snake treats?

[nikkij]

If I feed my ball python on mice, can I give her a rat as a treat or will that mess up her diet? are there any other foods that they like?

[mainbutter]

Some snakes switch readily between mice, rats, and ASFs(african soft furred rats), just like some switch readily between live and f/t

Some are more picky. I've heard that adults who are strictly mousers can be a pain, since it requires more than one item per meal feeding mice to an adult bp.

As for nutrition, you don't need to worry about "treats"

Most people feed mice, rats, and/or ASFs to BPs. Some people feed gerbils. Some people feed hamsters. I haven't really heard of any other common snake food items(rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, etc) having any kind of popularity for ball pythons, mostly due to size.

[icygirl]

Once you go rat, you never go back.

[Inknsteel]

Stick with feeding something you have readily available, usually mice or rats. I would advise strongly against giving your snake a "treat" or a gerbil or any other kind of prey that you wouldn't be willing to buy weekly for the rest of the snake's life. By feeding something like that, it's a possibility that your bp may not want to switch back to the mice or rats you were feeding before. They get all the nutrition they need from a balanced diet of rat...

[Slim]

Snakes don't seek out treats like dogs or cats. Try not to transfer too many normal pet qualities onto your BP....never works out good for the snake in the end.

[blackcrystal22]

Stick with feeding something you have readily available, usually mice or rats. I would advise strongly against giving your snake a "treat" or a gerbil or any other kind of prey that you wouldn't be willing to buy weekly for the rest of the snake's life. By feeding something like that, it's a possibility that your bp may not want to switch back to the mice or rats you were feeding before. They get all the nutrition they need from a balanced diet of rat...

Rats and Mice have very little proven nutritional difference to a snake.

Feed what you have available, or what size they need. The snake should be eating prey about the same thickness as the thickest point on the body once a week, if a mouse is too small, get a weanling rat. Do not attempt to feed a small rat to a ball python that is not relatively grown. You will never feed anything larger than a small rat..

[Bruce Whitehead]

If I feed my ball python on mice, can I give her a rat as a treat or will that mess up her diet? are there any other foods that they like?

I doubt your snake feels there is difference in rodents. It will not percieve the rat or mouse as a treat per se.

Bruce

[Inknsteel]

Rats and Mice have very little proven nutritional difference to a snake.

Feed what you have available, or what size they need. The snake should be eating prey about the same thickness as the thickest point on the body once a week, if a mouse is too small, get a weanling rat. Do not attempt to feed a small rat to a ball python that is not relatively grown. You will never feed anything larger than a small rat..

Maybe I wasn't clear... What I was saying is don't offer your ball python a gerbil or hamster unless you're prepared to buy a gerbil or hamster every week to feed your snake. Ball pythons can imprint on a specific food type, and will refuse all others. If you decide to offer your bp a gerbil as a "treat", the snake could decide it only wants to eat gerbils from now on. Stick to rats or mice as they tend to be the most readily available...