Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I've finally saved up enough to purchase a rainbow boa in the next six months or so. I have a question regarding feeding before I go ahead and take the plunge.

I want to order f/t mice or rats online in decent quantities to save time, cash, and shipping costs. How long can the frozen mice remain in the freezer before the snake won't accept them anymore? Rather, how many weeks worth of mice should I plan on buying at a time?

Secondly, I'll be buying a baby, and from what I've read, they can start on hopper mice. How many hoppers should I expect to feed a week, and when will the snake begin to need a larger meal?

Third - I know that JCP's need to switch to rats sometime during their lifetime, and BRB's reach a similar size, so should I be concerned about the switch from mice to rats?

And finally, I read on Jeff Clark's page that "breeding females require two to three times as much to eat" as males. Would a non-breeding female require more to eat, as well?

Thanks for answering all the questions I've had in the last year of preparing to purchase a snake. Can't wait to post pics of the new baby, when I finally make the decision to buy!

I want to order f/t mice or rats online in decent quantities to save time, cash, and shipping costs. How long can the frozen mice remain in the freezer before the snake won't accept them anymore? Rather, how many weeks worth of mice should I plan on buying at a time?The mice can last up to a year in the freezer if not more.

Secondly, I'll be buying a baby, and from what I've read, they can start on hopper mice. How many hoppers should I expect to feed a week, and when will the snake begin to need a larger meal? I've been feeding my baby BRB hopper mice every 4-6 days but will change to rats when her supply runs out. She has a much better feeding response when I offer her a f/t rat so I will stick with those when the mice run out.

Third - I know that JCP's need to switch to rats sometime during their lifetime, and BRB's reach a similar size, so should I be concerned about the switch from mice to rats? I believe you can just start and finish on rats. Baby BRBs can take rat pinkies and rats are better for them anyways.

And finally, I read on Jeff Clark's page that "breeding females require two to three times as much to eat" as males. Would a non-breeding female require more to eat, as well? Females do require more to eat than males anyway when full grown.

Nekomi,
....Like Jon posted adult female BRBs even if not bred will eat more than males. I have had quite a few Jungle Carpets. My favorite one and the only full Jungle Carpet I now have was really hard to switch to rats. For the first 11 years of her life I was able to only one time trick her into swallowing a small rat. She would readily eat hamsters and chicks but I mostly fed her mice. Sometimes she would take over 20 of them at a feeding. She grew to over 8 feet in length and reproduced several times on a mostly mouse diet. I could put a small white rat in with white mice the same size to get it smelling like mice and often trick her into grabbing it off tongs after she had swallowed several of the mice but she would quickly figure it out and spit the rat out. This past year she decided that rats were okay and has been eating them all the time. Snakes are funny.
Jeff

>>Hi all,
>>
>>I've finally saved up enough to purchase a rainbow boa in the next six months or so. I have a question regarding feeding before I go ahead and take the plunge.
>>
>>I want to order f/t mice or rats online in decent quantities to save time, cash, and shipping costs. How long can the frozen mice remain in the freezer before the snake won't accept them anymore? Rather, how many weeks worth of mice should I plan on buying at a time?
>>
>>Secondly, I'll be buying a baby, and from what I've read, they can start on hopper mice. How many hoppers should I expect to feed a week, and when will the snake begin to need a larger meal?
>>
>>Third - I know that JCP's need to switch to rats sometime during their lifetime, and BRB's reach a similar size, so should I be concerned about the switch from mice to rats?
>>
>>And finally, I read on Jeff Clark's page that "breeding females require two to three times as much to eat" as males. Would a non-breeding female require more to eat, as well?
>>
>>Thanks for answering all the questions I've had in the last year of preparing to purchase a snake. Can't wait to post pics of the new baby, when I finally make the decision to buy!

Thanks to everyone for their replies! I really appreciate all the help.

I had a Burmese python that grew to 6ft on all mouse diet. It would avoid rats, chicks, and baby rabbits like they were the plague. I sold him a female to a friend in Idaho that has been working with burms since the early 80's....I hear he went directly from mice to rabbits and doing just fine.......In fact, I wish I would have kept them.....I would have a clutch of Albino/Labyrinths right now.....

Chris O
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www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

np
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www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

>>np
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>>www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
>>Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

>>>>np
>>>>-----
>>>>www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
>>>>Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

.
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www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

I have a 4 ft female ball python that will only eat white mice, even if they have the smallest speck of color she won't touch them. What a racist!!
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Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
-Rime of the ancient Mariner

np
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www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing