Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to thank everyone who replied to my post about pre-killing rats. The reason I posted it is because I am considering starting my own colony but I only have 2 snakes. I don't want the rats getting too big before I can feed them so I was going to freeze any extras. I don't want a stunned rat going in the freezer. I don't think my wife would appreciate it if she went to make a roast and a rat jumped out at her. Thanks guys!!!
jared

I'm with you.. I was thinking of doing the same, but I'm more worried about not having enough then having too many.
Good luck.

I used to be in the same boat with producing WAY more rats than I needed but it will change soon, having snakes is a worse addiction than crack.
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Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com

Jared, have you considered raising ASF's? You still might end up with too many as you can't really separate and re-introduce to stop and start production but at least they don't get too big and they smell a lot better if you are going to do this in your house.

I gave up on trying to feed balls frozen years ago. I’m sure some with more patience and a few better snakes get along fine with it but for me ball pythons seemed to be the exception that needs live so you could keep extra ASF’s live as long as you need.

Hey Randy,
I thought of that too. I only worry that one might not be big enough for a large ball. My mojave is filling out and I can tell he's going to be huge. Do you have any extra ASFs?

Feeding the biggest balls is the one area I'm not so sure about. Eventually if I get enough ASF production going I suppose I'll just feed them 2 to 4 ASF’s at a time. For now I can get retired breeder Norway rats for $4 each.

I breed ASF rats for my snakes.
they still stink, but less then the big uglies.
Plus they look cute, so it adds more fun to the feed/hunt!
If I feel I have to many that are reaching to big for my guys, I toss em in the freezer.