Rat pups or large adult mice?

[KevinK]

I'm going to be ordering from rodent pro pretty soon and I want to know if rat pups are really worth it?

They're twice the price and I only have one ball python. Would I be better off getting 50 large mice and then switching to weanling rats later? Or should I start my bp on rat pups now?

Also, what is the maximum time rodents stay good for in the freezer?

[Herpking]

It would probably be best for you if you stuck to local pet store for now. Also check out http://www.laynelabs.com/ you can get less quality instead of bulk buying like 500 at a time

[KevinK]

It would probably be best for you if you stuck to local pet store for now.

1) I wouldn't be ordering 500. 2) Mice are $11 for 4 at my local pet store, so no it wouldn't be better

Even if I throw half of them away it's still going to be cheaper to order from rodent pro WITH shipping prices included.

[notmyfault]

i suggest http://www.bigcheeserodents.com/ . Depending on what you get, shipping and handling is the cheapest i've found for small orders, for 2 bags of weaned rats, i payed $35 for 2 day shipping to NY from Texas

[Maddumpling]

Doesnt rats in general have more nutrition than mice? So if you want more weight on your snake I would give rats. Plus you are going to have to give your snakes rats later on when they get bigger so yea.

[Herpking]

Rats may be more expensive, but is it not worth it in the long run?

[Herpking]

i suggest http://www.bigcheeserodents.com/ . Depending on what you get, shipping and handling is the cheapest i've found for small orders, for 2 bags of weaned rats, i payed $35 for 2 day shipping to NY from Texas

Never knew of this place thanks

[Daybreaker]

I've gotten a big bulk order from Rodent Pro a couple months ago so here's my suggestions/comments (I got both the large adult mice and the rat pups as well as a bag of rat weanlings):

The rat pups and mice were usually around the same size (in grams: around 20-28 each) so just going by size vs. price IMO the large mice are the better deal. But you might run into this problem as I did: I got these large quantity bags and before I was able to use them up my snakes were already on the next size up (ie Jumbo mice or Weaner rats) but thankfully all my snakes are on different sized feeders so this worked out for me. For you though only having one snake, I would recommend getting a bag of the next size up (ie either the Jumbo mice or the rat weanlings - most being anywhere from 35-50 grams) and in the meantime buy from a petstore the size you need at this point in time. Your snake will most likely grow rather quickly and be able to take the jumbos or weanlings soon and you won't need to worry about having a big bag of a smaller sized prey item sitting in your freezer.

If you are going to expand your collection soon you should be fine with the order of the adult mice or pups if your new additions are younger. Even if you do decide to get a order of the adult mice or pups without getting more snakes soon you can always double up on your feeding days (feeding more than one feeder item at a time) but then you run into the problem of a snake not wanting to take multiples. But then you can shorten the time inbetween feedings (I have one BP what will NOT take anything larger than a 30 grams mouse and she's in the 550 gram range so instead of a seven day schedule she's on a ~5 day)

Bottom line: I'd pick up some rat wealings if you want him to be only a rat eater since he'll be on them soon enough and in the meantime just get feeders from the petstore. It will be worth your shipping charges to get more than one bag of mice or rats though.

Also, I'm sure it will be easy to convert your snake from mice to rats if you want to go that route instead of starting him right on pups.

[KevinK]

Thank you for the advice! I do have an adult corn though that eats every 10 days (large mice) and the ball python that eats about every week.

What would you order?

[szynk.reptiles]

i switch to rats while still long ... u may find it easier to make the switch now vs. later.. i bought a proven breeder spider male that was a mouse eater and ive been spending weeks getting him to regularly eat rats.. i much perfer to feed rats
but i also perfer live vs. ft