I would be very interested to see the published data for nutritional content of pinkies vs older mice. Compared to older mice, pinkies have much less developed musculature and skeletal systems, so I would expect them to have lower nutritional value. They may be higher in fat content, but I hardly see this as a plus. I too have seen a spike in hatchling growth rates after making the switch from pinky to fuzzy, so I personally think it's better for the snake to be fed one 6 gram fuzzy rather than three 2 gram pinkies. Just my 2 cents.



Another option to consider is African Soft Furs. I started a breeding colony to supplement my already established mouse colony. The ASFs stink FAR less than mice - it's not even close. After 1 week+, the smell from a 1.3 tank of ASFs is barely noticable. After 4 days, the smell from a 1.3 tank of mice could knock a buzzard off a crap-wagon. ASFs range from 60-80 grams for normal adults, up to 100+ grams for ex-breeder females, so they are 2-3 times the size of mice. I have corn, rat, and kingsnakes, as well as a ball python. All will switch back and forth between mice and ASFs without problems, but some individuals might be more finicky. The only downside for me is that day-old ASFs are 2 to 2.5 grams, which is pretty big for a lot of hatchling colubrids.



MZ

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