Bet you don't see this too often...

[zues]

I don't think one is better than the other as far as nutrition goes. Here is a pic I posted on a forum last year. It is sub adult or sm mouse and a rat pup. This is the typical size mouse I was getting at the pet store at the time. The mouse in the pic weighed 19 grams and the rat pup weighed 31 grams. Your snake is getting one and a half times the food for the same energy used. I cannot comment on whether the ratio remains the same as the rodents increase in size.

[Brandon Osborne]

Kinks in Lessers has been shown to be genetic. I didn't find this out until a couple of months ago. We produced a clutch of unrelated Lesser X YB and the lessers had kinked necks. I've seen other people have also experienced this as well. Hope your girl does well and you hatch healthy critters.

[Wyldrose]

I had rat pups subbed in for mice my last order and my cornsnakes packed on the grams a lot faster then they did with mice. I spaced out the feeding from every 7 days to 10-14 days with the rat pups. I never did weigh the differece in an adult mouse vs a rat pup.


If the expense is too much why not start breeding your own? I wish we could breed rats here in Alberta, I have a colony of asf's, mice and hamsters. So that helps keep my collection fed.


Also keeping my fingers crossed that the kink is not genetic! I'd love to make some BEL's myself one day! I only have 2 bp's currently a male 2011 orange ghost and a 2012 het og(my xmas gift )

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I don't think one is better than the other as far as nutrition goes. Here is a pic I posted on a forum last year. It is sub adult or sm mouse and a rat pup. This is the typical size mouse I was getting at the pet store at the time. The mouse in the pic weighed 19 grams and the rat pup weighed 31 grams. Your snake is getting one and a half times the food for the same energy used. I cannot comment on whether the ratio remains the same as the rodents increase in size.

This ^^

[Lolo76]

Thanks all for the input & best wishes! I have already considered the different feeding options, though, and what I do works best for me & my snakes... I've been keeping snakes for 4 years, and have tried just about every combination in that time.

As for why I don't breed my own, there is simply no room in my current place. I live in a one-bedroom apartment with a 47lb dog, 3 cats, and 28 snakes - so there's literally nowhere to fit an entire rodent rack, at least not without making the place smell like a zoo (not to mention keeping them safe from nosy cats/dog).

I do have one cage of rats who live in the bathroom, but they haven't been producing anything lately... probably a combination of them getting old and the room being cold, so I'll have to start fresh if I want more baby rats. Wish I did have the space, but as anyone familiar with this area knows, it's very difficult for a single person to afford more than one bedroom!

Anyway, thanks again for the input, and I'll keep you updated.

[Lolo76]

P.S. Keep in mind that I never talked about what my entire collection eats, I only mentioned feeding mice to Cordelia... my others get a variety of prey, including both live & f/t or p/k mice and rats. Everyone is healthy, and I've learned over the years what works best for each snake. They're a picky bunch (at least the BPs are)!

[sookieball]

I feed my mousers retired breeder mice.

They're huge and comparable to a small rat and have a high calcium and fat content compared to normal large mice. But my rodent supply shop has them plentifully available.

That's what they told me anyway.
And it may just be my luck but my big normal female is monsterously huge and has been on retired mouse breeders for about 2 years. She's gave me 2 clutches of 7 & 6 eggs of the whitest eggs and BIG babies both times
I don't see anything wrong feeding mice to problematic feeders as long as they are healthy and happy.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Good Luck