Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if it would be a good idea to keep my food that i am feeding my balls with in the same room as the balls? Say foe example that i am breeding some mice in the same room as where i keep the balls in, would that be a good idea or not. I was thinking maybe not because they would get used to the smell their feeding response would be kind of off, what do you think? its just that i don't have any other room to put the mice in. Thanks. Your inputs are greatly appreciated.

I keep my rats in the same room and never had a problem. Just be careful when handling the rats and then working with your snakes. Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly to get the rat small out. Otherwise they may think your prey.

I guess one side affect of keeping the rats and snakes together in the same room is that they are not so anxious during feeding time since they are use to the smell already. I haven't noticed any decrease in appetite just the reduction in what I call the "flying snake" syndrome, where they lunge out of the tub as soon as you open it. My snakes seem more mellow yet as soon as the snakes hit the floor, WAMM!!

ot, but to deal with flying snake syndrome, let your rat grab the ledge of the bin above the tub you're going to open while holding its tail, and slide the tub open. The snake will hit and wrap the rat instead of coming out at you. Tuck snake and rat back in the tub and you're done.

I breed rats, asf rats, and sometimes mice right next to the snake racks and my snakes couldn't eat better. I wouldn't be too concerned with it.

Hey thanks everybody i appreciate all your feedback.i will continue to keep breeding my food in the same room.

I'm thinking of doing this too however I'm concerned about temps. I will have heat behind the tubs so don't have to let the room get really warm I’m just not sure how much ventilation I’ll end up with and how much of a gradient I’ll be able to maintain. I was thinking of having a room background of 80 deg F but might go as high as 85 deg F.

What is the optimal temp for ASF's? I would think Norway rats and mice would be somewhere in the 70's. Do ASF's actually like it warmer and would 85 deg F be too hot?