Here's three versions of the same article of a study done on the protein content of rats' food and how it affected Kidney Diseases.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl...37720545959705

Now, how much of an issue that this is, well, that's another issue. If the rats are on a diet that merely sustains them (not optimal), how does that in turn affect the predators eating them, if at all? I think THAT is the more important question here, as opposed to whether or not one food is better for the rats or not.

My own reasoning goes like this - do what is healthiest for the rats, which will be healthiest for the snakes. If feeding a high protein diet to rats is bad for them, I feel like that would be bad for the snakes as well.

edit: if you ever want to do some real research, start at least with google scholar. It only includes peer-reviewed publications that are MUCH more reputable and does not include all of the Melissa Kaplan type of BS that shows up on the regular searches.