Small rat vs. 3 mice

[HALEN16]

RATS= more meat yum yum

[NateDogg13]

When my ball pythons were babies, I fed them mice just to get them going, but then switched to rats as soon as I could. It seems that the snakes grow faster when you feed them rats than mice. They're just bulkier.

I know that no scientific study has been done, but it's been my experience.

Ive heard this from a few people lately. One theory for this is the rats have a higher fat/protein ratio so they develop more fatty tissue and get a larger girth.

I feed all my snakes rats or mice. Instead of larger rats I feed rat pups when they are available. Rat pups are 1.75 here and a rat is 6 and since rat pups dont bite back normally its the way to go for me. There usually larger than a large mouse too. Alot of times in one feeding theyll get on rat pup and one mouse depending on what the pet store has at the time. They all eat whatever moves in front of them pretty much.

[HALEN16]

natedog sounds like u got some good snakes, mine are picky

[ChrisBowsman]

I think I'm going to get him a rat this weekend (if they have one small enough) and see how it goes. It took him a bit longer to kill the first rat than it does mice, but I guess that's probably normal.

Thanks to everybody for all the input. Even if there's not a consensus, I still dig hearing everybody's opinions.

[NateDogg13]

natedog sounds like u got some good snakes, mine are picky

I guess I am lucky, Ive never had trouble getting any of my snakes to eat. The first time I tried feeding my newest BP and my boa they didnt eat but ever since I never had a problem. I got my 2nd BP for free too because they couldnt get her to eat, but Ive never once had a problem with her, even her first feeding, she got the wrong end of the mouse but still took it the sec. I dropped it in. Even my hognose eats mice on cue. Ive switched from frogs to mice and back, never once made a difference as long as hes in a small container while eating.

[ChrisBowsman]

Well, I tried a rat, and he didn't eat. I don't know that I'd call it a refusal, so much as he seemed a bit taken aback by how all-over-the-place the rat was.

I prescented for about 20 minutes (used the box the rat came home in), and he was very interested. After dropping the rat in, he nosed up to it, but ended up retracting into his hide. He did that several more times, until it became apparent he wasn't going to eat. I was kind of surprised, because he's never had a rodent in his enclosure for longer than 30 seconds without snapping it up.

So, does this sound like I should stick with the mice, or wait a week and give the rat another try? (I'm waiting a week to try again, regardless of whether it's a mouse or rat)