Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which is more nutritional for a bp, a gerbil, or a rat?
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1.0 ball python (vakker)
0.1 dogs
2.1 cockatiels
1.1 chinchillas
Coming soon... 1.1 corn snakes
0.1 axanthic ball python

I'm not sure about gerbils vs rats but the rats vs mice discussion has been around for a while. This is the only study that I could find that has comparisons of nutritional values.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf

If your starting with young hatchlings,I don't think it matters, nutritionally speaking, which you feed your ball python. As the snake gets larger then it comes down to convenience, cost, and keeping the python feed, it only makes sense to feed larger items, i.e., rats if possible. The cost of feeding gerbils would probably be prohibitive and you probably don't want to condition a ball python to only take gerbils for that reason.

The availability of gerbils would not be a problem, seeing as how I'm going to be breeding the animal I choose to feed. Thanks for the information.
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1.0 ball python (vakker)
0.1 dogs
2.1 cockatiels
1.1 chinchillas
Coming soon... 1.1 corn snakes
0.1 axanthic ball python

ive heard its near impossible to get ball pythons to switch from gerbils? i dunno why but it might be something to look into.

it is my understanding that rats are the more nutritious out of the three. simply because they are larger most of the time and supply the most food.

>>Which is more nutritional for a bp, a gerbil, or a rat?
>>-----
>>1.0 ball python (vakker)
>>0.1 dogs
>>2.1 cockatiels
>>1.1 chinchillas
>>Coming soon... 1.1 corn snakes
>> 0.1 axanthic ball python
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Boa (BCI)
0.1 Wife
1.0 Son
0.2 Daughters

it is my understanding that rats are the most nutritious of the 3. simply because they tend to be larger, thereby supplying more food.
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Boa (BCI)
0.1 Wife
1.0 Son
0.2 Daughters

I don't think it's considered kosher to compare the nutrition in four ounces of rat to the nutrition in one ounce of mouse. I think it's got to be equal weights for all.

On an equal weight basis, I do not know whether mice, rats, or gerbils are most nutricious. Wish I did.

Paul Hollander

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Even the decades-long feeding trials for dogs and cats has turned up surprises in their requirements in the recent past. I’ll venture to say we will never see a scientific feeding trial for ball pythons. What we can say is that ball pythons seem able to thrive on ANY suitably-sized, healthy whole rodent of the various species commonly raised for the pet trade or laboratory use. So if you have an unlimited, lifetime supply of gerbils, then I would say that 100 grams of gerbil would support growth and reproduction just as well as 100 grams of rat. In practice, however, as our pythons grow, it is usually much easier and cheaper for most of us to feed one larger prey item (like a rat) than many smaller ones (like mice or gerbils).

-Joan