for you.

[L.West]

I wish I could buy one at a time but I don't have anyone nearby to purchase from. The local pet stores all have huge rats only.

When they do get too large - I do euthanize them to use as f/t down the road but it doesn't help my situation for the one snake that eats live to not have enough to get me through to the next show.

I've thought about breeding my own - but I don't think one live feeder would justify breeding my own.

[Aes_Sidhe]

How big She is ??

I have sometimes similar problem..

I prefer offer my Balls smaller meals but sometimes I dont have choice and will end up with mediums...
You can try buy weaned(just open eyes eat drink by itself) rats 30-44g...
Feed 2 smallest first week.. after that next 2-3 weeks one.

If you afraid that last one could be to big and next show is next week.... If she have nice meal week ago You can skip one week without problems... In meantime I'll try to convert her to F/T... or If you Have more snakes maybe start breed your own feeders...

[ballpythonluvr]

How big She is ??

I have sometimes similar problem..

I prefer offer my Balls smaller meals but sometimes I dont have choice and will end up with mediums...
You can try buy weaned(just open eyes eat drink by itself) rats 30-44g...
Feed 2 smallest first week.. after that next 2-3 weeks one.

If you afraid that last one could be to big and next show is next week.... If she have nice meal week ago You can skip one week without problems... In meantime I'll try to convert her to F/T... or If you Have more snakes maybe start breed your own feeders...

This is great advice. I only have two snakes at the moment so I didn't think my input would be of much help to you.

[L.West]

She is about 750 grams now. She is such a good reliable eater that I don't want to rock the boat with switching her to f/t. I have some finicky eaters and now with her being such a good feeder I don't want to ginx it - lol

The rats I buy are the youngest/smallest you can buy that are ready to be away from their mother. Maybe I am feeding them too much - I just don't know but I usually have a couple that just get too big for me to utilize.

[Aes_Sidhe]

Hmm 750 is Kind of small for medium rats... I was worry to give last night 135g to my 1110g female so I totally Understand your concern...

And with 6 snakes...

Talk to Guy/Gal from your pet store if He/She will be able to buy off excess feeders from you and if yes... start breed.. with one pair of rat breeding and some small from show you'll be able to find a balance... and if you have F/T eaters or Fresh killed eaters maybe you even will not need to sell of excess feeder just feel up Your Freezer...

[Drewp]

I would just breed your rats as you need them if you're keeping live ones in the house at all times anyways

[L.West]

I don't have a clue how to get a breeding program up and running - I've printed off info from this site but it gets confusing when you have no knowledge of rats/breeding.

For instance - how can I be sure that when I buy the breeders that one is female and the other is male.

Will the mother eat her babies - how do I prevent that. How long does mommas stay with the babies.

Does the male only go with the female to breed?

So it seems to me that I would have to have one tank for actual breeding, one tank for weaned babies and one tank for the male to live in when not breeding - sounds simple enough but I don't know why this all intimidates me.

Something new I guess and I hate doing things I know nothing about.

Can any one help me with an easy way to do this (Rat breeding for Dummies) I guess.

[Aes_Sidhe]

There are few people on This forum breeding small colonies of rats...

You can start separate tread on Rat part of Forum or contact them by PM.

Just very fast first person jumping to my head is Brian - Simple Man.
He have small breeding project is knowledgeable person and willing to help... Send him PM or sometimes You can catch him in our Chat box.