Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, my ball has no problem pounding rats but I'm curious if there is something better for him. I've read that gerbils have a better nutritional value than rats and I've read that high level breeders try to feed their balls gerbils over anything else. What do you guys think? Where do you even buy frozen gerbils? Thanks in advance.

Tim Savard

my experience has been that gerbils are MUCH more agressive towards snakes than rats are . if you decide to go this route , be sure you pre-kill .

How far back can instinct go in a reptile, or rodent for that matter. Apparently gerbils are a main prey item for Balls in the wild. Making them more aggressive to ball pyhons, and making ball pythons more apt to accept them as prey over rats or mice. I tried breeding them years ago when they were much less expensive. Not sure if you can buy gerbils frozen. They aren't cheap anymore, so buying up a few to breed may or may not be worth your time.

.....I don't think gerbils come from Africa at all?.....

......I gotta actually look that up......

anyways.....

gerbils WILL go right up to the snake and bite it on the face.....99% of the time.....well.....90%....

gerbils for some reason will also feine *(spell?) death......they set there and just blink and make little shakings like they are almost dead.....sort of a near coma?.....fainting display?........

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yeah in the wild they feed on gerbils not mice or rats. so i would expect it'd be fine.

Yeah, have you seen how many scars most WC pythons have...

If they are expensive BPs or you like them...feed prekilled gerbils...not live

Personally, I think mice and rats are fine.

Actaully they aren't the natural prey for Ball Pythons, Gerbils are native to Mongolia. There is a relative from Africa called the Jird that shares the same range as ball pythons which are one of their natural prey species. It's probable that gerbils just smell closer to Jirds then Rats do.

Mark

>>yeah in the wild they feed on gerbils not mice or rats. so i would expect it'd be fine.

Mark, although I was the first one to post that, I always thought Gerbils were from a different climate than Balls. They do seem to prefer the gerbils over either mice or rats though. With my snakes it's more important to get an appropriate size food item than it is a particular species. They won't take mice, but a hamster, gerbil or rat doesn't make a difference.

Well, they're from different parts of the world, but I think that they are both from dry grasslands type areas. I don't think that would make a difference though. My point is that Gerbils are not any more 'natural' of a food item then any other rodent. A wild ball python would never run into a wild Gerbil. I don't know what the attraction is, I guess it would probably be smell though. Maybe Gerbils just smell more like what ball pythons think 'food' should smell like then either rats or mice. There is no denying that some balls are very particular about what they will eat, and many seem to be attracted to Gerbils over either rats or mice. I have a friend that has a WC ball python that she's had for over 20 years. The thing eats 4 or 5 Gerbils a year and won't touch anything else. I guess it doesn't make sense to me WHY they prefer Gerbils, but if thats all they'll eat, thats what they should be fed. I think these snakes are just really good at training US.

Mark

>>Mark, although I was the first one to post that, I always thought Gerbils were from a different climate than Balls. They do seem to prefer the gerbils over either mice or rats though. With my snakes it's more important to get an appropriate size food item than it is a particular species. They won't take mice, but a hamster, gerbil or rat doesn't make a difference.

gerbils are the most disgusting parents in the world.....they suck at raising their kids..so babies and more gerbils are hard to get...

rats....good parents......

easier.....cheaper........

RATS>.............

......(I use rats,gerbils,mice,peromyscus mice,russian,chinese hamsters.....and even more species........).......

.......rats.......if possible........
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