Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I just adopted a nice male from a herp rescue. Good condition and a big boy. His fosterer fed him 3-4 f/t mice every 10 days. I've fed a previous bp rats. Is there a good reason to switch him? He's apparently not very fussy, but I was curious if any nutritional advantage one over the other. Also, this guy was shipped to me airfreight, in transit about 6 hours. His fosterer said he just went blue 2 days before shipping. During the trip his kennel was opened for some reason (yes, I sent the airline a nastygram) and the enclosed heat pack did not finish the trip with the snake. He arrived cold, but is now acting normally. My question: if a snake in shed is chilled or stressed will the shed process be prolonged or even stop? He's now warm (hide 85 F, 60% humidity) and no other problems so far.

Hi Carlton –

No, rats are NOT more nutritious than mice on a per weight basis, as far as anyone knows. What the advocates of feeding rats to snakes mean is that it is easier and cheaper for the keeper who wants to provide a reasonably large to maximally large meal at each feeding. One hundred grams of mice should be just as nutritious as 100 grams of rats; although the snake will have a larger amount of fur to process with the mouse meal in this scenario. So, the choice is yours (and his).

Just as with any “food,” you can find information on the composition of various animals – percent fat, percent protein, etc. (here’s one source). Problem is, I’m not aware of any controlled trials which have studied the nutritional requirements of any snake. Perhaps as the reptile industry continues to grow, someone might decide the expenditure of money and time was worth it. But that would probably be in the service of formulating a prepackaged snake food, I would think.

Regarding the shed, I’d speculate that the moving and being exposed to less than ideal humidity (and temperatures) will make his first shed with you less than perfect. No big deal; you can deal with that if it happens. Until then, if you decide to spray him, make sure he stays warm, too.

Good luck with your new ball python.

-Joan

Thank you! He shed last night. It was a bit of a mess, and I don't think he's completely finished, so he got a soak and warm misting. If he likes his mice he'll get them. I have no info on his past history other than that he was seized during a felony arrest. He's beautiful, good condition, and almost friendly.

i would have thought mice would have been more nutritious,as all the bones,etc will have been mature,and as the mouse as stop or not growing much, dunno just a guese
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