Maybe I didn't word my OP well enough. I know that's what the ideal is, but my whole dilemma is that I can't get weanlings unless I order them. Like I said in my original post, the only way to get them is to order online, and since I would only need a handful before he moves up again that would be really expensive for me to do. Online ordering is great and very cost effective only if you're going to order a pretty good supply - which I plan to do once he starts eating small rats, but ordering 10 weanlings or whatever would calculate out to a lot of $$ per rat.

There is nothing I can get between the sizes of large adult mouse and small rat here in person. I've been to all the reptile stores nearby and all of the pet stores. Mice go up to large mie, and rats start at small rats, so I can't get any in between sizes. This is the purpose of my post - I am unsure what to feed him until he is big enough to take a small rat, since the large mice are not cutting it, and wondering if he IS big enough for a small rat (which it sounds like he's not, that's what I was thinking too).