Many often say that rats = better nutrition...I don't buy that*, but some do...mostly it's that rats get larger for when your snake does too & needs bigger prey-
some people like to get their BP switched over to rats while they are eating consistently & often (ie. when they're young), because like the rest of us, many
develop firm opinions about what they like & what they'll eat, so if you wait a long time to switch them, some insist they only want mice. (*I used to have a
scientific nutritional chart comparing a rat to a mouse & disproving the idea that either has superior nutrition for snakes, but don't know what I did with it...
you could try googling it & be sure to verify the quality of the sources you get.) Anyway, if Regina is only on her 4th feeding with you (how many did she have
before you got her?) then it's truly no rush to change her to rats just yet.
When I feed my snakes, I generally don't go by weight, but on the width of the feeder being roughly the same as the snake's mid-body is around. Either way
you want to figure it is fine though. How often are you feeding her? If she looks a little under-weight, you could also stay with mice for now & maybe feed a
day sooner (as long as it's not less than a week, they do need time to digest). But the other thing to keep in mind is that a slow-grown snake, & one that is a
little UNDER weight rather than a little OVER weight tends to be healthier in the long run. While many owners want to rush their snakes to get big, it's not
necessarily the best thing for the snake.
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