Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have read in a few forums below about switching from mice to rats!An this is a little confusing to me?We pamper our boa's with propper husbandry,humidity,an temps,as long as they are with us!An when its feeding time their are arguements on wether this person is feeding to much or not enough,we get the hint,but somthing that isn't talked about much is what we feed our new boas!MICE?I thought that it was a proven fact that a rat was healthier for our boas that a mouse was?Why simple a rat has more meat on its bones than a mouse does!Lets say for example a 17 in new boa,isnt it better for this new baby boa to eat one pinkie rat that 2 or 3 pinkie mice?I am a poor boy,lol an own 10 boa's an I figured that would be around 1,200.00 dollars a year to feed my boa's,so I raise my own rats,their fore I can watch what they are eating a make sure they are mite free!I have feed my boas rats since they were new borns!Fellow herpers that are making the switch with problems,A newly weaned rat that is old enought to be taken from its mother isnt much if any bigger than a large mouse!I am not trying to make anyone mad just figured it would be a good subject to discuss!Maybe thats why my almost yearling boa's are almost four feet long,not because of power feeding but because I have fed them somthing healthier since they were babies every 7 days!Well Ill stop rambling,LOL Shut up Charles!LOL Thanks [HYPOBOA]

wow, thats a great bit of info!!!!!!!!! thanks so mutch for that.

A very successful breeder boa breeder told me once that he only feeds his baby boas mice until they are about 6 months old. Something about the enzyms in the mouse hair aiding digestion....it's just something to think about. I heard Pete Kahl goes by this...but it's just what I heard.

Chris

i actually heard different
i heard that mice are alot more acidic and that is what causes young boas to regurge

i started my boa on rats @ 1 month

everyone is different and if it works for you and you are comfortable with it then stick with

just cause someone else tryed and it didnt work for them does not mean that it wont work for you

anything. But what I do know is I was forced to feed my farmed Nicaraguans that I received last year mice. Unfortunately I lost two of them. They grew extremely slow, only shed twice in about 8 months and looked very skinny despite eating several mouse fuzzies a week. As soon as I finally fot them to accept rat pinkies their growth rate exploded. After only five weeks of eating rat pinks the majority of them were ready to move up to pups and have all shed at least two times. This is the same amount of times they shed in the 8 prior months. To me that makes rats the winner be default.

However I will say that the snakes who are eating rat pinkies will have much more runny poo at least until they get into pups and fuzzie rats. Well worth the extra cleaning in my book.

Thanks for listening to my rambling.
Just my opinion, yata yata yata

I would take runny pooh as a sign. Just my opinion.

Respectfully, Chris

However I can asure you that they all had fecals done and were treated when I received them. And to my knowledge and understanding from many who I have talked to who have been keeping snakes longer than I have, it is common for that to happen while feeding pinkies-- Due to lack of hard bone mass/calcium as well as lack of hair, which both contribute to solid stools.

Thanks
Bob

I'm just saying that runny stools might say something negative about the way pink rats affect a boas digestive system. I think that a solid stool is a good thing...and therefore I think there is something to the Hopper mouse theory. I think with developed hair and bone matter comes more nuritional integrity. Most of my babies end up getting fed pinks out of availablity but I prefer hopper mice.

I hope you were not insulted...It's just that I believe a runny stool is a bad sign...that's just what I was taught. I'm sure your husbandry is FANTASTIC. This is a very good topic, I would like to hear from some more people on this.

Respectfully, Chris

Thank you!! Chris.

You make a very valid point!!!!

When I first got my boa I was very uneducated about many aspects of husbandry, including what to feed. The petstore said mice, so I fed mice. It was only recently that I found out that rats were the better choice of feeder. That's why I switched. Believe me, if I ever get another boa I will start it off on rats.
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David - Houston, TX
Young Red Tail Boa
Purchased 11/16/03
www.geocities.com/davidag02

Where do you all get your rats? There's a ton of pet stores in my town, but Petco is really the only one that carries consistently good-looking frozen feeders. I have a Hog Island, 8 months old. She was eating rat pups before I got her on 5/18. I can't find the pup size frozen, but have found fuzzy rats.
Also, do you think it's a problem that she hasn't eaten yet? I got her last Tues (5/18) & she last ate on 5/11. She has refused the 2 rat fuzzies I've offered so far. How will I know when she's ready to eat? She's still hiding all the time...
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0.1 Hog Island Boa Isaboa
1.3.0 leos, Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo (Indy)
0.1.1 frogs Buffy the Cricket Slayer, Butrose Butrose Froggy
1.1.4 firebelly newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Juice Newton, Olivia Newton John & Helmut Newton
1.1.0 cats Gus & Mena

I just ordered 25 rat pups from...
themousefactory.com

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David - Houston, TX
Young Red Tail Boa
Purchased 11/16/03
www.geocities.com/davidag02