Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm hoping someone can help me out with the question that has been in my head for a while.

I always see people feeding their young snakes rat pups instead of adult mice.

I always figured that it was better to feed your snake a mouse that had gotten the nutrition of solid food and had a more delveloped skeletal system, as opposed to a baby rat that was not fully developed and only had its mother's milk in its body.
But, it seems that nearly every ad/post I look at...people are feeding their snakes baby rats instead of adult mice, and always point out how they are "growing like weeds"...or something like that.

So, my question is...do most snakes grow better on rats (regardless of their stage of development), compared to mice that were the same size, but more developed and eating on their own?

I would greatly appreciate any information you guys have to offer.

~Alex

some say that younger prey is more nutritious, and easier to digest due to softer bones, then older prey, so it's not so much rats over mice as it is age. According to them, young rats are better than older mice, young rabbits are better than old rats, etc. But I don't know if there is any scientific evidence to prove this.
-----
-David

Check out my pet pics at:
http://www.myspace.com/obx_fisherman

1.0 ball python (Pandora - don't ask)
1.0 argentine boa (Prometheus)
0.0.1 colombian boa (Athena)
0.1 hogg island boa (Andromeda)
0.0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (Inara)
1.0 Dumeril's boa (Hannibal)
1.0 kenyan sand boa (Diablo)
0.0.1 normal corn snake(Cypress)
0.1 amel. corn snake (Morgan LaFay) RIP
0.0.2 baby corns (Romulus and Remus)
- 1 normal, 1 ghost
0.0.1 banded cali. kingsnake (Cain)
1.0 tangerine honduran milksnake (Narcissus)
0.0.1 snow corn snake (Valkyrie)
1.1 garden phase amazon tree boas (Pegasus, Lenore)
0.0.1 baby yellow amazon tree boa (affectionately called
Snuggles)
0.0.1 albino san diego gopher snake (maybe Octavian)
0.0.1 sandfish skink (Slick)
0.0.1 fire skink (Phoenix)
1.0 bassett hound/black and tan coonhound mix (Luke)
0.1 Boxer (Zoe)
1.0 bearded dragon (Leonidas)
1.1 ferrets (Ares, Enyo)
1.2 cats (Galahad, Ripley and Sassy)
2.0 rats (Pan, no name yet)

check this out from rodentpro.com
Nutrient Composition of Whole Vertebrate Prey
http://rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp
-----
-David

Check out my pet pics at:
http://www.myspace.com/obx_fisherman

1.0 ball python (Pandora - don't ask)
1.0 argentine boa (Prometheus)
0.0.1 colombian boa (Athena)
0.1 hogg island boa (Andromeda)
0.0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (Inara)
1.0 Dumeril's boa (Hannibal)
1.0 kenyan sand boa (Diablo)
0.0.1 normal corn snake(Cypress)
0.1 amel. corn snake (Morgan LaFay) RIP
0.0.2 baby corns (Romulus and Remus)
- 1 normal, 1 ghost
0.0.1 banded cali. kingsnake (Cain)
1.0 tangerine honduran milksnake (Narcissus)
0.0.1 snow corn snake (Valkyrie)
1.1 garden phase amazon tree boas (Pegasus, Lenore)
0.0.1 baby yellow amazon tree boa (affectionately called
Snuggles)
0.0.1 albino san diego gopher snake (maybe Octavian)
0.0.1 sandfish skink (Slick)
0.0.1 fire skink (Phoenix)
1.0 bassett hound/black and tan coonhound mix (Luke)
0.1 Boxer (Zoe)
1.0 bearded dragon (Leonidas)
1.1 ferrets (Ares, Enyo)
1.2 cats (Galahad, Ripley and Sassy)
2.0 rats (Pan, no name yet)

It may be a factor of what is easier to raise to feed too. I personally only raise mice because I have tiny neonates in the snakes I like. (Ratsnakes, Childrens, Western Hognose and Milks) As soon as any are big enough to take a rat it is just easier. Rat newborns are the size of nearly 2 wk old mice.
I too have heard that rats are more nutritious. I think some of this is based on the visual 'this is the same size as that' thing. By weight a rat that looks the size of a mouse probably weighs double to triple....so your snake is getting more bang for the buck. I tend to get obsessive now and then (you know, when I am off my meds) and weigh my snake's food items. Mostly just to note it for my memoirs. I have young boa and adult ratsnakes that take 90-120 gram rats.....that is about 3-5 adult mice.
-----
Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

>I always figured that it was better to feed your snake a mouse that had gotten the nutrition of solid food and had a more delveloped skeletal system, as opposed to a baby rat that was not fully developed and only had its mother's milk in its body.

I tend to agree with this opinion. When I was breeding bullsnakes, I tried to get the babies on subadult to adult mice in 2-3 months after hatching, as soon as I thought they could swallow the food. Because I noticed a growth spurt then. On the other hand, I had a corn snake that wouldn't take a mouse at any age but insisted on baby rats right from the start. She grew fine, too. Both ways work, so do what you feel is best for the snake and easiest for you.

Paul Hollander

I too have bullsnakes, and have recently switched my babies to small adult mice. I have noticed their growth speed up a bit (mostly weight wise), but I never offered them any type of rat.

For me personally, I get my frozen rodents shipped to me...so rats and mice are equally convient. And 99% of my snakes will eat whatever you offer them, like my bullsnakes.

So, the only thing that makes a difference as to what type of rodent I feed my snakes would be if there is a difference in the rate of growth between snakes fed rats or mice of the same size...which was basically my question from the beginning.

Alright, with that said...does anyone actually know if snakes grow better on rats compared to mice of the same size or vise versa????