Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this on the feeder forum but I also wanted input from snake owners. I have a four yr old Cal King who's been eating fuzzy mice and is ready to graduate to something bigger. My question - are there any pros or cons to mice (weaned or small adults) versus rats (hoppers or pups)? Since he probably won't be able to eat adult rats even when he's full grown, should I stick with mice? If he's a good eater should I mainly consider price as long as the feeder size is the same? Thanks a lot for any replies!

i think that the fat content in an adult mouse is much less than that of a small rat... so muscle tissue or fat tissue which would you prefer to consume???

My vote... stick to the mice

~ZF

>>I posted this on the feeder forum but I also wanted input from snake owners. I have a four yr old Cal King who's been eating fuzzy mice and is ready to graduate to something bigger. My question - are there any pros or cons to mice (weaned or small adults) versus rats (hoppers or pups)? Since he probably won't be able to eat adult rats even when he's full grown, should I stick with mice? If he's a good eater should I mainly consider price as long as the feeder size is the same? Thanks a lot for any replies!

if you'e feeding live i'd suggest using rat pups comparable in size to the adult mice you'd be feeding: adult mice' teeth can do a number on a snake, whereas a rat pup can't do that sort of damage and is a less nimble target, too--another name for rat pups is "crawlers" or creepers. At any rate, the safety issue is worth considering if you're feeding live; if you're talking about frozen it's irrelevant and you can go with deciding on the basis of nutrition.

my own suspicion is that wild snakes must eat more juvenile rodents (pinks, pups) than adults, just because the latter can run and the former can't, making them easier prey. but that's strictly speculation.

td

I actually suspect that in general, snakes would eat adult rodents more simply because any nests containing smorgasboards of warm tender pinkies, would be guarded fiercely by a nasty parent mouse. And woe to the snake who has its mouth full and occupied when the mother mouse comes around... A solitary mouse out foraging, would be harder to catch but have its mind set on flight and not doing damage.
But on the other hand, dumba** teenage mice who've left the nest but don't have experience would be particularly vulnerable. And this may sound really weird, but I've read of rubber boas raiding mouse nests, using their blunt tail to fend off adult mice while they munch down.
Okay.... that's enough rambling for me for one night...
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0.1 chickens (Condor)
0.2 dog mutts (half ownership, only mine when they misbehave, Lucy & Amy)
0.1 Halflinger horse (Crissy)
0.1 Normal phase California Kingsnake (Sophia)
1.1 parents
Still searching for 1.0 WC human

I doubt that fat content has much to do with it. It's the protein man. I'd feed rat pups every time if I had the facilities to keep them. But I only have room for mice. Rat pups are a much better meal just because of the mass of meat that they are IMHO.

On occasion I'll buy rat pups when I want to get one of my breeding females pumped up for the task.

Just my 2 cents

CG