Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, here is my problem. I breed mice for my hatchlings, and rats for anyone who takes them. None of my snakes over 125 grams are fed mice, BUT, I am very low on my rat production and I only have one female that is 60 grams (pastel ghost) eating mice. I have plenty of hopper mice that I was gonna give to a pet store for future trades for rats or mice when I get low. I would rather feed my other (150-250 grams) ball pythons these extra mice, but I don't want them stuck on mice later down the road. Every time I feed a rat pup. That's one less rat for my larger ball pythons. I can't fit anymore rat racks in my room. So I am stuck with three racks (18 tubs total ) and 4 breeding pairs of mice in 5 tubs, and a 10 gallon tank for hopper mice. FYI I have 4 male breeder rats and 21-25 female breeders. Usually set up for 1 male for 7 females. I have only been breeding rats for 15 months but this has worked very well for me. I currently have 46 snakes, BUT I have 18 girls that have successfully locked up this year. Do you guys feed mice to your ball pythons when your low on rats???

I do this all the time when a snake doesnt eat the meal i put it in another cage and the other snake eats it ive never had aproblem getting that snake back to eat a rat and i dont raise my own but am going to start

Some balls switch readily between the two, some do not. You can try feeding mice one week and rat pups the next - anyone that balks at the rat pup you probably don't want to give mice to anymore. You might also want to put soiled rat bedding in the with the mice before feeding them off so they kinda smell like rats.

I have a couple of girls that came to me as mousers that I've switched to rats and they will pound rats all year long, but after the fast or lay their eggs, they can only be restarted on mice again. Thankfully after a few meals I can get them back on rats for the rest of the year.

When I raised my own I dedicated every tub to rats and kept only a small colony of black mice to be used only for hard cases. Hatchlings where started on rats and everything else was fed rats exclusively. Balls can live just fine on mice but (especially if you are trying to sell them) people prefer strong rat feeders.
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

nihil facimus sed id bene facimus

When we get low on rats, from our own production...

I order more rats, frozen. Switching around only causes trouble in my eyes.
-----
robyn@proexotics.com

ShipYourReptiles.com
Pro Exotics Reptiles

I actually read all of that....?

anyways..........

I will feed mice tyo a 3900 plus gram ball female....maybe 3 of them or 4 at times......yes I use rats,mice,gerbils,hamsters(chinese) peromyscus,and ASFR.....whatever I got a bucket of at the momment.....at times a bucket of each in a day....just keep opening racks and throwing stuff in them till they are gone....

are balls fed till full?....no not usually....

do balls still grow and breed?.....yes usually....

do I have balls that eat almost mice all the time or 100% of the time...lots of them....(my mice get to 100 grams ...record was 111 gram female preggo mouse)....

...do you need to feed a 3000 gram female ball 55 jumbo rats a year....?...GOD NO>......you know how many people do not get eggs from a female due to the fact they feed it a large rat every week all eyar long?....lots of them....(you feed large rats...you need to feed just 6 months a year or so only)....

mice....they either eat them or don't...
rats,...they either eat them or don't....

will some switch and get ":stuck:" on one item....?...heck yea...ask me...I got balls stuck on all kinds of things......so I have to keep breeding them all.....but normally...balls that eat anything and everything...will keep eating everything and anything...and these are the best balls of all....

.....
-----
.

...(______________________)