Mice or Rats

[amon]

If both mice or rats of the same size and weight available, which is better for the snake?

Or does it depends on the species of snake?

btw, how to start a poll? I couldn't find the place to click.

Thanks.

[Jenn]

There's quite a debate over this topic. Nearly all my snakes will take either. I feed the larger ones rats simply because it's quicker than feeding several mice.

[kc261]

It is easy to find out what the nutritional content is in a mouse or a rat, and therefore what the difference is. I believe it is somewhere on rodentpro's website, amongst other places.

However, there has not been enough scientific study into exactly what the nutritional requirements of any individual species of snake is. So while we know, for example, which one has a higher protein content, we don't know if that higher protein content is better for the snake, makes no difference, or is worse for the snake.

A lot of BP owners report anecdotal evidence that BPs grow faster when fed rats. However, others report good results with mice. Even if this had been scientifically studied, it would not necessarily mean that the faster growth is better for the snake.

All this adds up to what Jenn said... there is a lot of debate. The fact is no one knows for sure.

[amon]

Found this on Rodentpro, but couldn't understand at all.

http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

[kc261]

I forgot to add in my post above... it almost certainly does depend on the species of snake. Not all snakes even eat rodents, much less all of them doing best on the same species of rodent. However, it still is a matter of we don't know enough... we don't know which snakes do better with mice and which ones with rats.

From what I know, what appears to be true so far is that any species of snake that does well enough on mice also does well enough on rats, and vice versa. However, there might be individual snakes that do better on one or the other... such as a snake that refuses more than one prey item in a single feeding may need a bigger meal than even the largest mouse.

As far as interpreting the stuff on the rodentpro link, my point was it doesn't matter since we don't know what is better for the snakes. It can be interesting to look at though.

Scroll down on that page until you find "mouse, domestic, Mus domesticus" and further down you'll find "rat, Rattus norvegicus". These are your typical mice and rats. Then look at the right hand column, and you'll see 3 different age categories for each, neonatal, juvenile, and adult.

Let's assume you have an adult BP, so you'll either be feeding adult mice or small but still adult rats (by their definition, which says rats were counted as adults if they were 50g or over). So we are going to compare adult mice with adult rats.

You can see that the adult mouse has 55.8% protein, and 23.6% fat, and the adult rat has 61.8 % protein and 32.6% fat. You'll notice the rat does have more protein, one of the reasons I've often heard quoted as to why rats are supposedly better. But it also have a big jump up in fat. Is that good for the snake? I believe no one has studied that to find out. However, by the time you consider there will be some variation between individual mice (or rats), those differences may not really make that much of a difference for our snakes anyway.

However, if you go down to the next section of the chart, you can see that the mouse has 578,272 IU/kg vitamin A and 100.4 IU/kg vitamin E, where the rat has 151,389 IU/kg vitamin A and 139.2 IU/kg vitamin E. Now we are talking some differences, especially in the vitamin A! And if you look at neonatal rats, they have 470.4 IU/kg vitamin E. Is all that vitamin A in adult mice good for our snakes? Harmful? Doesn't matter because the extra just gets passed through the system? Again, I believe no one has studied that to find out.

I just realized how long this is getting. I'm sure you've gotten the point by now. Also hopefully my examples have helped you figure out the chart, because it is interesting to look at even if we have no idea which numbers represent an ideal meal for our snakes.

[amon]

........
I just realized how long this is getting. I'm sure you've gotten the point by now. Also hopefully my examples have helped you figure out the chart, because it is interesting to look at even if we have no idea which numbers represent an ideal meal for our snakes.

Many many thanks!!

You are right, all these numbers are "interesting to look at"

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Gram per gram it's all the same, while there is a difference between mice and rats when it comes to nutritional value, there is no study on the nutritional requirements of snakes.

It all comes down to feeding what works for the snake and is convenient for the owner.

I have snakes that eat mice exclusively, some that eat rats exclusively, some that eat ASF exclusively and some that eat anything I throw in there, and all are thriving regardless of their diet.